The lucky last quarterfinalist

Yesterday Group D in the Africa Cup of Nations was decided: with Ivory Coast beating Cameroun 1-0, they won the group. But in the other match Guinea and Mali tied 1-1. This was the third 1-1 tie for each of them, and meant a draw would decide the quarterfinalist.
Guinea won, and will be excited to face Ghana in their next match, where Ghana will undoubtedly be the great favourite.
This must leave a bitter taste in Mali's participation, and one has to wonder whether there could not have been another better way of deciding this..?
Everyone knew that the teams were head to head when the matches ended yesterday. So why could they not have played extra time? Or perhaps gone directly to a penalty contest? One can argue that these are as much lotteries, but are they not better than a simple draw?
Guinea cannot deny they are the luckiest of all teams in the Africa Cup of Nations, no matter who wins!

Burkina Faso's first final!

Ghana disappointed again. Granted, they have not looked good in the tournament, and were lucky not to be eliminated by Cape Verde, but they remained favourites against Burkina Faso, who had never made it to a final before. As two years ago, penalty kicks in South Africa proved to be Ghana's doom, and just as Ivory Coast, Ghana must start to consider whether they are also a version of "old Spain", always entering tournaments as favourites and disappointing.
Burkina Faso in the meantime have been a delight, but they will be weakened in the final without Jonathan Pitroipa, who was red carded at the end of the match. While Burkina Faso will be a newcomer to the final they will face Nigeria, who entered the tournament without expectation but have been getting stronger and stronger, and were looking like champions when they crushed Mali 4-1 in their semifinal. For sure, Nigeria is on the verge of re-taking its rightful position as an African footballing superpower, amid all the chaos of its football. That said, the last hurdle of Burkina Faso will not be easy, as many fans will be cheering for the Burkinabes! Including myself!

Ghana and Mali in the semifinals

In 2005 I was in Ghana when the Black Stars defeated Cape Verde 4-0, and with that result qualified for their first World Cup. Today, I wore my Ghana shirt as I watched Ghana take on a Cape Verde side that has surprised everyone in this their first Africa Cup of Nations. Ghana were obviously favourites against the first-timers, but this could not be seen. While Ghana dominated the early stages of the match, the Cape Verde team was the best side all in all, and even though I am happy Ghana won, I cannot help but feel a bit sorry for Cape Verde, who deserved better. Ghana was saved by their goalkeeper Abdul Dauda, and two goals by Wakaso Mubarak, one on penalty, and one in an empty goal when Cape Verde had thrown every many forward for a corner kick.
I have no doubt that overall Ghana is a better team than Cape Verde. But Ghana must play better if they are to win the tournament! They cannot rely just on Dauda and Wakaso!
In the other semi-final South Africa was full of expectations to the Bafana-Bafana, only to be disappointed again. 1-1 after extra time against Mali, who won the penalty kicks 3-1 after South Africa missed three penalties in a row. While South Africa are disappointed, this victory is surely another boost for Mali!

African Quarterfinals

With the time difference I have not had much chance to watch the Africa Cup of Nations. A couple of days ago I saw Nigeria's two penalty victory against Ethiopia in Group C that put the giants in the next round. Nigeria is eager for a success that has eluded the African giants for years, but their team is not looking that strong. The real surprise in group C was Burkina Faso. With 0-0 against the defending champions of Zambia they both won the group and eliminated the champions, an admirable feat, and it will be interesting to see them in the quarterfinals, where they will be up against Togo, while Nigeria will have it difficult against the favourites of Ivory Coast.
As expected Ivory Coast won their group D ahead of the Togolese. For Togo a 1-1 tie with Tunisia in their last match was enough, given Tunisia's bad score against the Ivorians.
My unapologetically favourite side is Ghana, whom I really hope to see lift the trophy. They were efficient in winning their group B, and will now face one of the surprise teams of the tournament, namely Cape Verde.  They were followed by Mali, a country with a strong team and full of hope given the difficult situation in the country. Mali will have it difficult in the next round as they will face the South African hosts, who won their group A. South Africa has not looked strong though, and that will be Mali's chance.
As mentioned, Cape Verde were a surprise. After ties against South Africa and Morocco, a 91st minute goal by Heldon Ramos put them in the quarterfinals in their first African Cup of Nations ever, a great feat by the small island nation!
The quarterfinals this weekend look as follows:

