An astonishing four pairs of brothers will unite in Mauritania’s Africa Cup of Nations squad named by coach Amir Abdou this week in an unprecedented selection.
Nouh Mohamed El Abd and Sidi Ahmed Mohamed El Abd of leading domestic club Nouadhibou FC offer an almost-telepathic understanding as defender and midfielder respectively.
While the experienced Ba brothers, midfielder El Hadji and defender Lamine, bring continental knowledge from playing in England, France and Croatia during their well-travelled careers.
The inclusion of two sets of siblings apiece from the same two families underlines the remarkable abundance of footballing DNA passing down generations in the football-mad nation.
And Abdou will hope that seamless cohesion between flesh and blood on the field can help minnows Mauritania spring more surprises in Ivory Coast after defying expectations to reach the 2021 AFCON last 16.
“The presence of these four brothers in the Mauritania team for AFCON 2023 is not only a rare event in the history of the competition, but also a testimony to the exceptional footballing talent that the country offers to the world,” local reporter Jean-Hugues Settin told Afric-Foot.
With the El Abd boys playing together at Nouadhibou, one of Africa’s leading club sides, while El Hadji Ba now plies his trade there too, forging tight-knit units all over the pitch will be central to Mauritania’s hopes of progressing from a group containing Tunisia, Zambia and Eswatini.
If the family bands can inspire the squad to scale even greater heights than their trailblazing predecessors, Mauritanian football will continue shocking the continent in 2023.
