Mo Salah

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No way IMO, even though he’s good and has been surprisingly consistent since that outlier year he had a while back.

The best have probably been Eto’o and Weah, with shouts for Abedi Pele, Yaya Toure, Drogba and a few others.

Weah is the only African Ballon D’Or winner. Eto’o, apart from all his club success (back to back trebles with different clubs etc) is also a two time AFCON winner and the record scorer in that competition. The best Salah has done is runner up, and Egypt is a country that has had a lot of recent wins in that competition.

Also, if you look at Salah’s career, virtually everything he’s done that has been notable on a world stage has been under Jurgen Klopp. Who is he without Klopp? I mean he was good for Fiorentina and Roma but not ‘GOAT African’ good. And he couldn’t even get in the Chelsea team. Then there’s some Mickey Mouse stuff in Switzerland.
You are trying way too hard here.
 

Righteous Steps

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I don't know if it's due to being on Redcafe. In a way he reminds me Thomas Muller, a strangely prolific and clearly talented player that isn't made for TV or entertainment.
He is nothing like Muller apart from them both being goalscorers.
 

RooneyLegend

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Nope, his impact at the Afcon hasn't been as big as his predecessors. He'll be in the conversation but in order to be no1 he's going to have to dominate the continent itself.
 

Rooney in Paris

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He considers that anyone that isn't purely french is a foreigner.
It's an incredibly strange take. Zidane was born in France, his parents had been living in the country for over 20 years by that point. Is his point that Marseille is an African city? That La Castellane is Algerian? I don't get it.

I also don't get the comparison with Eusebio who was born in Mozambique.
 

Righteous Steps

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I don't think that you understood what I wrote.
He’s not entertaining if the standard is Hazard Ronaldo or Henry but he still has moments in his game special moments that Muller simply doesn’t produce. Far more easier on the eye than Muller.
 

Cheimoon

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What are you even talking about?
Eubesio was born in Mozambique, his father is from Angola and his mother from Mozambique, and he grew up in Mozambique. Mozambique was still a Portguese colony at the time, but other than that, Eusebio was an African guy with nothing Portguese about him until he came to Portugal at age 18. Had Mozambique been in a position to get him for their national team, we'd be discussing Eusebio in this thread here.

It's not quite similar for Zidane, who was born and raised in Marseille; although if Algeria had been trying to get players like e.g. Wales and Ireland are doing, Zidane might have played for them and would also be included in this thread here.
 

JPRouve

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He’s not entertaining if the standard is Hazard Ronaldo or Henry but he still has moments in his game special moments that Muller simply doesn’t produce. Far more easier on the eye than Muller.
That's your opinion.
 

Rooney in Paris

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Eubesio was born in Mozambique, his father is from Angola and his mother from Mozambique, and he grew up in Mozambique. Mozambique was still a Portguese colony at the time, but other than that, Eusebio was an African guy with nothing Portguese about him until he came to Portugal at age 18. Had Mozambique been in a position to get him for their national team, we'd be discussing Eusebio in this thread here.

It's not quite similar for Zidane, who was born and raised in Marseille; although if Algeria had been trying to get players like e.g. Wales and Ireland are doing, Zidane might have played for them and would also be included in this thread here.
It's not at all similar to Zidane. So it was a weird comparison, following up on an already weird initial post.
 

NasirTimothy

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Nope, his impact at the Afcon hasn't been as big as his predecessors. He'll be in the conversation but in order to be no1 he's going to have to dominate the continent itself.
I don’t think his impact at club level has been has big as a few of his predecessors either. He’s got time though and can add to his legacy. The international thing is probably a bigger factor however.
 

NasirTimothy

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Eubesio was born in Mozambique, his father is from Angola and his mother from Mozambique, and he grew up in Mozambique. Mozambique was still a Portguese colony at the time, but other than that, Eusebio was an African guy with nothing Portguese about him until he came to Portugal at age 18. Had Mozambique been in a position to get him for their national team, we'd be discussing Eusebio in this thread here.

It's not quite similar for Zidane, who was born and raised in Marseille; although if Algeria had been trying to get players like e.g. Wales and Ireland are doing, Zidane might have played for them and would also be included in this thread here.
I honestly don’t think any of that matters. If he plays for Portugal then he can’t be African in the football sense and part of the African GOAT discussion, even though he is obviously African in a birth/heritage sense.
 

kaiser1

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Salah is, without a doubt, a high quality player. However, the way he plays just doesn't excite or interest me. In terms of the PL wide players that have come before him like Henry, Ronaldo, Hazard etc, I don't find him anywhere near as appealing a player as any of them.
Henry Ronaldo Yes. Hazard that is a joke
 

kaiser1

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Best African player of all time, I say Etoo Weah are the top 2 and a huge gulf before the next set which has Salah, Drogba Abedi etc

Salah is best African in the EPL ever though (discounting that Etoo and Weah played at their twilight)
 

The holy trinity 68

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He wouldn't IMO even though i personally rate him highly.

I doubt he'll surpass Eto, Drogba and maybe even Kanu as the best African player of all time, even if he ends up scoring more goals than all of them. There was such love and admiration for those players that doesn't exist (atleast nowhere near the same level) when it comes to Salah IMO.

With all that been said, he's a great player IMO and is (and has been) amongst the top 10 best players for the past 3 years atleast.
Bias aside, Salah is better than all 3. Love for a player doesn't make them better. Salah is ahead of them easily for me.
 

adexkola

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Which subject? The one where you're suggesting citizens of a country in which they were born are not actually citizens of said country due to their heritage?

Yeah I find that stuff hilarious.
If your intent is to place words in my mouth that I didn't say, please stick them up your ass instead.

Respectfully.
 

NasirTimothy

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I must confess to being one of those who thought Mane was the better player
It seemed that way for a while (at least it was a debate). But that’s where you have to give Salah credit. He’s kept going at a high level whilst Mane has fallen off a cliff.
 

kaiser1

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Hazard was the best player in the league for a few years, and also a very aesthetically pleasing footballer to watch.
Salah has been the best player in the league that has been consistently delivering 20 league goals per season. He also delivered in Europe which Hazard failed terribly at
 

Cloud7

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Salah has been the best player in the league that has been consistently delivering 20 league goals per season. He also delivered in Europe which Hazard failed terribly at
Did you read my initial post at all? I talked about being entertaining and exciting to watch. Not number of goals or delivering in Europe.
 

Cheimoon

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I honestly don’t think any of that matters. If he plays for Portugal then he can’t be African in the football sense and part of the African GOAT discussion, even though he is obviously African in a birth/heritage sense.
It depends on how you look at it. If you're from Mozambique, I can see why you might care that Eusebio is seen as a Portoguese legend and not a Mozambique one. If you're a neutral and considering this from the sidelines, I can see why you wouldn't care about any of it and just consider for which country someone played their international games.

Obviously though, football nationality is a hot mess. It would be more correct if this discussion were phrased as 'best footballer to have played for an African country' instead of 'best African footballer'. But I get why no-one can be bothered to do that.

And to be clear, I don't really care. It's just football. I'm just joining the discussion a bit.
 
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