Koulibaly and I

If I had been a professional football player, Kalidou Koulibaly is whom I would have liked to emulate. I have admired the great Senegalese footballer since his times in Napoli (my favourite Italian side), when he was undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the Serie A and in the world. His strength, defensive vision, uncompromising style, and hard work, are qualities that I also try to have in my own working life. 

In 2022, before the World Cup, I was driving through Senegal, where I purchased a Koulibaly shirt, and proclaimed myself as his greatest fan amid the laughs of Senegalese and foreigners alike. I was wearing that very shirt when I celebrated his fantastic goal against Ecuador in the 2022 World Cup, and I have always kept admiring him, although not following his career as he moved to Saudi Arabia.

As Senegal faced Norway I was happy to see him on the pitch in what was surely to be a great match, and indeed it was, but not for myself or Koulibaly. In the 43rd minute, after a good match by the West Africans, Koulibaly gave the ball away to Marcus Holmgren Pedersen, who resolutely shot and scored Norway's first goal. Soon into the second half, Koulibaly was late on an interception on a pass by Ødegaard to Erling Haaland, allowing the Manchester City striker a shot that he seldomly misses. Again in the third Norwegian goal (after Ismaila Sarr had pulled one up for Senegal), Koulibaly seemed slow as Haaland scored again, and in the end the great Koulibaly was substituted.

Senegal scored a second almost at the end, and was close to equalising, but in the end Norway prevailed, and Senegal are likely out after two great matches (defeats nonetheless) against France and Norway.

I like Norway, but found myself disappointed about Senegal's defeat. Most of all I was saddened because of Koulibaly, whom I identified with more than ever: a great youth behind us, but having reached the age where we reluctantly must accept we are no longer as sharp or good at things as before. That not much is ahead but the memories…

 

The right team won

I supported Senegal unapologetically in the CAF final between Senegal and Morocco. No matter what I would have supported a country I have visited a few times and where I have always enjoyed. But their 0-1 victory after extra time was so much sweeter as it happened against a home side that seemed to have all the favours in a final they felt entitled to.

It was towards the end when Senegal had a goal annulled for a very small free kick. In my view it can be defended, those decisions are always bound to have subjectivity, but what happened after this made it more suspicious, as Morocco was awarded a penalty for an equally subjective reason, a fault of those that can or can’t be awarded. I think that it would likely not have been awarded had it not been for a home team in a final…

Things exploded with the Senegalese players leaving the match, but in the end the penalty was finally taken and missed…

Brahim Diaz thought he could pull a Panenka, but it was the worst Panenka in history, arrogant surely, careless perhaps, and Edouard Mendy just caught it easily.

One felt better for Mendy as Moroccans had throughout the match in the most unsportsmanlike way tried to grab a towel he used to dry his gloves, and they could just watch as he saved, the match went into extra time, and Senegal won on a spectacular goal by Everton’s Idrissa Gueye.

Just sometimes there is justice in football, and Senegal winning the CAF was full blown justice.

No surprises

I have had a great weekend. Can't say I focused on football. I did not watch Saturday's matches.  But I watched both today's matches, and although I was slightly disappointed I have to say the right teams got through.

Poland really had nothing to offer against a France where Kylian Mbappé has come out as the best player in the world: two goals where the Poles gave him space, and the match was really over. The Poles were a disappointment because they were so obviously happy just to have gone through their group, and yet they did not offer any opposition to France as they faced no expectations. France, in the meantime, appear more and more to be the team to beat!

England-France will be the quarterfinal. A clash for sure because of the historic rivalry between the two countries (and not just football). 

England defeated Senegal 3-0. 

I was wearing my Senegal shirt, but was very disappointed, although I have to credit England's deadly counter-attacks. The first two goals by Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane were simply superb counterattacking play, and although one can blame Senegal's defense, I think credit should also go to the English team.

Senegal fell, but will be missed, specially their fans, who many fans from many countries that feel entitled could learn a lot from.

Every fan should look forward to England-France. I will. 

