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Nigeria's Ola Aina and Calvin Bassey and their Ghanaian counterpart Mohammed Kudus were ignored by CAF in their AFCON 2023 Group Stage XI.
The Confederation of African Football, CAF, has announced its official best XI of the AFCON 2023 group stage but sparked controversy by overlooking the likes of Ola Aina, Calvin Bassey and Mohammed Kudus.
Pulse Sports can report that CAF has been accused of bias after it revealed the team of the group stage on Thursday evening with Nigerian players and Ghana’s superstar conspicuously missing.
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CAF ignores Nigeria
Despite Nigeria progressing from Group A unbeaten after two wins and a draw, CAF opted against including any of the Super Eagles men in its selected side.
The likes of Aina, Calvin Bassey, and William Troost-Ekong alongside goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali have impressed as the Super Eagles reached the last 16 with two clean sheets in three matches.
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However, not one was considered to have performed well enough as they missed out on selection. Fans were particularly outraged at the absence of standout performers like Fulham's defender Bassey and West Ham United's Kudus.
Instead, the team is dominated by giants Morocco and Senegal, along with Equatorial Guinea, who finished as Group A winners ahead of Nigeria.
Morocco’s Atlas Lions have four players while Senegal and Equatorial Guinea have three and two players respectively.
Reactions to AFCON Group Stage XI
But supporters across Africa have felt hard done by, taking to social media to vent their frustration at CAF's selections.
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Here are some of the best reactions to the CAF list released on their social media account on X.com, formerly Twitter.
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With the knockout stages still to come, players overlooked will be determined to prove their quality and force their way into the official Team of the Tournament.
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