Africa Cup of Nations lacks lustre for clubs

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Gabon next weekend, and if that’s a shrug I detect, then you are not alone.

The tournament is cursed by being seen as an irrelevance or an intrusion or both. We’re not even sure what to call it. Africa Cup, or African? ACON or CAN?

When seven Cameroon players refused to take part there was unmistakable approval from clubs and fans alike. Managers have to be careful about what they say, because there is an outside chance of a football association seeking a Fifa ban on players refusing a national call-up, but Jurgen Klopp was quite open about Joel Matip: