No African Defender Better Than Carragher? Fan Names 7 Giants to Prove Barton Wrong
- Jamie Carragher courted controversy after claiming that the Africa Cup of Nations is not a major tournament
- Controversial former footballer Joey Barton has sided with Carragher after fans claimed he was an average player
- Barton claimed no African defender was better than Carragher, but fans have disagreed, naming top African stars
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Joey Barton has picked up Jamie Carragher’s controversial statement about the Africa Cup of Nations not being a major tournament, and fans kicked against the opinion.
Carragher, while rating Mohamed Salah's chances of winning the 2025 Ballon d'Or, claimed that the AFCON does not directly boost the Liverpool star’s chances.
Source: Getty Images
This statement was termed as disrespectful by African football fans, and the majority of them claimed the opinion was bold coming from a player who was average.
Controversial former footballer Joey Barton supported Carragher and hit back at the claims that he was an average footballer
Joey Barton defends Carragher
Speaking on Common Sense with Joey Barton podcast, he hit back at Africans over their downplaying of Carragher's career and claimed no African defender was better than him.
“There's no better defender to come from Africa than Jamie Carragher. Africa have never produced a better defender than Jamie Carragher,” he said.
“Name me a better defender, can anybody name me a better African defender. Kolo Toure is not better than Carragher
“If I said to you, can have one in your team, bear in mind Carragher played at right back. Again, we're going through this great continent that's produced phenomenal talent and deserves to be taken seriously as a major tournament. Well, you can't name me one defender.”
Source: Getty Images
Football fan Femi Ogunsanwo, amongst others, disagreed with Barton and named seven African defenders, including Achraf Hakimi, whom he thinks are better than Carragher.
“Samuel kuffour 🇬🇭, Taribo West🇳🇬, Lucas Radebe🇿🇦, Rigobert, Song🇨🇲, Kalidou koulibaly🇸🇳, Joseph Yobo🇳🇬, Hakimi🇲🇦. The above were better than Carragher. Jamie was average at best in his time. Even Liverpool players say this,” he wrote.
Top sports journalist Oluwashina Okeleji also responded to Barton, naming 20 African defenders who he believes are better than Carragher.
His list includes top Nigerian defenders Joseph Yobo, Taribo West and the late Stephen Keshi.
The British pundit clarified his statements recently, claiming his fault was being clumsy with his use of words and that he never meant to be disrespectful.
“Where I got it wrong was I was clumsy with my language in describing AFCON as not a major tournament. I was trying to explain the merits of Mo Salah winning the Ballon d’Or, and I feel that not just AFCON but also tournaments like the Asia Games and Gold Cup don’t resonate with the people who vote for the award,” he said.
Augustine Eguavoen slams Carragher
Legit.ng reported that Augustine Eguavoen slammed Carragher after the former Liverpool defender downplayed the Africa Cup of Nations during a live programme.
The former Super Eagles midfielder hit back at the comment that AFCON is not a major tournament and called on award organisers to consider every tournament.
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Source: Legit.ng