• South Africa-Mali
• Ghana-Cape Verde
• Ivory Coast-Nigeria
• Burkina Faso-Togo

Ghana on the way

I have unfortunately not had much chance of watching the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa. Not just because I miss the vuvuzelas, but also because of the great teams playing!
A few days ago I managed to watch a shaky Ivory Coast side defeat Togo 2-1 on a late goal by Gervinho. While Togo had deserved better, the Ivorians must surely up their game if they are not to be disappointed yet again in a big tournament, which looks to be the great Didier Drogba's last one!
My favourite team, as always, is Ghana. Again, I am full of hope that this time the Black Stars can go all the way, and show that if anyone, the title belongs to them, as the African team that did best in the last World Cup.
Ghana started with 2-2 against DR Congo, in a match where they were up 2-0, and did not manage to hold on. Today they were up against a strong and highly motivated Mali side that surely had the capacity to shake the Ghanaians. It was not a fantastic match. The Ghanaians played disciplined, fought hard, and defended very well after they got ahead 1-0 on a penalty taken by Wakaso. Mali tried, but in vain against the strong Ghanaians.
It wasn't pretty, but it worked, and Ghana is not first in the group with 4 points, and has Niger in their last match, which they should win.
Go Black Stars!

Gabon out, Ghana in

Mali made it to the semifinal of the Africa Cup of Nations after defeating the co-hosts Gabon on penalty kicks. Gabon played a good match with massive home support that included Gabon's long-time president Omar Bongo. It was an intense match where Gabon took the lead early in the second half by Eric Mouloungui. But with only seven minutes left Bordeaux striker Cheick Diabate equalized for Mali, and the match went into extra time, and eventually, penalties. In particular Mali's players were extraordinarily cool, and made it look very easy on every one of their shots. For the disappointed Gabonese, their only miss was by their young star, St. Etienne striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Surely a disappointment for the youngster, whom I am nevertheless sure we will hear more about. But you should have seen Mr. Bongo's face when Aubameyang missed the penalty.... The other quarterfinal today was between Ghana and Mali, which turned out a not too pretty match with some very dirty play by the Tunisians towards the end. Ghana took an early lead by captain John Mensah, but Tunisia equalized before halftime by Saber Khelifa. The match also had to go into extra time, and it undoubtedly looked like another round of penalty kicks until the Tunisian goalkeeper, Aymen Mathlouthi, made a huge mistake, when he could not hold a rather easy ball which instead fell to Andre Ayew, who could easily score Ghana's winner. Both semifinals on next Wednesday will be very exciting matches:

• Ghana-Zambia
• Cote d'Ivoire-Mali

And I support GHANA!

Olympic quarterfinals

I just saw my first game during these Olympics, when I watched Portugal get humilliated 2-4 by an excellent Costa Rican side.
The quarterfinals for August 21st are as follows:
Mali-Italy
Iraq-Australia
Argentina-Costa Rica
Paraguay-South Corea
As compared with other tournaments, the interesting teams are Mali, Iraq and Australia, who have an otherwise lacking appearance in World Cups (Iraq in 1986, and Australia in 1974).
In spite of the surprises seen so far, I think Argentina stands the best chances of winning. They have many young super-stars as D'Alessandro, Saviola and Tevez, well supplemented by older players like Roberto Ayala and Gabriel Heinze.
Paraguay also stands good chances, as they have shown amazing strength so far. It is becoming interesting to follow.