It should be a great football match, and I hope the best wins, although I will not support any of these teams as one of them progresses.

But so far we have seen no surprises! The top teams have delivered, and it is indeed in the knock-out phases that we see the strength of the favourites, more than in the group phases. I hope we will see at least one surprise in the remaining matches!

The World's 16 best footballing nations

The Qatar World Cup continues to be an ugly political event that has come to symbolize ugly nationalism, disrespect, inequality, abuse and greed.

But I think this is just a symptom of our world.

In footballing terms the group stages have been interesting. After Brazil sensationally lost to Cameroun (and frankly this is as surprising as Argentina losing to Saudi Arabia or France losing to Tunisia) it is the first tournament since 1994 during which no team has gone through with maximum points (the same happened in 1958 and 1962, so it is not a common occurrence). But more interesting is that this is the first World Cup where all continental federations (except Oceania) are represented with at least one team (CONCACAF 1, CONMEBOL 2, CAF 2, UEFA, 8, AFC 3). 

The eight matches are as follows:

• Netherlands-USA: The Dutch got through with two victories and one difficult tie to Ecuador, and are surely not as strong as they should be. USA is the only representative from CONCACAF and looked well-organised to defeat Iran and tie England. It will surely be difficult for the Dutch, but I hope they prevail
• Argentina-Australia: Despite their opening loss to Saudia Arabia Argentina won the group and remain favourites. They are surely huge favourites against Australia. The Asian representatives went through on hard work but winning against two poor sides, Denmark and Tunisia. They were overrun by France and should be on their best to defeat Argentina (but certainly not impossible). I support Argentina wholeheartedly.
• France-Poland: The defending champions are looking strong, but lost to Tunisia in a match with many substitutes. They are surely favourites against the Poles, who look delighted just to have gone through. That said, no expectations could be Poland's strength as they still have quality players who could hurt France. But I expect France to prevail.
• England-Senegal: England will underestimate Senegal, that is a given, and I will surely support Senegal, where other players have stepped up in the absence of Sadio Mané. Koulibaly was spectacular against Ecuador and will face English players he knows well. It will be a close match I think, with England as weak favourites.
• Japan-Croatia: Japan winning the Group of Death is one of the surprises, and Croatia have surely seen that Japan defeated both Germany and Spain, although also that the Japanese do have weaknesses. If Croatia can take advantage of their quick passing then they could hope for a repeat of 2018. Japan I think are slight favourites though.
• Brazil-South Corea: The Corean victory against Portugal means that they prevented us from a repeat of the "Maracanazo" classic between Brazil and Uruguay. Don't mind that though. Corea and in particular their fans are the best side through. Brazil are enormous favourites, but the Coreans do and should not fear anybody, and could cause a sensation!
• Morocco-Spain: This is probably the clash I look most forward to. Neighbouring countries; the African upstart with a great team and confidence, against the European giants with some truly fantastic players. It has all the ingredients to be a fantastic match!
• Portugal-Switzerland: The Portuguese went through on first place with two wins and one loss, but appear not to have been tested yet. Switzerland will surely be a test. They showed their quality already in last year's Euro when eliminating France in an extraordinary match, and in this tournament have shown themselves solid in the back, but also strong in attack when it counted against Serbia. This match could go to either side!
  

Qualified and not qualified

We are in the last stages of the World Cup qualifiers. 

In Europe two decisive playoff matches saw Portugal and Poland qualify by defeating North Macedonia and Sweden respectively; both were 2-0 home victories. The Macedonians were never really close to pulling another surprise against the Portuguese, while the Swedes play without fantasy or passion, and will not really be missed in Qatar. One team remains to qualify: Wales will face the winner of Scotland-Ukraine, which was postponed due to the war in Ukraine.

In South America there was little to play for for everyone but Peru and Colombia. A victory for Peru against Paraguay would put them in the play-off match, while Colombia had to defeat Venezuela and hope that Peru did not win. Both Peru and Colombia won, but it was not enough for Colombia, who will be missed in Qatar (I am personally very sad not to see them qualify), but they only have themselves to blame for missing another World Cup (the last they missed was 2010). Peru in the meantime is going into a play-off match in June against Australia or the United Arab Emirates. It seems it will be Australia, and against them I think Peru's chances will be 50-50 of making it to their second World Cup in a row.

