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Monday Football
28 January 2008
by Jerrad Peters

African Nations Cup
In just three days, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa were all but eliminated from the African Nations Cup while Henri Kasperczak resigned as manager of the Lions of Teranga. The Pole’s sudden exit sparked rioting in Dakar. A mob of students blockaded a main rode in the capital and set tires and garbage alight before being dispersed by authorities. All in all, it was an eventful weekend in Ghana. But due to the escalating violence in Kenya’s Rift Valley following disputed election results, the ongoing African Nations Cup was only the second-biggest story to emerge from the continent.

Indeed, the crisis in Kenya has cast a dark shadow over the competition. As the participating nations entered the second matchday of the event, rioting and ethnic violence escalated in and around the cities of Nakuru and Naivasha on the eastern edge of the Rift Valley, just north of Nairobi. And with the death toll about to exceed 800, football has taken an understandable back-seat to politics at the moment.

Nevertheless, Kasperczak’s abrupt departure seemed to catch everyone off guard. Amata Fall, the Technical Director of the Senegalese Football Federation, admitted to being particularly surprised by the manager’s decision.

“We are surprised he has taken this decision,” Fall told the BBC, yesterday. “There was a good bond between him and the players.”

Kasperczak, meanwhile, expressed disappointment at the team’s performance. The loss to Angola, preceded by a 2-2 draw with Tunisia, has Senegal on the brink of elimination.

“I assume full responsibility for the poor showing,” stated the 61-year-old former boss of Ligue 1 sides Metz, St-Etienne, Strasbourg, Racing Club de Paris, Montpellier, and Lille. Internationally, Kasperczak has also managed Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Morocco, and Mali.

Senegal captain El Hadji Diouf was similarly exasperated by his side’s lack of focus.

“The whole team lost concentration,” commented the Bolton Wanderers forward. “It could happen to any team at any time.”

It almost didn’t happen at all. Senegal started Sunday’s match brightly. A Diomansy Kamara free-kick after 20-minutes fell to Souleymane Diawara who headed to Abdoulaye Faye for the game’s opening goal. Had Frederic Mendy and Diouf not missed clear opportunities in the minutes that followed, Senegal might have been three goals ahead at the half.

They would end up ruing their lack of finishing. Manchester United prospect Alberto Manucho took complete control of the match after the break. The 24-year-old leveled matters on 50-minutes with a header from Ze Kalanga’s seeing-eye cross. Seven minutes after the hour-mark, he put Angola ahead after a melee in front of ‘keeper Tony Sylva.

Despite persistent pressure from the Palancas Negras, Senegal continued to create and waste quality scoring chances. Mamadou Niang and Kamara might have each tallied before Manucho’s winner.

Twelve minutes from time, Amado Flavio headed Sebastio Gilberto’s cross past Sylva to seal the result. With four points in Group D, Angola are level with Tunisia atop the bracket and will go head-to-head with the Carthage Eagles on Thursday.

Sunday’s other match had the 2010 World Cup hosts soundly beaten by Tunisia. Like Senegal in the earlier fixture, South Africa squandered countless chances in front of goal en route to a 3-1 loss at Tamale Stadium. In fact, but for a superb save by goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui, Bafana Bafana might well have opened the scoring when Sibusia Zuma was put through by Steven Pienaar shortly after kickoff.

Manager Carlos Alberto Parreira’s side were quickly countered by the Carthage Eagles, however; and all-time top-scorer Francileudo Santos opened his account after just eight minutes. Half-an-hour later, it was Santos-turned-provider as the Brazilian-born FC Zurich striker rattled the bar after a blistering run. The rebound fell to the feet of Chaouki Ben Saada; and the Bastia forward slotted home for a 2-0 lead.

Just two minutes after Chaouki’s strike, Santos pounced on a poor pass from Nasief Morris. The 28-year-old made no mistake as he stroked the ball past Moneeb Josephs. With eleven minutes to play in the opening period, Tunisia were already 3-0 up.

After the restart, however, South Africa nearly pulled one back. Again it was Zuma creating the chance; but Thembinkosi Fantemi missed the net with his effort. Bafana Bafana continued to mount a prolonged offensive throughout the second half. But they were denied until Katlego Mphela converted Pienaar’s excellent run into a goal with just three minutes remaining on the referee’s watch. It was too little too late, however. And with a just single fixture remaining, South Africa’s early exit from the African Nations Cup is a near certainty.

While Senegal and South Africa were crashing out of the competition in Tamale, Cameroon was revitalizing their prospects to the south in Kumasi. With a 5-1 win over Zambia at Baba Yara Sports Stadium, the Indomitable Lions joined their rivals at joint-second in Group C – three points adrift of leaders Egypt.

Cameroon raced to a 3-0 lead by the interval through Geremi, Joseph Job, and Achille Emana. In truth, they might have been three goals ahead by the time Geremi opened the scoring in the 28th-minute. In particular, both Job and Emana missed chances from in close before the Newcastle midfielder curled a spectacular free-kick beyond goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene.

Four minutes later it was Job beating Mweene after Gilles Binya’s long-range free-kick managed to elude a trio of Zambia defenders. Similarly poor defending had Chipolopolo trailing by three at the interval. With only a minute remaining until the half, Isaac Chansa spilled Alexandre Song’s pass into the path of Emana. The Toulouse marksman made no mistake; and Cameroon appeared to have the points in the bag by the interval.

Shortly after the hour-mark, it was 4-0. Samuel Eto’o’s successful penalty was his 14th-goal in his African Nations Cup career – good for a share of the all-time lead with Cote d’Ivoire’s Laurent Pokou.

