African Cup of Nations

Its a shame we can't watch this over here,African football is probably the most interesting to watch as of late. Anyone see the U17 world cup? Amazing stuff - Nigeria took it out believe it or not. I think it's because of their style of play...a style which I think New Zealand should look at mimicking certain aspects of. The keeper was caught out TWICE that I saw from a long range shot which he wasn't expecting...why? Because us Europeans love to dribble the ball into the net. <--------- STUPID! This is why I wish we could watch the African Cup of Nations...would be nice for us to see something different than the Hyundai A-League (Don't get me wrong,it's great to watch) or the English Premier League.
kirk2008-01-29 21:00:57

More results:

1852: Full-time Nigeria 2-0 Benin
Scenes of jubilation for the Super Eagles, who are through to the last eight. They will play Ghana in Accra on Sunday. They have really got out of jail today after a less then impressive performance through the group stage. They go through on goal difference.

1850: Full-time Ivory Coast 3-0 Mali
Played three, won three reads the group stage analysis for the Elephants. They will play Guinea in their quarter-final tie in Sekondi on Sunday. For Mali, it has been a day of crushing disappointment and this is the end of the road for them at this tournament.

Nigeria barely scraping through...

Which  means Ghana play Nigeria. Could be a good one...

Results from this morning:

Cameroon 3 Sudan 0

Egypt 1 Zambia 1

Egypt win the group, Cameroon second.

1859: The quarter-finals line-up is complete. Tunisia win Group B and they will remain in Tamale where they face Cameroon at 2030 GMT on Monday. Angola came second, reaching the knockout rounds for the first time in their history, and they play reigning champions Egypt in Kumasi at 1750 GMT on Monday.

South Africa, who showed signs of improvement, now have their work cut out to pull themselves into 2010 World Cup contenders. Senegal have an abundance of talent but rarely was it seen in Ghana and they head home with their heads hanging, especially after the nightclub incident reported at 1759. Is this the end for Diouf, Diop, Camara and co?

1854: FULL TIME in Kumasi - Senegal 1-1 South Africa.

1851: FULL TIME in Tamale - it's all over for Senegal and South Africa in Kumasi regardless of how their score finishes because Tunisia and Angola have drawn 0-0.

Full quarter-final line-up:

Ghana - Nigeria

Ivory Coast - Guinea

Egypt - Angola

Tunisia - Cameroon

... wait! Isn't someone missing...?   Now where's Maroc gone??? 

Lame about Tunisia and Angola, all this talk about going for a win.

The quarters look good, a couple of local derbies should produce some good games.

I would loooove to see Ghana v. Nigeria game.

Just watched highlights of the South Africa vs. Senegal game. It seems South Africa was putting Senegal under a lot of pressure in the 2nd half, just a total lack of composure, killer instinct and some amazing keeping. Senegal did have a great chance to take the win towards the end of the game.

You  couldn't make this up. In the middle of their own tournament CAF decide to have an awards ceremony in another country. Why didm't the geniuses at CAF just hold the ceremony in Accra? 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080201/sp_soccer_afp/fblafr2008ghangr

1854: FULL-TIME - GHANA 2-1 NIGERIA
Full of character and guts, the Black Stars have emerged winners. Semi-finals here they come.

Sleep will be a rare commodity on Accra tonight. The Ohene Djan erupts with joy which no doubt echoes throughout the proud West African nation.

Ivory Coast 5 - 0 Guinea Abdulkader Keita (25)
Didier Drogba (70)
Salomon Kalou (73)
Salomon Kalou (81)
Bakari Kone (86)

Salomon Kalou scored a double as Ivory Coast cruised into the semi-finals of the African Nations Cup with a 5-0 demolition of Guinea in Sekondi on Sunday. Ivory Coast next play either Tunisia or Cameroon, who meet in their quarter-final in Tamale on Monday. Abdelkader Keita opened the scoring in the 25th minute of the quarter-final at the Essipon stadium after outpacing the Guinea defence for a 1-0 halftime lead. Captain Didier Drogba made it two in the 70th having been put through by Kalou, who netted his double in the space of nine minutes between the 73rd and 81st. Substitute Bakary Kone rubbed salt in Guinea's wounds by adding a fifth four minutes from time.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=236089&cc=3436

I wish the African Cup of Nations was on tv here. I watched last year's one while in Greece, and the quality of football, along with the spectacle of it, was a sight to behold. Captivating style of football. Some real flair across the teams. It would be just the sort of football to sell the game to a country like NZ, because of the spectacle. It would convert a lot of non-believers for sure.

Fully agree, it's great to watch teams just going for it.

You take any major tournament - WC or Euro or whatever. Those tournaments will always feature one or two games that are exactly that, just raw football. 90 minutes of flair, passion, and just going for it as you say.

