The starting lineup for the Africa Cup of Nations: Mahrez represents Roshan's foreign players
Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez, who plays for Al-Ahli FC, represents the Roshan Saudi League's foreign contingent in the ideal lineup for the first round of the group stage of the Africa Cup of Nations, according to the "SofaScore" website.
Fourteen Roshan players were called up to the continental tournament, distributed across nine different national teams, including Algeria, which selected Mahrez from among its citizens playing professionally in Saudi Arabia.
SofaScore's lineup includes Botswana's Gwatseoni Fuku in goal; Nigeria's Semi Ajayi, Cameroon's Samuel Kutu, and Burkina Faso's Edmond Tapsoba in defense; Senegal's Idrissa Gueye and Nigeria's Alex Iwobi in midfield; and an attacking quintet consisting of Mahrez, Egypt's Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, Tunisia's Elias Achouri, and Senegal's Nicolas Jackson. The website assigns a rating from 0 to 10 to each player based on their performance. Botswana's goalkeeper, Fuku, received a perfect score, despite conceding three goals and his team's 3-0 loss to Senegal. His 14 saves during the match contributed to his high rating.
Ashouri came in second with a 9.5 rating after scoring two goals that helped Tunisia defeat Uganda 3-0.
Mahrez followed with a 9.1 rating, in recognition of his two goals in Algeria's 3-0 victory over Sudan.
The remaining players in the lineup received ratings between 8 and 8.7, with the exception of Cameroon's Kotto, who received a 7.8.
The matches of this round were played over four days, from Sunday to Wednesday, before a break on Thursday. The second round begins on Friday.