Job added his second of the night with eight minutes remaining in normal time when more disorder in the Zambia backline put him clear on goal. The clean-sheet was ruined, however, when Chris Katongo scored in added-time.

Zambia, after an encouraging start to the tournament against Sudan, will now have to defeat Egypt in order to entertain any hope of progressing into the knockout stages. Cameroon, on the other hand, should have six points after facing Sudan on Wednesday.

Egypt, it seems, are moving from strength to strength. After handing Cameroon a surprising 4-2 defeat last week, The Pharaoh’s drubbed geographical neighbors Sudan 3-0 as an encore. It should be said, however, that the result was far from assured at the outset.

The Desert Hawks settled promptly after kickoff and were quick to take their chances. Some fine interplay between Haitham Mustafa and Haytham Tambal nearly resulted in a shock opener for the underdogs; but Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary was equal to the task. Minutes later, Mustafa nearly beat El-Hadary from 25-yards. The Al-Alhy stopper fumbled the blast before recovering the ball in the nick of time.

Ten minutes after the Mustafa chance, the champions struck. Sudanese defender Elmuiz Abdalla fouled Hosni Abd Rabou inside the area; and the 23-year-old Strasbourg midfielder successfully converted his second attempt after the referee had forced a retake of the initial penalty.

Mohamed Zidan, having scored twice against Cameroon, came to life shortly after. The 24-year-old Hamburg striker shot over the bar after some fine provision from Amr Zaki and was denied by goalkeeper Elmuez Abdalla after Zaki put him through once again on 55-minutes.

Zaki’s fine play was finally rewarded in the 78th-minute. The 24-year-old Al-Zamalek forward played a delightful one-two with Mohamed Aboutriaka before the latter stroked the ball past Abdalla for a two-goal lead. Aboutriaka was at it again just five minutes later after running onto an Emad Motaeb pass before completing the scoring in the 83rd-minute.

Egypt’s six points pace Group C. Cameroon and Zambia, each on three points, make up the remaining contenders in the bracket.

In Group B, Nigeria find themselves in a similar position to Senegal. After two matches, the Super Eagles have earned just a single point and will be relying on others to trip up in order to progress into the quarterfinals. Most astonishing, however, is Nigeria’s goalscoring record in the competition. That is to say, a lack thereof. Berti’ Vogts high-powered offense has yet to score a single goal in the African Nations Cup. And with a goal-differential of -1, they can only advance if Ivory Coast happens to beat Mali by at least two goals.

It was never supposed to be this way. In the run-up to their kick-off against Cote d’Ivoire a week ago, Nigeria was thought to be one of the only, true contenders. That Cote d’Ivoire came away with a well-earned 1-0 victory was hardly as dire as the absolutely dreadful follow-up performance against Mali on Friday.

Everton striker Yakubu was particularly wasteful. The 25-year-old was practically useless in front of goal. The shots he did direct goalward were easily handled by Mali ‘keeper Mahamadou Sidibe. Still, it would be unfair to pin all of the blame on Yakubu. Vogts has simply been unable to coax anything resembling fluency from his attackers. The likes of Kanu, John Utaka, and Obafemi Martins have been equally inefficient.

That said, Mali contributed very little to match as well. Other than Seydou Keita’s hitting of the bar after 83-minutes, the Eagles were every bit as impotent as the Super Eagles. However, given that they have yet to play Cote d’Ivoire while Nigeria will conclude the group phase against Benin, Mali will be even more disappointed with the draw.

And rightfully so. With a match against Cote d’Ivoire looming on Tuesday, optimism cannot be running high among Jean-Francois Jodar’s squad at the moment. Along with returning champions Egypt and hosts Ghana, Les Elephants have to be considered a favorite for the trophy as the knockout stages approach.

Like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire can win in a variety of ways. As evidenced by the 1-0 victory over Nigeria last week, they are adept at grinding out a result. And, if Friday’s 4-1 destruction of Benin is any indication, they are more than capable of turning on the style as well.

Even so, it took nearly a full period for Gerard Gili’s men to find their flow. As it happened, Benin very nearly took the lead in the early going when Razak Omotoyossi fired just wide of goalkeeper Boubacar Barry. In the opposite goal, Rachad Chitou responded with a fine save on Didier Drogba after the Chelsea keeper had earned a clear opportunity on the edge of the box.

Drogba was not to be denied, however, when Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure played him into the clear with a superb through-ball. The 29-year-old unloaded a low, powerful drive to the corner of the Benin net for the opening goal of the match.

Now fully in control, Cote d’Ivoire doubled the lead just four minutes later when Kolo Toure danced around a pair of opposing defenders before supplying a lovely pass for his brother Yaya to convert.

Shortly after the restart, it was 3-0. Benin defender Damien Chrysostome coughed up the ball to Kader Keita in the 53rd-minute and the Lyon forward calmly deposited past Chitou. Ten minutes later, a piece of vintage interplay between Didier Drogba and Aruna Dindane rounded-out the scoring. Yaya’s long pass to Drogba was chipped to Dindane with a single touch before the Lens marksman completed the buildup. Omotoyossi pulled one back for The Squirrels in added-time; but Benin had been thoroughly outclassed and the scoreline was a just reflection of the balance of play.

Baring an upset at the hands of Mali on Tuesday, Cote d’Ivoire will win Group B and enter the quarterfinals as one of the favorites. A draw for the Eagles, however, would guarantee a knock-out match against Ghana next week.