2. African Cup of Nations U20 – Center Backs
The first position I selected is a central defender. For central defenders able to play in a forward-
minded team, they need to be both good in defence and in ball progression. I will start this
research based on defensive abilities. Fayed has a lot of defensive duels per 90, with an average
win rate. He is dominant in aerials, with many aerial duels per 90.
3. African Cup of Nations U20 – Center Backs
This research’s second part focuses on passing abilities and possessional play. Fayed is the best ball-
playing defender, with many progressive passes and one of the highest accurate passes. He is poor in
blocks and interceptions, but this may be due to his team’s dominance, as they had a possession
percentage of 63.2% throughout the tournament.
4. African Cup of Nations U20 – Center Backs
Looking deeper into Fayed’s stats, he is excellent in all his possession metrics, except from progressive
runs, where he makes 0. He is decent in his defensive abilities and exceptional in aerials, although he
needs to be more efficient in his duel win rates, aiming to be dominant in that part as well.
5. African Cup of Nations U20 – Center Backs
Now looking more specifically at central-defender-
specific attributes, Fayed excels in most of this
section’s attributes. He is poor in interceptions and
needs to be analysed deeper to examine why. He
should work on his duel win rates, and we need to
examine why he loses these duels because it may be
due to lack of physicality, something that, due to the
young of his age, can be monitored and developed.
He also shows very promise with his passing abilities,
able to play in a forward-thinking dominant team.
6. African Cup of Nations U20 – Full Backs
The second position I selected is a full-back. For full-backs to be able to play in a forward-minded
team, they need to be both good in defence and attack. Therefore, I will start this research by
finding the most efficient defensive and offensive players. Sankamao looked to lack in defence but
was one of the best in the attack.
7. African Cup of Nations U20 – Full Backs
Moving on, I decided to focus on the attacking phase, as a dominant and attacking-wise team would want their full-
backs to be efficient and effective in attack. Sankamao excelled in attacking performance, as he had an exceptionally
fair amount of assists (as his xA suggests). He was also one of the best when it came to progressive runs and crosses
and the best when it came to successful attacking actions along with key passes.
8. African Cup of Nations U20 – Full Backs
Looking deeper into Sankamao’s stats, he is an exceptional threat in attack, and his possession metrics are
also decent. On the other hand, he has some work to do in his defensive abilities, as he is not winning a
good amount of duels, he is poor in aerials but decent in interceptions.
9. African Cup of Nations U20 – Full Backs
Now looking more specifically at full-back-specific
attributes, Sankamao is excelling in his threatening
capabilities in the attacking third. He has some work
to do with his crossing accuracy, but he makes many
crosses per 90. He also makes an excellent
contribution in attack with 4.52 successful attacking
actions but has to be more efficient in the defensive
third. He seems to be a smart player as well, making
7.22 interceptions per 90.
10. African Cup of Nations U20 – Central Midfielders
Next, I decided to look for central midfielders that could play a more offensive role in midfield. Therefore, looking
at Mugulusi, I noticed the high amount of offensive duels he is involved in per 90, with a below-average win rate,
though, along with his above-average ability in defensive duels.
11. African Cup of Nations U20 – Central Midfielders
Moving on to their ability to make dangerous passes, Mugulusi excelled as he was one of the best in passing the
ball into the final third and penalty area. He also had the highest amount of smart passes per 90 and an above-
average passing accuracy. Lastly, he was the highest threat of all midfielders, having excellent values for xG and xA.
12. African Cup of Nations U20 – Central Midfielders
Looking deeper into Mugulusi’s stats, we can see that he excels in almost every passing attribute. He is a
major threat in attack but not managing to win his offensive duels. He is also decent in defending, with a
lot of successful defending actions. He makes a lot of interceptions, but he is poor in aerials.
13. African Cup of Nations U20 – Central Midfielders
Now looking more specifically at central-midfielder-
specific attributes, Mugulusi excels in creating for his
teammates. He has exceptional stats for key passes,
shot assists, xA and xG. He is also outstanding in
passing the ball in dangerous areas. He was to work
on his duel-winning rates, and we need to deeply
analyse why he loses that many duels. He is still
young and yet to develop, and therefore if the matter
is physicality, this can be worked out and developed.
We can see his potential in the defensive third as he
makes a lot of successful defensive actions as well.
14. African Cup of Nations U20 – Wingers
The next position I decided to search for was wingers. Wingers in a dominant and forward-thinking team have to
be efficient in their offensive duels, having a good number of duels to show their ability to seek opportunities,
hurting the opponent. Their ability to score and assist is also very important. As we can see, Muhammad had many
offensive duels with above-average win rates. He is also one of the highest threats and managed to have excellent
NPG and xG values. He also possesses a high xA value without actually having an assist.
15. African Cup of Nations U20 – Wingers
As a winger, you must be a good dribbler and provide passes for your teammates in danger zones that can be
goals. Again Muhammad seems to be making a lot of passes inside the box and a good amount of deep
completions per 90. He is a decent dribbler, as he is above average for both the number of dribbles and
succession. He is by far the best when it comes to shot assists and smart passes. Therefore he is the best choice.
16. African Cup of Nations U20 – Wingers
Looking deeper into Muhammad’s stats, we can see that he is excellent in his offensive actions. He creates
and executes well, with the only question mark being at his 0 assist value. He is also one of the most
creative players and excels in that part.
17. African Cup of Nations U20 – Wingers
Now looking more specifically at winger-specific
attributes, Muhammad has an excellent contribution
with creativity, having an 0.3 value for xA and 3.73
shot assist per 90. He also scored decently, with 0.28
xG per 90. He makes 2.75 shots per 90, but he has to
work on his on-target ratio, but his goal conversion is
excellent. In terms of dribbling and crossing, he is
decent, and he could be even better if he manages to
be more successful in dribbling. Lastly, he makes a lot
of dangerous passes.
18. African Cup of Nations U20 – Strikers
The last part of this research is about finding a striker. As a striker, he needs to be a goal-scoring threat. Some
other players exceed in this chart for their goal-scoring capabilities, but I chose Dembe. He is above average in his
goal-scoring values and below average in his offensive duels.
19. African Cup of Nations U20 – Strikers
The type of striker we are looking for is similar to Paul Onuachu. Therefore, we shall look for his aerial capabilities,
where Dembe excels. He is also decent in his successful attacking actions and goal conversion rate. Lastly, he
makes a lot of touches inside the box, which is something that we want from our striker. Although, the number of
his shots is around average, making just over 2 shots per 90.
20. African Cup of Nations U20 – Strikers
Looking deeper into Dembe’s stats, he is above average in every metric concerning his goal-scoring abilities. He is also
decent in possessional metrics, and he excels in aerials. It is important to mention his abilities to pass and receive the
ball, making a lot of touches inside the box with a good number of back passes, which may suggest his playing style.
21. African Cup of Nations U20 – Strikers
Now looking more specifically at striker-specific
attributes, Dembe has decent goal-scoring values. He
was decent with his shots, but he did not manage to
have any impact in assisting his teammates. He
makes a lot of touches inside the box, and he is
dominant in aerials. He is very young(only 17), and
he has a lot of potential.