In Africa there was enormous excitement as the second legs of the playoffs took place with some upsets. Firstly, Nigeria will miss their first World Cup since 2006 when they only managed a 1-1 at home to Ghana, who I am personally happy to see back in the World Cup after they missed Russia 2018! 

In a near-repeat of the Africa Cup of Nations final Senegal eliminated Egypt after penalty kicks, following a 1-0 victory that had equalized Egypt's 1-0 victory in Cairo. The Senegalese fully deserved the victory as they were the ones looking for it, rather than the defensive Egyptians. That said, the victory was marred by the fans, who abused laser-lights at the Egyptian players, making the match appear like a rave party.

The other big upset was Cameroun, who defeated Algeria 1-2 in Algeria after having lost 0-1 at home. The match had to go into extra time, and after Ahmed Touba scoring an equalizer for Algeria in the 118th minute, Cameroun seemed eliminated, but a goal by Karl Toko Ekambi in the last kick of the match (124th minute!) put Cameroun in Qatar in what was surely a devastating blow for the talented Algerians. At the same time it will be great to see Cameroun back in a World Cup after the missed out on Russia 2018. 

Tunisia and Morocco will make up the rest if African contingent to Qatar.

Only three teams remain to qualify, and it will (likely) be decided among these: Wales, Scotland, Ukraine, Peru, Australia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Costa Rica.

Senegal champions!

Senegal has won their first African Cup of Nations title ever in an intense final against Egypt. Egypt has reached the final on a strong defense; every play-off match went into extra time, and the side managed by Carlos Queiroz appeared to believe they could win the title in the same way.

And they almost did: in a prelude of what was to come Senegal got a penalty kick at the start of the match, but Sadio Mané's hard shot was saved by the Egyptian goalkeeper from Zamalek, Gabaski. 

Gabaski was simply splendid throughout the match, and caught everything that got through the otherwise strong and organised Egyptian defense, and as the match went into extra time and penalties with the score 0-0 one had to wonder whether Egypt's plan would work with a goalkeeper that seemed invincible on the day.

But Senegal deservedly prevailed in a nerve-wrecking penalty competition, despite one excellent save from Gabaski on one of the Senegalese shots. But with one shot on the post and a save from Edouard Mendy (perhaps the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment, although Gabaski clearly outshined him today, and very unusually, but deservedly, was made Man of the Match) gave Sadio Mané the opportunity to shoot the victorious penalty kick for Senegal, soon forgetting the penalty kick during the match.

It was the best thing for African football that Senegal won, as they have been the best team throughout the tournament, and despite feeling sorry for Gabaski, Egypt were simply a team defending their way through the tournament. It was also great to see an African manager, Aliou Cissé, managed his side to the title in a continent where too many second rate foreign coaches have managed teams.

It has been a good tournament, but now ten of the teams must look forward to the World Cup playoff matches in March. In fact, Senegal and Egypt will be facing one another for a spot in Qatar in a repeat of today's final, so one of the teams will be missing out of the World Cup. I hope it will be Egypt and would be delighted to see Senegal continue their celebrations!

RIP Papa Diop

The sadness of 2020 continues, also in the football world. At only 46 the Senegalese legend Papa Bouba Diop has just passed away. He is remembered for scoring Senegal's winning goal in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, when the African debutantes sensationally defeated the French world champions, and leading Senegal to the World Cup quarterfinals. In Europe he had a long career that took him to Greece, Switzerland, France, and the English Premier League.

RIP

The plot against Africa

Japan are a disgrace to football. Playing against the poor Polish side, and perhaps wanting to give the weak Europeans a victory out of courtesy, the Japanese relied on Colombia's 1-0 lead against Senegal. A Japanese goal would have put them through, but they decided to stop playing football instead.
Football is not about winning. It is about entertaining. If it were about doing what the Japanese did, nobody would watch it, and I do not understand why a team would not want to be eliminated with honour (such as Peru) rather than continuing in the tournament as a disgrace to the game, such as Japan are doing now.
I hope Belgium hammers the Japanese back to sumo wrestling.

