| badgerboy |
| (member) |
| 16/10/2007 18:05 |
2008 African Nations Cup
|
The 16 finalists for the competition which will be played in Ghana early next year are now known.
The year after each country is the last time they played in a Finals competition.
Angola (2006)
Benin (2004)
Cameroon (2006)
Cote D'Ivoire (2006)
Egypt (2006)
Ghana (2006)
Guinea (2006)
Mali (2004)
Morocco (2006)
Namibia (1998)
Nigeria (2006)
Senegal (2006)
South Africa (2006)
Sudan (1976)
Tunisia (2006)
Zambia (2006)
So - 12 of the teams that will play in Ghana also played in Egypt in 2006 and two more last played in the previous tournament in Tunisia in 2004.
So the biggest "surprises" are Namibia - who finished again of Congo-Kinshasa in Group 10 to qualify for the first time since 1998 & Sudan - who finished ahead of Tunisia (who still qualify as one of the best runners-up) in Group 4. This is the first time Sudan have made the finals since 1976.
Given that Al-Hilal (Omdurman) also reached the CAF Champions League Semi-Finals (losing narrowly to Etoile Sahel) there would appear to be a "decent vintage" of Sudanese Footballer at the moment.
Most of the big names will be in Ghana. In African terms the biggest omission is probably Congo-Kinshasa (who have appeared in the last 8 Finals competitions (a sequence only bettered by Egypt). Otherwise Algeria are missing for the second tournament in a row. And of course Togo (nearly forgot) who played in Germany missed out after finishing third behind Mali & Benin. Their home defeat to Mali at the weekend is also being investigated following crowd trouble after the game.
| druryfire |
| (member) |
| 23/10/2007 23:29 |
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Sudan, i very surprise package, but like you say, a decent vintage of footballer on the arising, they will again surprise a lot of African coaches who don't do their homework come Jan/Feb.
Good to see Namibia back in their, after that, all the countries seem to have qualified quite recently, in the past, so hard to see who could win it.
Ghana, the hosts, expect them to get to about semi's, but then anyone's comp.
Should be a good tournement, hope Eurosport cover it once again.
| Bena81 |
| (member) |
| 15/12/2007 13:57 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
forza les aigles de carthage!!! i hope tunisia bag this one too
| gonch |
| (member) |
| 10/01/2008 23:38 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
it should be a good tournament. personally i fancy senegal to do well, though ill be supporting nigeria. check my preview out on http://www.jf-justfootball.blogspot.com/
| henryfan1 |
| (member) |
| 11/01/2008 17:01 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Nice preview mate.
| gonch |
| (member) |
| 13/01/2008 01:30 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
thanks henry, each group will be uploaded over the coming days - group B is up now: http://www.jf-justfootball.blogspot.com/
worldsoccer
|
| (member) |
| 14/01/2008 16:40 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Our introduction to the tournament, plus previews of all the teams as well as the full squad lists, are now available on the web site in our African Cup of Nations section.
For details of the tournament click here
Enjoy!
| BlueLou |
| (member) |
| 14/01/2008 21:49 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
It's a shame that CAF do not release player date of births for anoraks like myself.
| gonch |
| (member) |
| 16/01/2008 00:04 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Sudan took a 6-0 beating off Guinea in a build up game, looks like they might just struggle!
P.s. my complete preview is now available for anyone interested, link below.
| KoloToure |
| (member) |
| 20/01/2008 09:54 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Quote:
Sudan, i very surprise package, but like you say, a decent vintage of footballer on the arising, they will again surprise a lot of African coaches who don't do their homework come Jan/Feb.
Good to see Namibia back in their, after that, all the countries seem to have qualified quite recently, in the past, so hard to see who could win it.
Ghana, the hosts, expect them to get to about semi's, but then anyone's comp.
Should be a good tournement, hope Eurosport cover it once again.
I agree, Sudan could be a surprise..
