14 January 2010
Towards the end of 2010 we asked MTNFootball.com readers to give us their nominations for the greatest African XI, position-by-position, so that we could come up with the definitive greatest side from the continent.
The nominations poured in from all over the continent and beyond, and over the next few weeks we will be entering phase two of our search, whereby we cut our nominations lists down to a set number and our readers get to vote.
Those votes will be taken into account, along with the suggestions of top journalists from around the continent, to come up with a final player for each position.
So to start us off, here are the final list of nominations for the position of goalkeeper, in alphabetical order:
ESSAM EL-HADARY (EGYPT)
The only current player on our list, El-Hadary has won everything there is to win on the continent. He played over 500 games for Cairo giants Al Ahly, during which time he won numerous domestic titles, as well as the African Champions League.
He has also enjoyed success with the national side, winning the past three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations to take his total in that competition to four. He has been criticised in the past for gamesmanship though, and would not feature highly on many people’s Fair Play list.
BRUCE GROBBELAAR (ZIMBABWE)
Grobbelaar enjoyed a highly-successful career with English giants Liverpool, winning six English League titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and the European Cup, the forerunner to today’s UEFA Champions League.
He made 440 appearances for Liverpool in all over 14 seasons, but in later years had something of a nomadic existence, playing for 10 clubs in the final five years of his career. He played over 30 times for Zimbabwe, but was often left out of national team duty because of his club commitments in England.
ROBERT MENSAH (GHANA)
Mensah is widely regarded as Ghana’s greatest goalkeeper having starred for his country at the 1970 Africa Cup of Nations, where he finished in the CAF Team of the Tournament, and also finished runner-up in the African Footballer of the Year in 1971.
He also starred for Ghana at the 1968 Olympic Games in Munich, and was a stalwart of the highly successful Ghanaian side Asante Kotoko. So revered is he that the Robert Mensah Sports Stadium was opened in Tema in his homeland in 2008.
THOMAS NKONO (CAMEROON)
Nkono played more than 100 games for Cameroon and was won of the first African goalkeepers to make it big in Europe.
He was a star for Spanish La Liga side Espanyol, where his countryman Carlos Kameni now plays, and won massive plaudits at the 1990 World Cup in Italy as he helped his side reach the quarterfinals. He also went to the 1986 and 1004 tournaments, though he did not feature in the latter.
Italian keeper Gianluigi Buffon declared he decided to play in that position after seeing Nkono’s performances at the 1990 World Cup. In addition, he named his son Thomas in the Cameroonian’s honour.
COSTA PEREIRA (MOZAMBIQUE)
Although he played for Portugal, Pereira was born in Mozambique and began his career with Benfica ahead of the 1954/55 season.
It was be a great spell for the player and the club as he won the Portuguese national title seven times, the Portuguese cup five times, and the European Cup, the forerunner of the UEFA Champions League, twice, along with his compatriot Eusabio.
He spent 12 years with Benfica in all and played 22 times for Portugal. He died in 1990 aged 61.
ZAKI (MOROCCO)
Ezzaki Badou is regarded as Morocco’s greatest-ever keeper, having been named African Footballer of the Year by France Football in 1986. He represented his country at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and at the 1986 World Cup.
He also played for Spanish La Liga side Mallorca, and would later go on to manage the Moroccan national side between 2002 and 2005. He is currently manager of Kawkab Marrakech in his homeland.