All this said: that Senegal is eliminated because they had two more yellow cards is also disgraceful, since anyone knows how randomly referees award their yellow cards. The referee gave all the small calls to Colombia, who was mainly victorious because of a serious defensive error. Senegal are the last African team out. Nigeria were eliminated after losing 1-2 to Argentina in a match where they should have been given a penalty for hand-ball. With all three North African sides out early (although both Morocco and Tunisia finished off with a decent tie and a victory, respectively) Russia 2018 has most certainly not been the World Cup for Africa.

Qué Kagawa!

Colombia expected to defeat Japan as they did in 2014. Back then it was a stronger Japan side, and a Colombia side that was yet to take on the world stage. Today world renown Colombia faced a crisis-ridden Japanese side.
The first minute was probably crucial for how the match went: Carlos Sanchez was correctly awarded the first red card of the tournament when he made a hand save inside the area that must have been the envy of David Ospina. The great Shinji Kagawa did not miss the penalty (as others have done). Ten men down Japan were surely the most intelligent and fighting side against a Colombian side that clearly do not handle pressure well. Despite them equalizing thanks to a Juan Fernando Quintero free kick (with the help of hapless Eiji Kawashima on goal), Japan were the better team. Not even the great James Rodriguez coming on helped a side that stopped believing in the own skills as soon as Japan scored.
And all respect to an organized Japanese team: they did not seem in crisis, but were instead swimming in confidence. A splendid Yuya Osako scored the winner, and now Japan are suddenly looking like contenders for the next round.

Poland lost to 1-2 to a fantastic Senegal (giving Africa its first victory of the tournament). For many  people Poland and Colombia were the favourites of this group (in my personal opinion Poland has always been the most overrated side of this tournament; they play horrible football, relying on only Lewandowski's brilliance, and their fans are the most pathetic in the world). Now Poland and Colombia will be facing each other in the tournament's first "final".
Colombia are in my view a far better team, but if they play with as little heart and confidence when things go against them as they did against Japan, they will lose and break the hearts of millions of Colombian fans (including myself!!!).

Africa Cup of Nations Quarterfinals

The year has for me started a bit oddly, with a lot of travels and work that has not fully permitted me to dwell into football. This is a pity since one of the best tournaments that modern national team football has to offer has started in Gabon, namely the Africa Cup of Nations. And although I have only watched a few matches from my base in Monrovia, it is full of excitement!
Firstly, the hosts from Gabon were eliminated in a group won by Burkina Faso ahead of Cameroon. The most talked about was the elimination of the Gabonese, but credit to a tournament-oriented Burkinabe side and a Cameroon side of indomitable lions who have not gone beyond first round since 2010.
Gabon's elimination was not as sensational as that of the highly rated Algerians, who with a team full of stars were expected to make it far. But a defeat to Tunisia and ties to Senegal and Algeria saw them out with meager 2 points, while an exciting Senegal side won the group ahead of Tunisia.
Another big team eliminated were the defending champions of Ivory Coast. Much was also expected, but like the Algerians they also only managed 2 points with ties against DR Congo and Togo, while losing 0-1 to Morocco in the last all-important match. Morocco are not exciting to watch, but solid, and Ivory Coast's stars seemed to underestimate them. The big surprise was probably the DR Congo, who ended up winning the group ahead of Morocco, and will be one of the sides to watch.
In the last group Egypt and Ghana did what they were expected to do, easily outplaying Mali and Uganda and playing for first place tonight, in a match Egypt won 1-0, playing very intelligently against a Ghana side that could surely go all the way with its experience and talent.
With this great first round, we now have the following quarterfinals:

• Burkina Faso-Tunisia
• Egypt-Morocco
• Senegal-Cameroon
• DR Congo-Ghana

The matches promise to be great in a tournament full of surprises. Most of these teams follow their dreams of victory instead of dear of losing!!
Although I will not be in Africa to follow all the quarterfinals, be sure I will!

