Wish You Were Here: Players We Won’t Be Seeing at the African Cup of Nations

Emmanuel Adebayor won the BBC African Footballer of the Year Award yesterday, taking 42% of the public vote. Which serves as a sad reminder that the Arsenal striker won’t be in action at the 2008 African Cup of Nations, as Togo failed to qualify. With a 16 team tournament and many many member in the Confederation of African Football, there will always be teams and players who miss out. Add in international retirements, injuries and players who turned down the chance to play (!) and it all adds up to several quality footballers missing from Ghana 2008, all of which I’d would have liked to see in action.

In no particular order:

Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo and Arsenal) - BBC African Footballer of the Year and in great form for Arsenal, but Togo failed to qualify after finishing third in Group 9, two points behind Benin.

Mwaruwari Benjani (Zimbabwe and Portsmouth) - Another Premiership striker who’s been scoring fairly regularly, but Zimbabwe failed to qualify. The Warriors finished second in Group 12 but were not one of the three best runner-ups.

Stephen Appiah (Ghana and Fenerbahçe) - Injured, but will be staying involved with the Ghana squad throughout the tournament to provide inspiration.

Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria and Hull City) - Retired from international football. There were calls for Berti Vogts to recall the midfielder but neither Vogts nor Okocha seemed very interested in the idea.

Victor Anichebe (Nigeria and Everton) - The English/Nigerian Had committed himself to The Super Eagles but then pulled out of several squads until Berti Vogts lost patience with the young striker. Looking at Nigeria’s forward line, he’s probably got more chance of playing for England.

Lauren (Cameroon and Portsmouth) - Cameroon qualified but Lauren has retired from international football.

Tresor Mputu (DR Congo and TP Mazembe Englebert) - Young striker with a big future, but DR Congo failed to qualify after finishing one point behind Namibia in Group 10.

Hossam Ghaly (Egypt and Derby County) - Ghaly famously turned down the chance to represent trophy holders Egypt to get involved in Derby County’s inevitable relegation.

Mido (Egypt and Middlesbrough) - How could we forget?!? The big striker didn’t recover from injury in time to be named to the Egypt squad.

I’m sure there are plenty more quality players who won’t be playing in Ghana. Please let us know in the comments and we’ll add any names to the list.