The Seattle Sounders have a pair of representatives in Georgi Minoungou and Nouhou at the Africa Cup of Nations, which is nearly through its group stage. As things currently stand both Minoungou and Burkina Faso, and Nouhou and Cameroon look likely to move on to the knockout rounds.
Nouhou has taken a prominent role with Cameroon, playing the full 90 minutes while wearing the captain’s armband in both of his side’s matches so far. Nouhou opened the tournament with a 1-0 win over Denis Bouanga and Gabon in which he contributed 9 defensive contributions, including 5 tackles, 7/7 ground duels (although he went 0/3 on aerial duels), and added a successful dribble and 3 successful long balls from 5 attempts.
His performance in the second game of the group stage in a 1-1 draw with Côte d’Ivoire was less positive. Nouhou created 1 chance and had 3 passes into the final third along with 5 total clearances, 2 interceptions and 1 recovery, but registered 0 tackles or blocks, only got into 3 duels (although he won 2 of those), and just generally was minimally productive. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved, and unfortunately his two most prominent involvements were both negative and came in quick succession. First Franck Kessié appeared to give Côte d’Ivoire a 1-0 lead in the 48th minute as Nouhou went to ground after the slightest contact in the lead-up to the goal, but after review the goal was ruled off. Then in the 51st minute Amad Diallo received the ball on Nouhou’s flank and rather than challenging the player as he drove towards the box, he backed off and gave Diallo room to shoot which he took full advantage of and hit an absolute golazo. It’s tough to be too critical on such a good goal, but Nouhou could have done much better to make the shot more difficult. Regardless, Cameroon found an equalizer and now sit level on points and goal difference with Côte d’Ivoire at the top of Group F.
Nouhou and Cameroon will close out the group stage against Mozambique on Wednesday, December 31 at 11 AM PT. A draw or win in that game would guarantee that they advance.
Georgi Minoungou picked up where he left off with Burkina Faso after his brace against Benin in a friendly in November, coming on as a late sub in the 79th minute against Equatorial Guinea in their opening game of the tournament. Equatorial Guinea took the lead shortly after Minoungou came on, scoring in the 85th minute, but he pulled his side level with an equalizer in the 5th minute of stoppage time. The goal came from a dangerous run that Minoungou made multiple times, running laterally from the left wing into the box behind defenders, receiving the ball in a pocket of space and smashing his shot beyond the goalkeeper. Edmond Tapsoba then headed home a ball that came off the crossbar in the 8th minute of stoppage time to secure the win.
After that substitute appearance in which Minoungou could have easily added an assist or two to his goal, he came on as a halftime substitute against Algeria in Burkina Faso’s second group game. Algeria were already leading 1-0 thanks to a Riyad Mahrez penalty in the 23rd minute, and as Burkina Faso pushed to get on the board they struggled to create much in the way of truly threatening chances. Minoungou took a pair of shots from the edge of the box, both of which narrowly missed, but apart from that he struggled to influence the game. He wasn’t able to find the same pockets of space from which he was so dangerous against Equatorial Guinea, and despite playing a full half rather than 11 minutes plus stoppage he only managed 2 touches inside the box compared to 4 in the opener. He only attempted 1 dribble, which was unsuccessful, and won 0/4 duels.
That lack of impact was hardly a standout among his teammates, and Minoungou does seem to be earning manager Brama Traore’s confidence. He should be in line for a chance as an impact sub once again when Burkina Faso take on Sudan on Wednesday, December 31 at 8 AM PT. Burkina Faso currently sit in 2nd place in Group E, ahead of Sudan on goal difference. Both sides currently have 3 points, each having beaten Equatorial Guinea, but Burkina Faso’s even goal difference gives them the edge over Sudan’s -2 goal difference. Once again, a win or draw would send Burkina Faso through to the next round.