The Comeback Group Winners

Things have looked against Ghana in this Africa Cup of Nations: they started losing 1-2 to Senegal on a last minute goal. They then barely managed to defeat Algeria in the last minute. And today at first half, they were 0-1 down against South Africa. With Algeria leading 1-0 against Tunisia, it looked as if Ghana would end at the bottom of the group.
But Ghana have shown that they are a great side with a lot of routine by their ability to come back when things look the most difficult: with 17 minutes to go, and after intense pressure on the South  Africans, John Boye managed to equalize. With seven minutes to go Andre Ayew scored what would be the winner for the Ghanaians.
And with Algeria winning 2-0, the Black Stars moved from last to first in the group of death, ahead of the Algerians. Senegal, for whom everything looked so good, are out. So are South Africa, who played well, but who were up against a strong Ghana side that can still go all the way!

The Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers

The Africa Cup of Nations will take place in Equatorial Guinea in January, and the last qualifying matches took place today. One major surprise is that the defending champions from Nigeria failed to qualify: they needed to win at home, but only managed to draw 2-2 against South Africa. As Congo beat Sudan 0-1, they follow the Bafana Bafana to Equatorial Guinea. It will be great to have South Africa back among the best in Africa, although it is disappointing to see Nigeria out; the team was again hit by allegations of corruption and conflict prior to the match, and changes may be coming.
Another of the great African sides will not be there: A disappointing Egypt had already been eliminated before losing their final match to Tunisia, who won the group ahead of Senegal. In the meantime, the splendid Algeria that thrilled all of us at the World Cup lost 2-0 to Mali, but had already booked their place, while Mali will follow the North Africans with their victory. The giants Ivory Coast and Cameroon both made it to the finals by tying 0-0, while Ghana sealed their qualification with a 3-1 victory over Togo. In Ghana's group Guinea took the second spot by defeating Uganda 2-0. They were playing in Morocco because of the Ebola epidemic in Guinea. The same Morocco who forsook the tournament because of Ebola....
All in all, these are the 16 great sides that will compete in Equatorial Guinea:

• Equatorial Guinea: the hosts
• South Africa
• Congo
• Algeria
• Mali
• Gabon
• Burkina Faso
• Cameroon
• Ivory Coast
• Ghana
• Guinea
• Cape Verde
• Zambia
• Tunisia
• Senegal
• DR Congo

It could be a great tournament, hopefully not to be overshadowed by fear of Ebola, where big European clubs will not let their players join because of pure ignorance.

African World Cup Play-offs

The African World Cup Play-off draw has led to the following clashes:

• Ethiopia-Nigeria
• Ghana-Egypt
• Ivory Coast-Senegal
• Tunisia-Cameroun
• Burkina Faso-Algeria

The exciting newcomers from Ethiopia will have to play their best against Nigeria's African champions, while Ghana and Egypt will be an epic clash between two of the strongest footballing nations in Africa. Burkina Faso will also have to play their best to make it to their first World Cup ever, but it does not look impossible against Algeria.
First leg will be on October 11th to 15th!

Olympic football

Spain's youngsters might be excused for being too young to remember Honduras against Spain in 1982, when Spain, as huge favorites in the World Cup at home, lost 0-1 to the little Central American nation that most Spaniards might be excused not to be able to find on a map.
Today Spain should have been at least as big favorites as they had been in 1982 when the two sides played in the Olympic tournament. But after Spain's poor performance against Japan, it was obvious that Spain was beatable, although surely they could not lose to Honduras!
But they could.
Spain is out of the Olympic tournament, and although many may say it doesn't matter, it is surely a huge disappointment for a country used to winning everything, not only at senior level, but also at youth level.
Uruguay is one of the other pretenders for a gold medal, but have not looked strong in their opening 2-1 victory against the UAE. In their second match they were up against a Senegalese side, that although not talked much about, are surely also a team that have set their eyes on Olympic medals. And with their 2-0 victory against Uruguay Senegal have shown that they must be counted with. Uruguay have a very important match next Wednesday against the British hosts, who after defeating the UAE are looking at the quarterfinals.
Uruguay looks like another big exit to follow Spain.
Brazil on the other hand should now be the number one contenders for the gold, after their second victory of the tournament, 3-1 against Belarus. But if anything, the tournament has shown that no team can afford to underestimate their foes. This is what makes the Olympic football tournament so exciting!