IMHO main favourites are Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast
| KoloToure |
| (member) |
| 20/01/2008 23:46 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
1st match GHANA - GUINEA 2:1
http://vinovo.magnify.net/item/T8QHP6XZMH7HP1QT
Video and goals from match
| thrall |
| (member) |
| 21/01/2008 21:22 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Today:
Namibia 1 Morocco 5
Nigeria 0 Ivory Coast 1
so far
Mali is winning 1-0 at the moment against Benin
I was able to watch Nigeria game from Eurosport, i expected a better game but i think it was mostly a poor match. Both teams lacked organization upfront, mostly Nigeria. Their line-up was a bit strange. Yakubu, Martins as forwards, Kanu backing them up from attacking midfeilder position, Utaka as a right winger... They simply couldn`t make the play from the midfield. Salomon Kalou scored the only goal in the game, it was a beautiful one, he dribbled past 3 Nigerians before putting the ball to the net.
| barney |
| (member) |
| 23/01/2008 11:27 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
Great result for Nigeria - if you're an Everton fan. The sooner we get Yakubu and Yobo back the better as far as I'm concerned.
I've enjoyed the coverage I've seen so far, but am I alone in hoping that the players who play for my club are on the first plane out of Ghana?
| badgerboy |
| (member) |
| 23/01/2008 12:41 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
I'd have thought waiting an extra week or so & receiving returning players buoyed by a fantastic ACN would be better than getting players back early but demoralised by an unexpected early exit.
I might be wrong though.
| thrall |
| (member) |
| 23/01/2008 13:16 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
What do you think of today's game ?
Tunisia versus Senegal
| gonch |
| (member) |
| 09/02/2008 12:11 |
|
Re: 2008 African Nations Cup
|
so, cameroon or egypt?
| Rogorn |
| (member) |
| 10/02/2008 19:33 |
|
Egypt 1 Cameroon 0: Oops, Song's done it again
|
Nothing like beating the goalscoring record of a tournament to guarantee a low-scoring final. This match was your typical run-of-the-mill final, with too much at stake for much really good or entertaining football, relying instead on anticipation and emotion for excitement.
And mistakes for goals. Rigobert Song is probably not one of those players whose career one follows closely, in part because he moves clubs and even countries so often, and second, because he is just one frustrating player. From being sent off in a World Cup match at 17, whenever one stumbles across on him on TV in one match or another, he always seems to be being shown cards, making costly mistakes and putting in mistimed tackles. Or even clashing with his manager in mid-game. Maybe that's what they call 'an uncompromising defender'. One wonders what has he really done to deserve 100+ caps.
Well done, Egypt anyway. They thoroughly deserved it.
| thrall |
| (member) |
| 10/02/2008 21:28 |
|
Re: Egypt 1 Cameroon 0: Oops, Song's done it again
|
Congratulations to Egypt. They played well as a whole in the tournament.
I was able to watch 4-5 games of the cup and i found it really entertaining. The games were never really boring, there is not a single side that plays ugly.
Terika and Zaky of Egypt amazed me with their performances throughout the Cup.
By the way it is interesting to see captain A.Hassan playing as a holding midfielder , in his days at Besiktas, and Genclerbirligi in Turkey, he was an attacking midfielder or playing as a secondary striker. And most of the times he didn`t make any kind of contribution to defence. But in this cup... Different story.
| stephen_woodside |
| (member) |
| 10/02/2008 22:15 |
|
Re: Egypt 1 Cameroon 0: Oops, Song's done it again
|
Excellent tournament with lots of good football on show. Pele once predicted that an African nation would win the World Cup some years ago, and although his prediction still has yet to materalise despite the Brazilian legend expecting success in the African region to be achieved within a five year period, around 10 years ago, it would not surprise me if an African nation went on to achieve global cup success some time soon.
Possibly, the one thing that African national sides lack is tactical knowhow which i feel is their achiles heel, saying that however, i believe many African nations are improving vastly in that area. Many of the players on show during the African Cup of Nations, now ply their trades in the best league's in the world ence the improvements in the players developments. Egypt where deserved winners playing the most consistant team game throughout, a nation strangely enough with a squad with less domestically European based players than most participants, that apart, the tournament as a whole was a success despite the opening game being delayed due to the floodlights failing. Great tournament, exciting teams and deserved winners, the downside was that many poor match officials were on show but football was the main winner here.