lordofstrings:
I thought Galatasaray bought morata
I can't see his name on the bench

mrwilliams9:


My brother, I think you are conflating big/prestigious with major.

Big is subjective. Major is objective.

The FA cup and the UCL are both major trophies. UCL is seen as a “big” trophy to the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd, Real Madrid, Barca, Juve, etc. But they may not regard their respective FA cups as a “big” trophy even though it is a major trophy.

The AFCON is CAF’s premier men’s tournament so it is indeed a major trophy in the same way the Euros and Copa America are.

However, many in Europe and S. America don’t view it as a “big” trophy.

We in Africa view the AFCON has a major AND big trophy. Ask Egyptians who dem go praise pass? Salah or Aboutrika?

What Jamie said was categorically wrong. No two ways about it.

If we want to argue about the level of competition between AFCON and Euros, then that is entirely a different argument. But we Africans should stand firm in the truth, this is not about black man sensibilities.

daveP:



There's no tournament that has the kind of attention Euros has in the world of continental football. It doesn't mean other continental tournaments are not more competitive and entertaining than it. The crux is if AFCON is a major tourney and that is why that Carragher is getting dragged. He was corrected twice and he scoffed twice. Nowhere in his head does he want to take it as major. That's the height of dumbassery. And his bosses have a different pov and that's why they didn't upload it to their sites as well.


AFCON is more competitive and entertaining than Euros. The last one is enough as evidence.


Jamie Carragher is too wrong and that's a stubborn corner to stick too despite the correction. I trust Thierry.. if he was in that room, he go bend.

toluxe0075:

The simple fact is AFCON is a major tournament and Carragher is foolishly wrong.

daveP:



There's no tournament that has the kind of attention Euros has in the world of continental football. It doesn't mean other continental tournaments are not more competitive and entertaining than it. The crux is if AFCON is a major tourney and that is why that Carragher is getting dragged. He was corrected twice and he scoffed twice. Nowhere in his head does he want to take it as major. That's the height of dumbassery. And his bosses have a different pov and that's why they didn't upload it to their sites as well.


AFCON is more competitive and entertaining than Euros. The last one is enough as evidence.


Jamie Carragher is too wrong and that's a stubborn corner to stick too despite the correction. I trust Thierry.. if he was in that room, he go bend.

JohnBullMySon:


The context was Balon d'or. AFCON might be a major tournament in the context of confederation cups. It could be competitive and entertaining. That does not make it on par with the Euros in terms of quality, which is what determines the Balon d'or. Your SS2 vs SS3 derby was also competitive and entertaining. Competition is relative, entertainment is subjective.

CAF best players developed and play among Europeans, CAF best squads are made up of Afro Europeans, ranging from 50% to almost the entire team in some cases. Morocco achieved the best record for an African team in WC2022 with a squad full of half-europeans. The success of African tournaments in recent times can almost be directly traced to The european football industry. If the by-product of Europe is improving Africa this much, it isn't wise to think that somehow, AFCON can stand toe-to-toe with Euros.

JohnBullMySon:


Remember that the context of that discussion was the Balon d'or. Carragher said that he feels part of the reason Salah has not won it is because he plays for Egypt. He didn't even mention AFCON, competition or popularity. It is similar to saying that the Dutch league top scorer will find it hard to win the golden ball. What is wrong in that statement?

Goke7:


it's vice versa, the African players are also contributing hugely to the European game, if e easy make the Europeans run am alone make we see.

here is Rio Ferdinand view on the issue which is more mature

https://x.com/rioferdy5/status/1894068931226153224?s=46&t=tk-1hGRx-HBpOmsos8uccA

Goke7:


Reason I don’t rate these individual awards when it’s folks like carragher that will vote who thinks the country you come from should also determine who wins best player. Imagine rating Ademola Lookman 14th place after such heroics last year.

Starboytwo:
I heard Osimhen to man utd is coming.

JohnBullMySon:
That’s a different conversation. The point is that CAF teams are not on par with European teams if we are being objective.

JohnBullMySon:


The devil is in the details. You first have to decide what 'major tournament' even means. FIFA does not classify any tournament as major or minor. We are talking about how much impact AFCON vs Euro has on the Balon d'or.

do4luv14:


Not fully back yet, just came online through someone's phone,

JohnBullMySon:


No it’s not vice versa. Not at all. There’s no European player trained in Africa.

The problem with some Africans and Black countries is that they like to put on a facade and then get offended when someone comes with unfiltered truth.

Of course Liberal Europeans will pet you and try to massage faux achievements. Others won’t. Some with racist and disrespectful undertones. Some by just being brutally honest.

Samueltemi337:
No one wanted him?
That's not true tho

JohnBullMySon:


The devil is in the details. You first have to decide what 'major tournament' even means. FIFA does not classify any tournament as major or minor. We are talking about how much impact AFCON vs Euro has on the Balon d'or.

charlesemeka85:
no loud am mk pple no get heart attack 😜😏

Goke7:


Rather the problem is that we allow the west lie to us that Africa contribute so little, did you listen to Ferdinand? The likes of Eto, abedi Pele, mane, drogba and others, you want to diminish these folks contributions to the European game?you know the tons of revenue these folks make for their clubs in large ROI? It’s because we don’t think transactionally that’s why we think some dumb dude in Europe is telling us unfiltered truth.

Starboytwo:
I heard Osimhen to man utd is coming.

zicky:
Bro you should answer that question, how much impact does Afcon, Euros, Asia Cup and copa American and Concacaf have on World best not Balon d'or (cos it's an European award).

JohnBullMySon:
Yeah i did listen to what he said.

Do you realize that for every top flight African legend you name, there will be at least ten European equivalents?

I’m not saying that AFCON is not a great product. What I’m effectively saying is that when it comes to global achievements, you will find it very difficult to compete toe-to-toe with the European equivalent. There’s a significant performance gap.

kendrick9:
Why do y'all never acknowledge Giassperini role in the improvement of Lookman?

Why are most y'all shallow?

zicky:
Bro you should answer that question, how much impact does Afcon, Euros, Asia Cup and copa American and Concacaf have on World best not Balon d'or (cos it's an European award).

lordofstrings:
I thought Galatasaray bought morata
I can't see his name on the bench

Goke7:


That’s because you have more European teams in global competitions than African teams so what do you expect? There was a time just one or two African teams go to the World Cup so why won’t European teams have more global achievements? That’s basic

And talking about top flight African players how many European players have the kind of feat Ademola had last year for him to be in 14th place. That’s what Ferdinand is taking about that the narrative about Afcon and what these African players contribute to the game is not highlighted enough by even FIFA.

JohnBullMySon:
You have more slots than South America yet South America has won 2 of the last six tournaments.

We take the best five to the WC so If African teams were that good, they should be knocking out European teams. Yet African teams have only made it to the quarters twice.

zicky:
Heard deal is 85% done.

Goke7:


Did an African team not make semi finals the last time Knocking out European teams?

JohnBullMySon:


It should be happening regularly. You pick one case and make it sound like the Europeans and the South Americans have not been doing it severally for years.

And remember that Moroccos team was made up of players literally born and developed in Europe but switched allegiance.

JohnBullMySon:


Europeans have won both the World Cup and Fifa best player more than anyone else. Only South America comes close.