Patrick Vieira is defending the African Cup of Nations. The Crystal Palace manager is calling for more respect for the competition, which he says is as important as the Euro.
After Jurgen Klopp's "small league" and Luciano Spalletti's "invisible monster", Crystal Palace coach Patrick Vieira is taking the opposite view of his colleagues. The French coach is defending the 2021 African Cup of Nations tooth and nail. '' I will never prevent a player from taking part in the competition," the French coach swore in a pre-match press conference against Tottenham.'' I believe that this tournament must be more respected. It's as important as the Euro.''
Patrick Vieira will be without key players during the Africa Cup of Nations, with Senegal's Cheikhou Kouyate, Ghana's Jordan Ayew and Ivory Coast's Wilfried Zaha all missing.
The latter is currently the club's second highest scorer with five goals. Crystal Palace (20 pts) are 11th in the Premier League.
However, the tug of war between European clubs and the AFCON organizers continues. After the competition was maintained, the European clubs came back to the charge. This time, the World Leagues Forum refuses to release their players on 26 December as agreed by FIFA. They are threatening to let their players go only on 3 January, one week before the competition.