African Cup Finalists: Egypt and Ivory Coast

I have not been following the African Cup with an overly keen interest after Ghana's disappointing exit. But after some great quarterfinals and semifinals, I certainly believe we can look forward to a very good final next Friday, between two of the best teams of the tournament: Home team Egypt against the World Cup bound Ivory Coast.

The Ivorians are in the final after an intense quarterfinal against Cameroon (which was won 12-11 after penalty kicks. Eto'o missed the last penalty for Cameroon, ending in shame a great tournament. I only wonder if he will be treated as Wome was...), and a narrow 1-0 victory against Nigeria in the semifinal. Didier Drogba has been a leading player on the Ivorian side, and he also scored the lone goal against Nigeria.

I am not surprised Egypt is in the final. The home team, "the Pharaohs", have been strong all the way, pushed forward by a wonderful crowd of fans. They easily dispatched Congo 4-1 in the quarterfinal, but had more problems in the semifinal. Senegal put up a great fight, and Egypt looked like a team falling apart when Senegal equalized on a beautiful header. Then, Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata showed himself as a super-star coach: with ten minutes to go, he replaced the Egyptian star Mido with a Amr Zaki. Mido left in disgrace, furious; he almost hit his coach. Mido had not played a good match, and the change proved a brilliant move. Amr Zaki had some magical 10 minutes on the pitch, scoring the winning goal for Egypt.

Great players respect their coach's decision and show restraint. Mido's reaction to his substitution just shows he is not such a player. If I was coach, I would not let him play the final.

In the group stages Egypt already defeated Ivory Coast 3-1. However, the Egyptians should certainly not feel comfortable because of that. The Ivorians are very strong, and will surely do all they can to spoil any party in Egypt on Friday.

Pathetic Ghana out

I had really psyched myself for a comfortable Ghanaian victory against Zimbabwe, which would put the Black Stars in the quartefinals of the African Nations Cup. Together with all of Ghana, I was to be disappointed.

Although many teams have shown disappointing performances in this year's African Nations Cup, Ghana's performance yesterday was disgraceful. The first-half strategy seemed to be to give away the midfield, something the coach should take responsibility for. However, at the same time, the players were barely concentrated: there was hardly a correct pass, and the defense was absolutely horrible in every respect. Although Ghana is indeed missing some of its important players, this is still no excuse from such a disgraceful exit from the African Cup. These are all professionals who should be highly motivated to play for their country.

Ghana ended up losing 2-1 only. It was the more disappointing as a tie would have been enough to put them in the quarterfinals, since Nigeria defeated Senegal 2-1.

I have had great expectations to Ghana. I still do. But after yesterday's exit, I am beginning to doubt that the Ghanaian team really has the guts to play some of the best teams in the World. Playing ten times better than yesterday will not be enough to defeat Italy or the Czech Republic, and I am now also willing to predict that the USA will defeat Ghana.

In spite of this, and not to be completely negative, I hope that the Ghana team can learn from this experience, and start preparations early on, focused on the immense task ahead of them in Germany.

As for the remainder of the African Cup, I have nobody to support any more.

Senegal-Ghana tonight!

Ghana is playing a crucial match against Senegal in the African Cup. Senegal won their first match against Zimbabwe 2-0, while Ghana lost to Nigeria. The Black Stars must win tonight!

I have not been so psyched for a national team match for long. I really hope that the Black Stars will make lion gullasch out of the Senegalese! If not, I will have to buy beer to anyone who supports Senegal!

Good luck Senegalese! You will need it!