Sports

Super Eagles Star Simon Joins Tunisia’s Khazri, Aboubakar, Eight Others In AFCON Team Of Group Stage

Super Eagles winger Moses Simon has made the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Best XI of the group stage according to football statistics website Whoscored.com.

The Nantes forward has been in sensational form at the tournament and has scored one goal with an assist to boost for teammate Samuel Chukwueze in the 3-1 win over Sudan on January 19.

Nigeria topped Group D with maximum nine points in three matches and will face Tunisia in the Round – of – 16 on Sunday evening.

Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal have two players each in Whoscored’s Best XI while one player from Nigeria (Simon), Cameroon, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Morocco and Tunisia.

In a 4-4-2 formation, Simon is deployed as an attacking midfielder with Ivory Coast’s Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal), Morocco’s Sofiane Boufal (SCO Angers) and Ivory Coast’s Ibrahim Sangaré (PSV Eindhoven) completing the midfield four.

Kamara (Sierra Leone) starts in Whoscored.com’s goal and the back four contains Bouna Sarr (Senegal), Pape Abou Cisse (Senegal), Mustafa Karshoum (Sudan) and Nouhou Tolo (Cameroon), and the attackers are Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon) and Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia).

Izuchukwu Okosi

Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc. In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio. He worked there for 13 years until October 2017. Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch. He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations. Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line. Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.