From the Nile to the Mersey Trivia Quiz

Answer: Daniel Amokachi

Everton signed Daniel Amokachi from Club Brugge in 1994, and he went on to be instrumental in the 1995 FA Cup campaign, scoring two goals against Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-final. He also subbed himself on during the final, much to the annoyance of Everton's then manager Joe Royle, and wore a blue beret in the celebratory photos afterwards.

He was sold to Besiktas the following season, as Duncan Ferguson and cup hero Paul Rideout were the team's main strikers. After retiring, Amokachi had a couple of stints with the Super Eagles, the Nigerian national team - for whom he had scored thirteen goals - as assistant manager.

As well as the aforementioned Nigerian Toffees, there was also Yakubu 'Yak' Aiyegbeni, who had the honour of being one of the Premier League's highest-scoring African players.

Answer: True

Believe it or not, the great Samuel Eto'o actually played for Everton under Roberto Martinez, albeit only for half the 2014-15 season. He had hoped to win the Europa League with Everton, but they were sadly knocked out by Dynamo Kiev in the round of 16. During his time there, he scored four goals.

He is widely considered to be one of Cameroon's greatest players of all time and has won African Footballer of the Year four times, two of which were when he was at Barcelona. In the UK, Eto'o also played for Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, but it was at Barcelona and Inter Milan where he brought home multiple honours, including three Champions' League titles (two with Barcelona, one with Inter). On the international front, he scored 56 goals for Cameroon and won the African Cup of Nations with them in 2000 and 2002.

Answer: Crystal Palace

Eligible to represent three teams internationally, winger and aspiring grime MC Yannick Bolasie joined Everton in 2016, as one of the new signings by new manager Ronald Koeman. Unfortunately, much of Bolasie's time at Everton was spent on the bench or in recovery following an anterior cruciate ligament injury, which kept him on the sidelines for a year.

He spent much of 2018 to 2021 on loan to various clubs, and left Everton in 2021 after Carlo Ancelotti made it clear that Bolasie did not feature in his plans for the squad.

When Bolasie and Romelu Lukaku - who is also of Congolese descent - were both at Everton, they spoke Lingala, a Congolese dialect, to each other on the pitch. Like Lukaku, Bolasie comes from a footballing family; his cousins Lomana and Kazenga LuaLua and Trésor Kandol are also footballers. Outside football, he filmed a rap battle with Bradley Wright-Phillips, son of former Arsenal striker Ian Wright.

Answer: Borussia Dortmund

Steven Pienaar, nicknamed 'Schillo' after Italian footballer Totò Schillaci, initially was loaned to Everton by Dortmund during the 2007-08 season, before joining the following year. He rejoined Everton from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, again after spending a season on loan. During the later years of David Moyes' tenure, Pienaar and left-back Leighton Baines made a formidable partnership, although his career was plagued by injuries, particularly during Roberto Martinez's time at the club from 2013 to 2016.

He was released by Everton in 2016 when his contract expired and, like former Everton team mates Victor Anichebe, Jack Rodwell, Darron Gibson, Bryan Oviedo and Joleon Lescott, he was reunited with Moyes at Sunderland during a catastrophic season.

After retiring, he became an international ambassador for Everton.

Answer: Senegal

The temperamental El Hadji Diouf played for Liverpool from 2002 to 2005, along with compatriot Salif Diao. Although Gérard Houllier had high hopes for Diouf and he got off to a good start, his relationship with club and fans turned sour and he became notorious for spitting at opponents.

He joined Bolton Wanderers in 2005. On a more positive note, Sadio Mané - signed from Southampton like his team mates Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana and Virgil van Dijk - became one of Liverpool's best and most important players under Jürgen Klopp, winning the African Footballer of the Year award in 2019 and featuring in both their 2019 Champions' League and 2020 title-winning squads.

He also tied with two other Africans, his team mate Mohamed Salah and Arsenal's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for the most goals scored in the 2018-19 season. On the other side of the park, Idrissa Gueye joined Everton from Aston Villa in 2016 and became a key player under Ronald Koeman and then Marco Silva, often holding the midfield together. Both he and France's Lucas Digne were awarded Everton's Player's Player of the Year in 2019. Later that year, he joined Paris St-Germain, and was greatly missed by Everton fans, with Silva failing to adequately replace him.