Egypt 2 - 1 Angola Hosni Abd Rabou (pen 23)
Amr Zaki (38)

A fortunate bounce off the body of striker Amr Zaki was enough to ensure Egypt retained hopes of a successful African Nations Cup title defence with a 2-1 win over Angola in their quarter-final on Monday. Zaki's 38th-minute goal proved the winner at Kumasi's Baba Yara stadium, setting up a semi-final with the Ivory Coast at the same venue on Thursday. Egypt took the lead with a Hosni Abd Rabou penalty in the 23rd minute but Angola equalised soon after with a superb dipping shot by Manucho. The semi-final will be repeat of the 2006 final in Cairo, which the Egyptians won on penalties.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=236354&cc=3436

Tunisia 2 - 3 Cameroon Chouki Ben Saada (35)
Yassine Chikhaoui (81)
  Stephane Mbia (19)
Geremi (27)
Stephane Mbia (92)
Seems like a great game. Tunisia equals with about 10min to go and Cameroon win it in extra time. No report yet on Soccernet, but a longer report from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7225170.stm

Someone had already posted about the clash between the African Cup of Nations and CAF award ceremony and there is fresh controversy:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=505188&campaign=rss&source=soccernet&cc=3436

Ivory Coast accuse CAF over Kanoute's award

SEKONDI, Ghana, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba did not win the 2007 African Footballer of the Year award because he refused to attend Friday's ceremony in Lome.

Team spokesman Jean-Claude Djacus said the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had planned to give the award to the Chelsea forward but decided not to after he said he would not travel to the Togolese capital to collect it. CAF chief communications director Suleiman Habuba was not immediately available for comment. Drogba is playing in the African Nations Cup in Ghana with Ivory Coast who have reached the semi-finals. The award went to Mali striker Frederic Kanoute. 'CAF has brought itself into disrepute,' Djacus said. 'They called Didier on the eve of the ceremony to tell him they would give the award to Kanoute if he did not come. Didier is now saying that he does not want to be part of the 2008 vote.'

Don't understand why they couldn't have the awards in Ghana or at the conclusion of the African Cup of Nations.
<!-- end pagetitle --> <!-- begin text11 div --> <!-- begin left column -->

Semi-finals are:

Egypt v Ivory Coast
Cameroon v Ghana

Just about all the major favourites are through, only Egypt being a slight underdog getting this far even though they are defending champions. So pretty predictable. On form a Ivory Coast v Ghana final, as these two teams have been the most consistent over the tournament and probably over the last few years.

Further over the awards fiasco. Source:BBC

Ghana 0 Cameroon 1

Go Indomitable Lions!!!

Egypt are beating Ivory Coast, but it's still early in the game.

2120: Half-time Ivory Coast 0-1 Egypt
After 51 minutes the half comes to an end. Ivory Coast finished strongly but Egypt played well as a team unit.

Egypt leading 3-1 in the second half, on the verge of making a second ceonsecutive final.

Yay. Toure's coming home!!

Ivory Coast 1 - 4 Egypt Abdulkader Keita (63)
  Ahmed Fathi (12)
Amr Zaki (62)
Amr Zaki (67)
Mohamed Aboutriaka (90)
Striker Amr Zaki scored twice to help defending champions Egypt to a stunning 4-1 win over favourites Ivory Coast in their African Nations Cup semi-final on Thursday.

In an enthralling match, Ahmed Fathi gave Egypt an early lead before Zaki struck twice in five minutes just after the hour with Abdelkader Keita replying one minute after Zaki's first goal. Mohamed Aboutrika added a fourth in injury-time. Egypt, who meet Cameroon in Sunday's final in Accra, were also helped by an inspired performance from goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari, who denied Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba a goal on three occasions with the score still at 1-0. The match was a repeat of the 2006 final when Egypt beat Ivory Coast on penalties after a goalless draw in Cairo.

WOW!!!

I was surprised with both results today. Was predicting a Ghana v Ivory Coast final, and was only really giving Cameroon a chance against Ghana. I had thought that Egypt hadn't played that well in their last couple of games compared to Ivory Coast who seem to be in fine form. Just had a look and maybe Egypt are the bogey team for Ivory Coast, they beat them 3-1 and then on penalties in the final of the previous ANC.

تقدم  مصر  بلد

Did anyone see the clip of the Cameroon guy being sent off today? One of the Cameroon guys was down and receiving help from medics, when this guy just chrges up towards them and wrestles one of the medics to the ground. The ref had no choice but to send him off, but it was bizarre to say the least.
I'll try to find it on YouTube and post a link later.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4b0f3_ghancamersemi_travel?from=rss

Nothing on the sending off
Bullion2008-02-08 16:47:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7234297.stm

wonder what the coach, and teammates, said to Bikey after the match????

And the cup goes to Egypt.

Score ?

Found it.

1-0.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/africa/7236614.stm

Such a shame we don't get coverage of the Arican Nations Cup here. It's such a great tournament to watch.

Third place went to Ghana

Ghana 4 - 2 Ivory Coast Sulley Muntari (10)
Owusu-Abeyie Quincy (70)
Junior Agogo (80)
Haminu Draman (85)
  Boubacar Sanogo (24)
Boubacar Sanogo (32)
Overall I think that there were 99 goals scored, which is the highest in the AFCON. I think that 32 games were played (4groups with 6 games + 4 quarters + 2 semis + 2 finals) so just over 3 goals a game and only 3 red cards. Some amazing goals were scored.

Egypt? Bunch of **********!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/7258905.stm

snubbed their own fans....