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Tuesday Football
05 February 2008
by Jerrad Peters

African Nations Cup
There have been several, troublesome incidents at the 2008 African Nations Cup which, in any other year, might well have overshadowed the matches on the park. In the two weeks of competition in Ghana, Benin manager Reinhard Fabisch made a match-fixing allegation, Senegal boss Henri Kasperczak resigned, Senegal captain El Hadji Diouf was caught indulging in Kumasi’s nightlife and subsequently benched, and Didier Droba locked horns with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) over the awarding of last year’s African Player of the Year honor. That the fixtures have not been surpassed in attention by the sideshows is due to a single reality. The football has been terrific.

Exhibit A: Cameroon’s thrilling, extra-time victory over Group D winners Tunisia in the quarterfinals on Monday. By progressing into the final four, the Indomitable Lions are the only semifinal participant to have finished runners-up in their section. A 4-2 loss to Egypt in their opening match ensured that they played out the group phase with considerably less notice than the returning champions. And despite a pair of impressive wins over Zambia and Sudan to complete their schedule, Otto Pfister’s side never seemed to be considered a contender in the vein of Ghana, Egypt, and Cote d’Ivoire.

All that has changed. Even the skeptics who considered Cameroon a one-trick pony – over-dependent on Samuel Eto’o – have changed their tune. The Barcelona striker, while a factor, did not register on the scoresheet against Tunisia. Nevertheless, Cameroon managed three goals. And semifinal opponents Ghana will surely be of the mind that Eto’o is unlikely to be kept from scoring in back-to-back matches. An upset may be in the offing. Then again, Cameroon are four-time champions. They are never actually involved in an upset unless they happen to be on the receiving end of one.

In actuality, more eyebrows would have been raised had Tunisia dumped Cameroon out of the African Nations Cup. Despite winning Group D by virtue of goals-scored over second-place Angola, the Carthage Eagles were mostly untested through the opening fixtures. And Cameroon, in an attacking mindset, wasted no time in proving just that.

Jean Makoun’s botched effort from in close might well have opened the scoring. The Lille midfielder, having run under Geremi’s cross after Eto’o’s superb run created the opportunity, headed just wide of goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui. Stephane Mbia was considerably more accurate with his header just moments later. Alexandre Song’s cross found the Rennes man at the far post for the first goal of the match.

The scrappy affair took on a decidedly more desperate component after the opener. But while Tunisia battled for a quick equalizer, Cameroon continued to hit them on the break. Just prior to the half-hour, Geremi bulged the top corner of the net with a brilliant free-kick from well near 30-yards.

With half-time approaching, Cameroon looked in full control. Indeed, had Chaouki Ben Saada not been awarded a free-kick after 35-minutes, the second period would certainly have been an altogether different matter. Ben Saada, however, pulled Tunisia to within a goal with his blast from distance; and Francileudo Santos nearly had the equalizer when he rattled the woodwork just six minutes later.

The Carthage Eagles would have to wait another, agonizing 37-minutes for a level scoreline after the restart. And in the meantime, their extended periods of possession gifted the opposition a handful of quality chances on the counter-attack. Eto’o could have iced it in the 71st-minute had Rahdi Jaidi not made a well-timed tackle on the 26-year-old.

Finally, the breakthrough came. Chaouki, after some hard work to the right of ‘keeper Idriss Carlos Kameni, had the two sides headed for extra time after his goal on 82-minutes.

But Cameroon hit back immediately. Again, it was Mbia. Toulouse midfielder Achille Emana turned a lovely one-touch pass to the 21-year-old’s feet for the eventual match-winner in the 92nd-minute. Tunisia persisted in menacing Kameni with set-pieces; but it was all for naught. Cameroon will face Ghana in one of two semifinals on Thursday.

The host nation, meanwhile, overcame a resurgent Nigeria side in Sunday’s first quarterfinal. The Super Eagles, on the heels of an impressive 2-0 win over Benin, came into the match with just a single goal conceded through the group stage. And offensively, Berti Vogts’ high-powered squad had finally found the back of the net after drawing blanks for 233-minutes.

Momentum, it seemed, was in Nigeria’s corner. And the belief was only reinforced when Yakubu opened the scoring with a successful penalty in the 35th-minute. In fairness, however, Ghana had been the more enterprising of the two for much of the first-half. Asamoah Gyan and Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, in particular, consistently menaced the Nigeria backline. And when Asamoah struck the bar just prior to the half-hour, it seemed a matter of time before Ghana drew first blood.

All that changed when Eric Addo tackled Yakubu in the box. The Everton striker sent ‘keeper Richard Kingson diving the wrong way before slotting his effort inside the left-hand corner.

