Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba was stretchered off after 65 minutes of the AFCON qualifier between Cameroon and Kenya… but he might not actually be injured.
One of the most fun things about reviewing Albion players on international duty is always trying to find information on what the African contingent have been up to.
Match reports and footage is hard to come by. Which should not be the case as African football is incredibly entertaining. It is why many of us in Europe now look forward to AFCON more than the European Championships.
This problem hit its nadir on Friday night. Cameroon defeated Kenya 4-1 at Japoma Stadium in Douala to remain top of qualifying Group J with seven points from three matches.
A fine Friday evening for fans of the Indomitable Lions. Not so much Brighton supporters 5,983 miles away when posts appeared on Twitter revealing Carlos Baleba had been stretched off injured.
Baleba has been one of the stars of the 2024-25 campaign so far for the Albion. For the first time since his £25 million move from Lille last summer, he has delivered a run of consistent performances.
So consistent in fact that he was voted WAB Brighton Player of the Month for September 2024 via a 65 percent landslide.
It would very much be in line with the Seagulls’ injury luck for Baleba to subsequently miss many months just as he establishes himself in the first team.
Jan Paul van Hecke and Joao Pedro have already been ruled out for six weeks each this season. Matt O’Riley was even more unfortunate, requiring ankle surgery less than 10 minutes into his Albion debut.
Naturally, the first assumption many Brighton fans would make upon reading the words Baleba stretchered off is that the midfielder is gone for weeks, months or if you feel particularly dramatic, years.
But thankfully, Carlos Baleba being stretchered off injured only appears to tell a small part of the story. So small in face that it did not even warrant a mention in the SuperSport match report of Cameroon 4-1 Kenya.
We know Vincent Aboubaker scored an eighth minute penalty to give Cameroon the lead. And that Martin Hongla doubled it on 39.
Kenya pulled one back through Michael Olunga with 41 played. But the lead was cut to one for only a few minutes as Bryan Mbuemo restored the two goal cushion in the dying minutes of the half.
Christian Bassogog completed the scoring just before the hour mark. But Baleba leaving the field on a stretcher? Nothing.
As a man who has something of an AFCON obsession, I can tell you that players being stretchered off is a surprisingly frequent occurrence.
Even when they are not seriously injured. And even when they are quite clearly acting. Especially when they are quite clearly acting.
See the video below for Exhibit A – quite possibly the best AFCON moment of all time. How Narcisse Ekanga of Equatorial Guinea did not win an Oscar in 2012 for his performance against Senegal is a genuine mystery.
Especially as he was so committed to his acting that he even doubled down by leaving the field on a stretcher. Magnificent.
Baleba being stretchered off during Cameroon 4-1 Kenya would appear to fit into the first category of player with no serious injury being carried off anyway.
How do we know? Well, because in amongst all the hullabaloo of a potential season-ending injury, it seemed to go unnoticed that Baleba was sat up on the stretcher looking very bemused as to why he was being carried off.
I saw Baleba being carried out on a stretcher. After that, he walked away naturally on his own two feet. Should I not worry? #bhafc pic.twitter.com/TV2p2qAqyJ
— MIÅ (@zx1578) October 11, 2024
Once the medical team get Baleba to the side of the pitch, he gets up and walks away. Is that the reason no match report from the game has felt the need to dedicate even a sentence to Carlos Baleba being injured? Because there is no injury.
We will find out for sure when Cameroon are next in action, this time away against Kenya on Monday. If Baleba is not in the matchday squad, it might be time to panic.
But right now, it would appear there is nothing wrong with him. African football is magnificent.
