The most colourful tournament in football is in full swing and we’ve already had a few surprises.

The African Cup of Nations competition always feels like a festival with the fans bringing the passion in hopes of seeing glory for their country. And it was a memorable first tournament for the tiny country Comoros Islands in their first tournament, as they beat Ghana 3-2. 

El Fardou Ben Mohamed scored Comoros’ first ever goal at the tournament, and then Ahmed Mogni added a second to put them 2-0 up. Ghana levelled the game before getting a man sent off, and then Mogni scored his second for Comoros to grab the winner for the tiny island nation with just five minutes on the clock. It was an amazing moment for the people of Comoros islands, whose population is under 1 million people.

The result meant Ghana were knocked out of the tournament, while Comoros finished the group stage in third place but still have an outside chance of qualifying as one of the best third-place finishers. 

We’ve also seen some Premier League players in the action, with Senegal topping their group despite only scoring one goal, a late penalty converted by Sadio Mane. Edouard Mendy was also busy in goal but kept a clean sheet, and Senegal are yet to concede a goal as they head into the knockouts.

Naby Keita was also involved for Guinea as he scored an important goal against Zimbabwe, with his team losing 2-1 but needing his goal to help them go through on goal difference.

Mo Salah scored the all-important goal in Egypt’s 1-0 win over Guinea-Bissau, and Klopp will love to see his players doing well and enjoying their tournament in Africa, while realising the better they do the longer it will be until he has them back in his squad.

There are still a few group games to be played before the excitement heats up into the knockout rounds. Cameroon and Nigeria are two of the favourites this year and lead the charge into the next round, along with Senegal, and the rest of the usual suspects such as Morocco, Ivory Coast and Egypt will put up a good challenge.

As a player you always want to play for your country and enjoy the moment. That is what I did playing for Holland. But if you ask me would I have loved to understand the feeling of playing for an African country I would have to come back with a big YES. The way African people come to the stadium and enjoy the game always feels like a party. These are the kind of parties I would have loved to experience. 

Senegal is one of the nations I will be watching closely because of the coach I played with called Aliou Cisse. Mane is always liked as a player and Mendy is having a great rise in his career. Let’s see what they do next because it’s exciting times in Africa! #mmlove