2012 Africa Cup of Nations [Open Thread]

2012 Africa Cup of Nations Tournament Referees (and assistants):

Referees: Maillet Eddy Allen (Seychelles), Seechurn Rajindraparsad (Mauritius), Abdel Rahman Khalid (Sudan), Daniel Bennett (South Africa), Benouza Mohamed (Algeria), Diatta Badara (Senegal), Coulibaly Koman (Mali), Gassama Bakary Papa (Gambia), Alioum Neant (Cameroon), El Ahrach Bouchaib (Morocco), Doue Noumandiez Desire (Cote d’Ivoire), Lemghaifry Aly (Mauritania), Jedidi Slim (Tunisia), Haimoudi Djamel (Algeria), Otogo-Castane Eric Arnaud (Gabon), Sikazwe Janny (Zambia), Nampiandraza Hamada el Moussa (Madagascar), Grisha Ghead (Egypt)

Assistant Referees: Hassani Bechir (Tunisia), Damoo Jason Joseph (Seychelles), Edibe Peter Elgam (Nigeria), Menkouande Evarist (Cameroon), Champiti Moffat (Malawi), Range Aden Marwa (Kenya), Siwela Zakhele Thusi (South Africa), Kabanda Felicien (Rwanda), Birumushahu Jean-Claude (Burundi), Bouende-Malonga Richard (Congo), Ogbamariam W. Angesom (Eritrea), Doumbouya Aboubacar (Guinea), Moussa Yanoussa (Cameroon), Yeo Songuifolo (Cote d’Ivoire), Camara Djibril (Senegal), Achik Redouane (Morocco), Vinga Theophile (Gabon), Diarra Balla (Mali), Etchiali Abdelhak (Algeria), Bootun Balkrishna (Mauritius), Shaanika David (Namibia)

Posted from  United States

On one hand I wish Cameroon qualified. On the other hand Am happy that they didn’t qualify because we would have missed our influential midfielder Alex Song at Arsenal. This time Ivory Coast will win it.

Group D – The Group of Death

Ghana (Ranked 29th by FIFA)
Mali (Ranked 27th by FIFA)
Guinea (Ranked 80th by FIFA)
Botswana (Ranked 95th by FIFA)

Ghana: Strength- A solid defence and midfield. Ghana scored 13 goals and conceded only once to qualify for the Afcon finals.
Weaknesses: Over reliance on the injured Gyan Asamoah for goals. Ghana may struggle in his absence.
Key Players: (John Mensah, Sulley Muntari, Andrew Ayew and Asamoah Gyan:-1 goal in every 2 matches)
Remark: Botswana should keep an eye on Sulley Muntari and Andrew Ayew as well as Gyan if he is fielded

correction: Mali Ranked 67th

Mali: Strength-Qualified from a very competitive and evenly balanced group that comprised Cape Verde Islands (were tied on points), Zimbabwe and Liberia. They are high on confident becos they have got A BIG NAME PLAYER in Seydou Keita (Barcelona midfielder who has won all and sundry at club level).
Weaknesses: Their midfield is young and vulnerable (save for Keita) and capable of being taken by assault.
Mali scored 9 goals and conceded 6 goals to qualify winning 3 and lossing 2 matches.
Key Players: Seydou Keita, Modibo Maiga, Mustapha Yatabare and Cheick Diabate:-(1 goal in every 2 matches)
Remark: Botswana should take full control of the midfield and keep a close eye on Cheick Diabate and Seydou Keita. If Ghana cannot be beaten, Mali can be beaten

Guinea: Strength:-Qualified at the expense of Nigeria and competitive Ethiopia. Guinea scored 13 goals and conceded only 5. Unlike Mali, their overseas contingent is widespread across Europe and not only concentrated in France. They have a habit of scoring 4 GOALS PER MATCH as they did away against Ethiopia and at home against Madagascar.
Weaknesses:They are in a re-building process as most of their star players have retired. Their squad is young, save for Pascal Feindouno and Bobo Balde-36 yrs old.
Key Players: Ismael Bangoura(1 goal 3 matches), Bobo Balde (1.96m Tall) and Pascal Feindouno (1 goal in every 2-3 matches from a midfield position).
Remark: In Guinea, Botswana faces a familiar opponent having played Guinea twice in 2004 & 2005 for the 2006 WC qualifiers. A lot has changed since then but Guinea who were unbeaten during the qualifiers can be beaten this time around. Pascal Feindouno must be closely marked.

Botswana:Strength:- Play to their ability and acknowledges their limitations. 8 of the players that will be in the starting 11 have been playing together since 2004. Their Coach, Stan Tshosane will be the only black coach in these group D encounters and has been coaching in the capacities of head coach and assistant coach since 2001. The Zebras don’t score many goals (ony 7 scored in 8 games) but don’t concede many either (only 3 soft goals conceded in 8 games).
Weaknesses:-Over reliance on Jerome to score goals (scored 5 of the 7 goals).
Key Players: Modiri Marumo (15 years experience at international level against similar opposition), Gino Gabonamong, Mompati Thuma, Joel Mogorosi, Phenyo Mongala, Dipsy Selolwane and JJ Ramatlhakwana
Remark: Botswana can go all the way and win the trophy if they can emerge from the group stages to the knockout phase, the same way Italy did at the 2006 world cup finals albeit scoring a few goals on the way.