Answer: Zimbabwe

The eccentric Liverpool goalie was born in South Africa, but grew up in Zimbabwe - or, as it was then known, Rhodesia - and represented them at an international level, as well as fighting for the Rhodesian Army during the Bush War, for 11 months in the late 1970s.

Although he was also a talented cricketer as a boy, football won out and Liverpool signed him in 1981 from Vancouver Whitecaps as a replacement for the late, great Ray Clemence. Grobbelaar spent several years with the club, winning six titles, three FA Cups and a European Cup, and was present at both the Hillsborough and Heysel Stadium Disasters; he and his team mates attended the funerals of several of the Hillsborough victims' funerals.

His time at Liverpool was marred by a fight with team mate Steve McManaman in a 1993 Merseyside Derby, and allegations of match-fixing, although he and fellow footballers Hans Segers and John Fashanu were cleared in 1997.

The arrival of new goalie David James in 1992 saw Grobbelaar spending more time on the bench, and he left Liverpool for Southampton in 1994, before drifting around various English clubs until his retirement in 2007 at the ripe old age of fifty.

Answer: Kolo Toure

The Touré brothers were popular figures at Manchester City, where fans would sing their names to the tune of 2 Unlimited's 'No Limits'. Two years Yaya's senior, Kolo signed for Arsenal in 2002 - where he accidentally took out Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp AND Arsène Wenger in one notorious training session! - before joining City in 2009. Yaya joined him a year later and the brothers were part of Roberto Mancini's 2012 title-winning side.

However, the Tourés found themselves on opposite sides when Kolo moved to Liverpool. Both brothers played for the Ivory Coast in the 2014 World Cup, but the tournament was marred by the death of their younger player Ibrahim from cancer, aged just 28. On retiring, Kolo went into coaching and was reunited with his old boss Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, before following him to Leicester City.

He has spoken about hoping to inspire other African players to become coaches in the UK.

Answer: Djimi Traore

Although Sissoko did actually play for Liverpool (he joined in 2005), it was Traoré who got to be part of that unforgettable night in Istanbul. Signed in 1999, he captained the reserve team during 2003-04 and even came close to moving across the park, but ultimately stayed.

When Rafa Benitez replaced the late Gérard Houllier in 2004, Traoré's career enjoyed something of a resurgence, an own goal against Burnley in the FA Cup aside. Although he conceded the free kick that led to Paolo Maldini's goal in the first minute, Traoré made up for his error by preventing Andriy Shevchenko from scoring with a goal line clearance.

The following season, he found himself in competition for his place with John Arne Riise and Stephen Warnock, and departed for Charlton Athletic in 2006.

After retiring, he became an assistant manager with Seattle Sounders in the USA.

Answer: A military coup

Yes, this is a thing that happened! Although Keïta was playing during the coronavirus epidemic, it wasn't the disease that stopped play and resulted in him and his team mates being stuck in Guinea. During their match with Morocco, the then Guinean president Alpha Condé was captured and overthrown by the military in a coup d'état and the country's land and air borders were subsequently closed, while the constitution was dissolved by the military.

The Moroccan squad were trapped in their hotel until they were given leave to exit the country under escort. Morocco and Fiorentina midfielder Sofyan Amrabat posted footage of military forces roaming the streets on his Instagram, while coach Vahid Halilhodzic said the team could hear the gunfire in the streets. Meanwhile, Keïta and his team mates also returned home safely the following day.

Answer: Brentford

Mohamed Salah, along with Sadio Mané and Brazilian Roberto Firmino, made up a deadly attacking trio for Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool and was one of the key players in their 2020 title win. Beloved by Liverpool fans and Egyptians alike, he was signed from AC Roma in 2017 and had previously played for Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, although he was not a regular feature in the squad. (Some Chelsea fans wonder what could have been if Salah, Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku had all stayed.) A captain of the Egyptian national team, Salah won the African Footballer of the Year award in 2017 and 2018.

He had previously reached his hundredth goal in all competitions during a 2-2 draw with Everton, his 159th game for the club (putting him on the same level as Roger Hunt and Steven Gerrard), but it was against Brentford that he specifically scored his hundredth Premier League goal for Liverpool.

This game was also a draw, with the newly-promoted side coming back to draw 3-3 (now where have we heard that before?)