Watford manager Claudio Ranieri has revealed the date Nigerian duo Emmanuel Dennis and William Troost- Ekong will be released for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The duo were named in Nigeria’s squad for the biennial competition on Christmas day by interim head coach Austine Eguavoen.
Troost-Ekong has been a regular member of the team, while Dennis was recalled to the Super Eagles following his superlative displays for the Hornets.
Dennis has so far scored seven goals and provided five assists for the London side following his arrival from Belgian champions Club Brugge in the summer.
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The striker last invited to the team in October 2020.
Aside the Nigerian duo, Ranieri will also be without the services of Adam Masina and Imrân Louza.
“They will stay with us until Tottenham [January 1], all four,” Ranieri told the club’s official website.
“We have to play, and we are strong, we have to make a very good match and get points, that is our philosophy, and I will not change our philosophy.
“I don’t want excuses. I want to be in the Premier League at the end of the season; we have to fight.”
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COMMENTS
Strong words from Raineri I like him alot.
Fifa gives two week break for big tournament like Afcon, this is not acceptable .Our players must be in camp two weeks to Afcon , I don’t know why CAF President is not fighting this tooth and nail , sooner than later , they will stop our players from not even attending the tournament anymore .This people are just selfish and the CAF /FIFA President should make it clear that they can’t take this tournament for a ride.
Africa should play the nations cup at the end of the European football season.
It’s not fair for clubs who pay big sums to this players to lose there personnel for over a month.
Some club could lose the league title and some may get relegated and the chances of not qualifying for European places by some of this club is a big problem.Its wrong timing and not fair to this clubs
I do understand most African nations do have spring in the summer times which is the reason the Afcon doesn’t hold in the summer.However,CAF could build stadia in any African country that does not experience rainfall in the summer so the Afcon is played there permanently,alternatively seek venues in Asia or other part of the world.
The likes of Liverpool without Mane and Salah could cost them a chance to leapfrog Manchester city this would be a big lose for Liverpool.Watford would play many games most of them postponed matches without their talisman Emmanuel Dennis as well Troost Ekong, Watford is thin in the central defence with couple of first team players injured,Troost at this time is needed his absence could lead to more drop points to already struggling Watford.Several teams will suffer in the absence of their African stars.
Individually African footballers in form may lose the chances of winning awards at the end of the football season as some will lose grounds due to a long absence which will definitely limit there chances.
Meanwhile,African football has improved massively with many players playing important roles for teams in Europe and the absence of this players every couple of years is costing investors a lot,it’s high time measures to make both parties happy are taken in the spirit of fairness.
@Greenturf my good friend, the idea of hosting AFCON outside Africa should not even arise. The little economic benefits and infrastructural development that comes with hosting such tournaments will be totally lost if we go through with such idea. Also, it’s inconsiderate to the entire African population to recommend shifting the tournament to the end of European season which is the tropical rainy season in most of the sub-Saharan African countries. Such a shift should be only permissible when hosting the tournament in North African countries where the weather permits. All the clubs that sign African players already know about this tournament and it’s usual timing. Some of them even claim that to be the reason they sign African players for much less than the same amount that they sign European and South American players of comparable talent. So, the clubs cannot eat their cake and have it at the same time. If the European leagues could accept to go on break in November – December 2022 to allow Qatar host the World Cup in November, I don’t see why they cannot extend such courtesy to AFCON if the impact of the African players absence is so much.
Much as I sympathise with the clubs affected, I believe the timing of the AFCON is something they have to live with. Even when most African countries are able to provide adequate covered stadia to enable hosting games successfully during the tropical rainy season, we have to understand that the tournament goes beyond the soccer played in the pitch. The fans experience outside the pitch is another aspect that must be considered. Hosting the tournament during the tropical rainy season will greatly limit the fans experience.
In every business venture, the owners of the business identity the risks associated with their business decisions, and develop appropriate mitigation plans for them. Clubs with African players need to develop their AFCON Mitigation Plans and live with it.