2019 AFCON: Kenneth Omeruo Rated The Tournament’s Second Best Defender

A few days ago, we rightfully listed Kenneth Omeruo as one of the most valuable Super Eagles players at the ongoing 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). Now, with the quarterfinals about to kick off, he has just been rated the second-best defender in the tournament.

(Photo: Kenneth Omeruo via Twitter)

The stats were released by football site, WhoScored, which has been following the performances of players from the start of the competition. After crunching the numbers, Omeruo had an average rating of 7.91, behind Algeria’s Youcef Atal, whose average rating is 8.02.

After taking a closer look, it’ll interest you to know that Omeruo has recorded more clearances and blocks per game in the 270 minutes that both men have played so far in the tournament. And it’s not hard to see the figures manifest in the way he performs in each game.

In fact, the 25-year-old came so hard against Cameroon that he got the attention of CAF officials, who selected him and Chidozie Awaziem for a random drug test. Having scored a goal against Guinea, there’s no doubt that he’s currently the best defender on the Nigerian team.

Top rated defenders at #AFCON2019:

Y. Atal — 8.02
K. Omeruo — 7.91
P. Razakanantenaina — 7.68https://t.co/6OpyldJfik pic.twitter.com/Y13BDnmsAe

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 10, 2019