2023 AFCON: Drogba, Mikel, Mane, Hakimi Named Draw Assistants

2023 AFCON: Drogba, Mikel, Mane, Hakimi Named Draw Assistants

Ibrahim Lateef 

Super Eagles legend, John Obi Mikel, his former Chelsea captain, Didier Drogba, and the duo of Sadio Mane and Achraf Hakimi, will support the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as Draw Assistants in Thursday night's final draw of the Africa Cup of Nations tagged Cote d’Ivoire 2023, BSNSports.com.ng reports.

Anxious football fans will get to see the African heavyweight quartet live during the draw that will take place at the breathtaking, brand-new Parc des Expositions venue in Abidjan on Thursday 12 October, as the build-up to the 34th edition of the biggest event on African soil reaches fever pitch.

Ivorian icon Drogba, Cote d’Ivoire’s all-time top goal scorer with 65 goals in 105 internationals - including the country’s first-ever goal in the FIFA World Cup in 2006 - is the popular hometown hero amongst the stellar Draw Assistants. Drogba scored 11 goals in 24 AFCON games for the Elephants and helped Cote d’Ivoire to two AFCON cup finals in 2006 and 2012.

His former Chelsea teammate Mikel, a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winner with Nigeria and also a three-time AFCON bronze medallist with the Super Eagles, is another big name who will grace the occasion.

The irrepressible Sadio Mane, who scored the winning penalty as Senegal won their first TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations title in Cameroon in 2021, is a revered two-time CAF African Player of the Year who will grace the Final Draw stage in Abidjan. Mane is Senegal’s all-time leading scorer with 38 international goals and has scored eight goals in 18 AFCON games for the Teranga Lions.

Paris Saint Germain right back Hakimi, who was part of the Morocco team that made a historic run to the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final, adds North African star quality to the list of Draw Assistants.

Delegations and the coaches from each of the 24 participating nations, CAF legends, international media, CAF commercial partners, showbiz celebrities and African leaders will be in attendance for the much-anticipated Final Draw, which will well and truly kick-start the final stretch to what is shaping up to the best AFCON ever.