The Black Stars refused to panic, however, and had their equalizer before referee Mohamed Benouza blew the opening period to a close. Owusu, constantly useful, crossed to Essien who headed past Austin Ejide. The ball struck the left post before bobbing down the line and into the goal at the opposite upright. Ghana had trailed for ten minutes – the only such stretch in their tournament thus far.

Although the second-half took on a competitive edge which was similar to the first, it was always Ghana in the ascendancy. The result was only put into doubt when captain John Mensah was red-carded on the hour for a reckless challenge on winger Peter Odemwingie. A flurry of chances resulted from the ensuing free-kick; but Nigeria would rue their missed chances when Junior Agogo completed Sulley Muntari’s cross in the 83rd-minute.

It was a fair result for both sides. Nigeria were never going to contend for the trophy when it became evident that the attackers had no chemistry whatsoever. And Ghana, conversely, showed the same attentiveness with 10-men that they had throughout the group phase with 11.

Monday’s early quarterfinal matched champions Egypt with upstarts Angola. And while The Pharaohs were fully worth the 2-1 victory and a semifinal berth, the Black Antelopes were unlucky to go out of the tournament so early.

Alberto Manucho, in particular, will be missed as the knockout phase draws to a conclusion at the weekend. The 24-year-old Manchester United forward had been one of the competition’s foremost entertainers through four matches and, predictably, leveled the contest just prior to the half-hour after Hosni Abd Rabou had given Egypt the lead in the 23rd-minute.

Manucho fought off Sayed Moawad and unleashed a cannon from 25-yards which beat Essam Al-Hadari between the sticks. It was the kind of display that the former Petro Atletico hitman has produced frequently over the past two weeks; and you have to wonder why Sir Alex Ferguson opted to loan him to Panathinaikos rather than bringing him immediately to Old Trafford.

Nevertheless, Manucho’s goal merely drew Angola level. Four minutes earlier, Rabou had converted a penalty after Andre Macanga handled the ball in the area. The Angola players were furious with the referee’s decision. Several, it must be said, were fortunate to have escaped bookings when their protestations were carried rather too far.

Still, the Manucho strike appeared to spur the Palancas Negras into action. They now had momentum; and Amr Zaki’s go-ahead marker in the 38th-minute came firmly against the run of play. An Egyptian cross eluded Kali’s clearing attempt and fell to Zaki – the Al-Zamalek forward making no mistake in stroking the ball past Lama.

With plenty to play for, Angola began the second-half with a surplus of attacking impetus. Manucho and Flavio continued to combine for quality chances in front of Hadari and the former squandered several opportunities with Egypt on the back-foot.

In the end, The Pharaohs’ poise and bearing won out over Angola’s desperation. Egypt will now face Cote d’Ivoire in a rematch of the 2006 Final. Angola, despite the loss, are every bit a nation on the up and up.

Composure will only get Egypt so far in the semifinal. Cote d’Ivoire are the undisputed favorites as the second-to-last round approaches and have scored an impressive 13-goals in four matches. Their 5-0 destruction of Guinea, Sunday, certainly reinforced that message. But, to be fair, Guinea were very much in the mix until the final 20-minutes.

At that point, Les Elephants were nursing a slim, 1-0 lead. Kader Keita had put his side ahead in the 25th-minute when he caught ‘keeper Kemoko Camara off his post and slid the ball in the open side. Moments earlier, Guinea had nearly stolen the lead when Bah’s long attempt tested Boubacar Barry in the Cote d’Ivoire net. Both goalkeepers were solid in the opening half; and Camara was called into action once again by Didier Drogba in added-time.

Shortly after the hour-mark, Syli Nationale missed another chance to equalize. Daouda Jabi’s blast from just outside the 18-yard-box skipped just wide of the upright. It turned out to be the final piece of positive play from Guinea. Eight minutes later, the floodgates opened.

That is to say, Drogba flung them open. After a neat one-two with Arthur Boka, the powerful Chelsea striker finished tidily past Camara. Just three minutes later, the 29-year-old connected with Blues teammate Salomon Kalou – the latter strolling past the Guinea ‘keeper for Cote d’Ivoire’s third.

It was Kalou again with nine minutes remaining on the clock. Yaya Toure, who has been superb throughout the competition, picked out the 22-year-old with a seeing-eye cross after Bakary Kone provided the Barcelona midfielder with the ball. Moments later, Kone finished the job on his own with a laser from 20-yards.

Cote d’Ivoire were deserving winners from the get-go; but you have to wonder that the scoreline would have been somewhat closer had Guinea taken their chances when they had them. Les Elephants will now be presented an opportunity for revenge against Egypt. The two met in the 2006 Final in Cairo with the hosts winning the trophy on penalties.