2012 AFCON 1/4 FINALS: WIN OR GO HOME

What were your predictions? I think most of you had Senegal, Morocco, Burkina Faso…making it to the 1/4 finals.

Cote d’ Ivoire are bookmakers’ favourites. A day before the tournament kicked off most bookmakers had Senegal at 6/1, Ghana at 4/1 and Ivory Coast at 6/4. Looking at the brackets, it seems Cote d’ Ivoire and Ghana will not meet in the Semi-Finals (i.e. assuming they both make it past the 1/4 finals). Will it be a Cote d’ Ivoire vs Ghana Finals?

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Ghana will meet Zambia in the semifinals.
Cote d’Ivoire will meet Gabon in the semi-finals.

Ghana will play Cote d’Ivoire in the finals.
Cote d’Ivoire will be the champions, Ghana the runners-up, Gabon will be the bronze medalists for the first time. Zambia will miss out on the awards for the medals but will be satisfied with their campaign.

The Gabon-Mali game will go into extra-time and then penalties will settle it in favour of Gabon.

It will be the END OF THE ROAD for Equatorial Guinea (no more upsets now), Sudan, Mali & Tunisia.

WELL DONE ZEBRAS, YOU DID US PROUD, BUS PARKING SUITS YOUR ABILITIES,WE ARE PROUD BUS PARKERS, BUS PARKING IS BRILLIANT BRAND OF FOOTBALL. YOU ALWAYS SNEAK IN AND BANG A GOAL OR TWO. TWAS GREAT LEADING MALI BEFORE THEY STORMED TO VICTORY.

@ Sscouser and Marco……..Zambia will be in the finals and will win it all.As for the Zebras you have both prognosticated that they will be there in 2013,lets wait and see.Don’t say I didn’t tell you!The Bostwana coach is as good as Kinnah Phiri of Malawi.They are good at developing the game but the two teams need great Coaches to take em over the hump.

Marco, when one sees a rainbow it means the storm has passed. Where were you yesterday?

“Ghana will meet Zambia in the semifinals. Cote d’Ivoire will meet Gabon in the semi-finals.”

Ghana didn’t impress me yesterday. If that’s the way they are going to play against Tunisia…… I think Cote d’ Ivoire will beat Equatorial Guinea by at least 3 goals. Yaya Toure and Drogba are well rested.

“Zambia will miss out on the awards for the medals but will be satisfied with their campaign.”

You think so?

“Gabon-Mali game will go into extra-time and then penalties will settle it in favour of Gabon.”

Mali didn’t play well yesterday (but still won) so I expect them to play better against Gabon. Just because I don’t want to agree with you, Mali will win.

“WELL DONE ZEBRAS, YOU DID US PROUD, BUS PARKING SUITS YOUR ABILITIES,WE ARE PROUD BUS PARKERS, BUS PARKING IS BRILLIANT BRAND OF FOOTBALL.”

Huh? You had nothing to lose yesterday so I don’t understand why you closed shop after Mali scored the second goal. That’s the way you should have played against Guinea.

“YOU ALWAYS SNEAK IN AND BANG A GOAL OR TWO. TWAS GREAT LEADING MALI BEFORE THEY STORMED TO VICTORY.”

I laughed my lungs out when the Botswana players were celebrating the goal by Ngele. It seems in training camp they spent too much time practicing how to celebrate a goal. By the way, was that not how Bafana Bafana celebrated the qualification that never was.

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tk, if the Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) end up winning it all it will be nothing but destiny.

“As for the Zebras you have both prognosticated that they will be there in 2013,lets wait and see.Don’t say I didn’t tell you!”

What did you tell us?

Please don’t forget that the 16 teams that qualified for Africa Cup of Nations Gabon Equatorial Guinea 2012 and the 14 teams that will qualify from Round 2 (AFCON 2013 Qualifiers) will meet in first and second leg formula to qualify 15 teams ( + Hosts South Africa = 16). I think this Botswana team can beat any team taking part in the second round (except Malawi, of course). Don’t underestimate a team that parks the bus.

“The Bostwana coach is as good as Kinnah Phiri of Malawi.”

Except that one is defense minded while the other is attack minded.

“They are good at developing the game but the two teams need great Coaches to take em over the hump.”

Guardiola? Wenger? Mourinho? Ferguson? Benitez? “Big Sam”? I think the two teams need playmakers. “A good playmaker often holds possession, allowing other team members to make attacking runs. The ostensible role of the playmaker is to then provide or facilitate the final pass which leads to a goal. In football terminology this is often known as a killer ball or the final ball and is officially recorded as an assist.” The likes of Maradona, Messi, Earnest Mtawali (Chirwali)?

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The favourites are Ivory Coast, Ghana and Zambia. One of the three will be the champions. I think Ivory Coast will be the winners.

My godness ESPN should show Ghana-Tunisia game. The match is far above USA vs any central and south american team that is not Brazil or Argentina.