I am SICK and TIRED of this endless whining and whinging:- ‘wish Nigeria had qualified’, ‘on interest in this AFCON for me becos Cameroon won’t be there’

Guninea qualified ahead of Nigeria:-Don’t you think they are good enough and deserve their chance. Nigeria had their chance. Senegal qualified ahead of Cameroon. Cameroon, save for Samel Eto’o, was pathetic at the 2010 WC. Let Senegal be the new Cameroon, give them a chance. South Africa and Egypt were in the same group, so either way one of the 2 was gonna miss (ruling out other rules) the 2012 AFCON. Are you not Happy that Niger are the ‘New Egypt’. I am excited about it. At least for once, I will come across a new Star that I did not know exist.

Morocco qualified ahead of Algeria. Don’t you think Algeria was way average at the 2010 WC and it’s fitting that they made a way for the sleeping giant of African football.

Where can we watch?

Moffat27, speaking of Alex Song, that was a great pass he made to Thierry Henry. Unfortunately, the pass was overshadowed by Henry’s goal.

“Ivory Coast will win it this time”

Especially given the absence of major teams such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt and Malawi?

But in recent years Ivory Coast’s star-studded line-up has frequently under-performed despite being the continent’s top-ranked team and coach Zahoui warned against complacency.

“In Ivory Coast we’ve got a big problem – we don’t respect our opponents“, he said recently (according to BBC Sport).

“When we go to a Cup of Nations people say ‘oh no, this team aren’t there, this team aren’t there’ and each time people are disappointed because we go as the super-favourite and then come back disappointed.”

By the way, Cote d’ Ivoire beat Tunisia 2-0 today in a friendly match played in Abu Dhabi. Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time. Three minutes after the break, Chelsea striker Didier Drogba scored from the penalty spot after Tunisia defender Karim Hagui had handled the ball. 20 minutes later the Ivorians were reduced to ten men after Newcastle United midfielder Cheick Tiote received a straight red card after a wild challenge on Mejdi Traore.

Posted from  United States

Marco, Marco, Marco, Marco, well, well, well, well. Son, send me your resume. Kealeboga needs to revive the Botswana blog. Why don’t you take over? If you are not interested then you are welcome to write a “guest piece” on this blog. Anyone out there, if you are also interested then shoot me an email at sscouser@gmail.com . Your post will be read by thousands. In January and February 2010 (AFCON Angola 2010) this blog had over 70,000 page views.

“Botswana should keep an eye on Sulley Muntari and Andrew Ayew as well as Gyan if he is fielded”

If you park the bus you’ll not need to worry about keeping “an eye on Sulley Muntari and Andrew Ayew as well as Gyan if he is fielded”

“If Ghana cannot be beaten, Mali can be beaten”

Is there a correlation?

“A lot has changed since then but Guinea who were unbeaten during the qualifiers can be beaten this time around”

Beaten by Botswana?

“Botswana can go all the way and win the trophy if they can emerge from the group stages”

Win a game first. 3 draws will not be enough to take you through to the ¼ finals

“I am SICK and TIRED of this endless whining and whinging:- ‘wish Nigeria had qualified’, ‘on interest in this AFCON for me becos Cameroon won’t be there’”

Get used to it. It’s normal. Ever heard?: “I wish Man City (or Liverpool) had qualified for Champions League” and “this Champions League will be boring because Man U got knocked out”

Posted from  United States

Steve, you can go and watch it in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. During AFCON Angola 2010 I watched some matches on this site. There are several online TVs. I think Rami will provide links for Group C matches.

Posted from  United States

By the way, the first leg of the AFCON South Africa 2013 qualifier between Sao Tome e Principe and Lesotho will be played this Sunday. It was supposed to be played last Sunday but was postponed because Lesotho were unable to get flights to the Island nation.

Posted from  United States

Who in their right mind voted for Equatorial Guinea? Equatorial Guinea will be the first host of Africa Cup of Nations to lose all its Group matches.

Zambia and Senegal will make it to the 1/4 finals

Go Malawi go!

According to AFP, Newcastle manager Alan Pardew is hoping his team can maintain the impressive start to the season — which has seen the Magpies climb to sixth place — in the absence of star striker Demba Ba and midfielder Cheick Tiote.

Senegal forward Ba netted his 15th goal of the season in the 3-0 victory over Manchester United earlier this month, a game in which Tiote dominated in midfield.

Pardew has vowed to fly out to the Nations Cup if either of his players are involved in the final.

“The one thing I will do is that if either is in the final Ill be going out to make sure they come home,” he said.

“They wont be partying for a week after or anything — theyll definitely see me in the stand if they get to the final.

“The most important thing is they come back fit. Coming back fit and well is all I care about.”

Posted from  United States

i am so surprised by the Zambia team i wish to win the coming final competition with ivory coast and to take the cup “i am also so sad with the result of Ghana ” any way i have seen a good competition among the nations.