Managers Who Successfully Defended AFCON Titles As Aliou Cisse Eyes History With Senegal

• Aliou Cisse could make history should he win the 2023 AFCON title with Senegal
• Only two coaches have successfully defended the AFCON trophy in the past
• Senegal began their title defence in positive fashion, beating the Gambia 3-0

The Africa Cup of Nations has always been a tough hunting ground since time immemorial. Great players like Didier Drogba and Nwankwo Kanu retired without lifting the trophy.

This year's competition in Ivory Coast has already claimed a few heavyweights, with Ghana suffering a shock 2-1 loss to Cape Verde on January 14. Nigeria, Egypt and Cameroon were equally made to work for their draws against teams considered 'modest.'

But for defending champions Senegal they sent out an early statement of intent to walk the continent again with a comfortable 3-0 win over the Gambia. Lamine Camara was the start of the show, scoring twice in the victory in Yamoussoukro.

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The Teranaga Lions are the favourites to win the 2023 edition and become only the fourth nation after Egypt, Ghana and Cameroon to retain their titles successfully.

Should they do so, their head coach, Alious Cisse, could join an esteemed list of coaches in charge of the teams that retained their titles.

Managers who successfully defend AFCON titles

1. Charles Gyamfi (Ghana)

Of the four titles Ghana boast of, Charles Gyamfi won three. Gyamfi became the first African player to play in Germany when he joined Fortuna Dusseldorf in 1960, but his managerial stint left an indelible mark.

He first led his country to the AFCON title on home soil in 1963, beating Sudan 3-0 in the final. He repeated the same trick two years later in Tunisia, beating the hosts 3-2 after extra time and becoming the second country after Egypt to defend the AFCON title.

Gyamfi did win a third title with Ghana when he led them to victory in 1982 in Libya.

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2. Hassan Shehata (Egypt)

Egypt remains the last country to win the AFCON on home soil when they beat Ivory Coast on post-match penalties under the guidance of Hassan Shehata.

That began a four-year reign for the North Africans, with Shehata leading them to successive triumphs in 2008 and 2010.

They haven't won the AFCON again since Shehata left in 2011.

Other considerable stats about managers in AFCON history

Herve Renard is the only manager to have won the title with two different nations. He first did it with Zambia in 2012 before guiding Ivory Coast to victory in 2015. Belgian Hugo Broos could join him should he lead South Africa to 2023 glory. Broos was in charge of Cameroon when they won in 2017.

Players who play different positions for club and country

Emilio Nsue is Equatorial Guinea's all-time top scorer with 18 goals despite playing as a right-back for his professional side, CF Intercity.

Sports Brief reported on the players who play different positions for their club and country, with Canada's Alphonso Davies leading the list.