African Football HQ Podcast: Episode 7

It’s been a Champions League season not quite like any other, with African players featuring prominently during the one-off single-tied ‘Final Eight’ tournament.

While RasenBallsport Leipzig and Olympique Lyonnais have fallen by the wayside, Malek Shafei and Ed Dove celebrate the performances of Dayot Upamecano, Karl Toko Ekambi and Maxwel Cornet during their compelling quarter-final victories over Atletico Madrid and Manchester City respectively.

Things didn’t go to plan in the semi-finals, while the less said about Nordi Mukiele’s performance against Paris Saint-Germain in the final four, the better.

While one Cameroonian falls, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is still standing in the Champions League, and was responsible for one of the great moments of the competition so far.

PSG appeared dead and buried in their Last Eight clash against Atalanta, before Marquinhos equalised and then Choupo-Moting—introduced from the bench—equalised from close range after being set up by Kylian Mbappe.

He was the most unlikely hero in this star-studded PSG side, and now has the opportunity to feature in the final against Bayern Munich after the capital club downed Leipzig 3-0 in the semi.

In Friday’s Europa League final, Victor Moses’ Internazionale meet a Sevilla side who can count upon Morocco duo Youssef En-Nesyri and Yassine Bounou, who was influential in victories over Wolverhampton Wanderers and Manchester United.

In the pod, Shafei and Dove give their predictions ahead of the final, and also recap some of the greatest African players to have won European club football’s secondary competition.

It’s an illustrious list, containing the likes of John Obi Mikel, Taribo West and 2020 finalist Moses.

Also on the agenda this week, we assess Mikel’s recent move to Stoke City—does he still have what it takes to make an impact in the Championship?—and explore whether rumours linking Odion Ighalo with a move to PSG deserve to be taken seriously.

We also look at some of the greatest African players who worked alongside new Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, with the Dutch coach having a big influence over the careers of famous names such as Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama and Steven Pienaar.

Finally, we examine the recent fiasco at Horoya AC, where the teams’ passports have been lost ahead of a critical away trip to North Africa for the Caf Confederation Cup semi-final.