What’s wrong with racist arabs that live in egypt a la americaine europeenne vs native americans conquests and extermination? Farayi Mungazi almost got killed there in 2003 for being dark skinned African after a Nigerian team (Enyimba) beat an Egyptian team in one of those CAF competitions.

Also here is what BBC is saying about what myself used to call African football giants: Nigeria, Egypt and Cameroon. Not anymore they are just like any other African nation.

“These three countries may have been heavyweights in the past but if you look at current form, they’re not.
“The heavyweights are those in the competition and we must accord the recognition for that.
“The absence of these so-called heavyweights, in my opinion, has not affected the competition in any way,” said the Confederation of African Football executive committee member.
Nyantakyi said instead of moaning the absence of the three teams, people should applaud the performances of debutants Niger and Equatorial Guinea as well as Zambia’s lively Chipolopolo.

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My favourate Coach is Guus Hiddink followed by Bruno Metsu. I agree with u guys. I think local coaches have a ceiling and ours has reached his ceiling. The team is likely to go through a dry patch if he is retained as a coach.

I always mourn the lack of playmakers in the Zebras team. The Zebras need a Mtawali or Okocha kind of a player. The kind that can hold the ball, control the midfield and come to the party when the chips are down. I guess Seydou Keita did exactly that when the score was 1-1 against the Zebras. He opened us apart by playing a ‘Barcelona’ on us and finished the move by a brilliant goal.

The final will be ZAMBIA Vs Cote DeVoir with Zambia causing an upset over Cotedevoir to take the trophy home for the first time; if they continue playing at the impressive rate that they are…

George, don’t rule out Gabon.

Cypres, don’t forget that the Super Bowl is this Sunday. Instead of watching the Ghana-Tunisia game most Americans will be busy watching Super-Bowl previews. By the way, did you try the live-streams?

“The absence of these so-called heavyweights, in my opinion, has not affected the competition in any way,”

Michael Oti Adjei: “We miss the colour (painted faces) of Nigeria’s fans too, and their large travelling army of journalists and their boldness in press conferences. They are always a reminder of great passion at the Nations Cup but certainly not their football.” Ghana and Nigeria are rivals. That’s banter. Michael Oti Adjei is a KOG blogger.

Marco, this was your maiden appearance at AFCON. Judge your coach after AFCON 2013.

“I think local coaches have a ceiling and ours has reached his ceiling”

All coaches have a ceiling.

“The Zebras need a Mtawali or Okocha kind of a player.”

That’s right. By the way, that pass to Ngele was right on the money.

“I guess Seydou Keita did exactly that when the score was 1-1 against the Zebras. He opened us apart by playing a ‘Barcelona’ on us and finished the move by a brilliant goal.”

Mali’s Frederic Kanoute scored a similar goal against Malawi during AFCON Angola 2010. That’s what great players do. Those are the type of players Botswana and Malawi need. You can have the best coach in the world but if you don’t have the right players….

paul, if Zambia will beat Ghana in the Semi Finals and then beat Cote d’ Ivoire in the Finals I don’t think it will be an upset. Zambia can play but so far they haven’t been that impressive. I think tomorrow we are going to watch their tippy tappy football.

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The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that a minute of silence will be observed at the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final matches this weekend in memory of those who were killed and the hundreds injured when rival fans clashed in Egypt on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, FIFA has demanded a “full report” on the violence in Egypt which has left more than 70 people dead.

The head of Egypt’s Football Association has been sacked and the board dissolved, with its members referred to prosecutors for questioning, Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri told an emergency session of parliament.

Let’s just hope that FIFA will not ban Egypt for “Government Interference”.

“African football is in a state of mourning,” said CAF president Issa Hayatou in the wake of the tragedy.

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I predicted that Chipololo would beat Equatorial Guinea. Now Am predicting that we will beat Sudan. Sudan qualified because luck was on their side.

Moses, come back here after Zambia qualifies for the Semis and then make another prediction about the Zambia/Ghana semi-final match?

This is what Zambia Coach Renard told cafonline about Sudan: “I have followed them from the qualifiers when they lost only once against Ghana in the final game. They are not here by chance. From their three games, they have exhibited high level of determination and I envisage a tough opposition from them.

“They have good players like Mohammed Tahir and are very swift on the counter too. We will play with a lot of respect. The two teams have one target – to reach the semi final. In the end, one team will go home and the other stays.”

Win or go home.

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I think Marco agrees with me that both teams Malawi and Botswana need coaching changes if their football is to go to a whole different level.Yes play makers factor into how any team progresses but,lets not overlook the fact that the play makers might be there.One just needs to identify and develop the player that can carry the team on his back.As for Zambia like I said you are destined to win.This is yours to lose…..Zambia will beat Ghana 1-0.

Ghana will beat Ivory Coast 1-0

tk, the play makers might be there but how do you identify and develop them?

Zak, the Black Stars better step their game up.

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