2013 AFCON: Match Day 2: Cream rises to the top

Half Time: Niger 0:0 DR Congo

Full Time: Niger 0:0 DR Congo

“Niger did not surprise us because we knew they will come with the long balls and also play defensive and that’s exactly what they did. What was disappointing was that towards the end of the game, the goalkeeper and some of the players tried to run down the clock. I was also disappointed that even though we created some good chances in the first half, we failed to convert them and that is not good against a defensive team like Niger.” – DR Cong Coach Claude Le Roy

Niger had a chance of their own but it came at the start of the game when Modibo Sidibe rode through a tackle and found himself clear on goal with just Robert Kidiaba to beat but although he hit it wide of the goalkeeper, found the foot of the goalpost.

“It’s a missed opportunity. It was possible for us to move forward. We have to concede that after we missed the two chances we did not play well,” said Congo coach Claude Le Roy.

Group B

1) Ghana (4 points)
2) Mali (3 points)
3) DR Congo (2 points)
4) Niger (1 point)

25 January: Zambia vs Nigeria

“I think you saw Nigeria the other day against Cape Verde. Do you think it was the best this time? I don’t think so. So on January 25 against Nigeria, it will be a different game, it will be a tough game. But I can assure you we want to finish top of our group like in 2010 and 2012. It’s not easy, but we want go as far as possible because this team has fantastic team spirit.” EAGLES ARE VERY ORDINARY – Zambia Coach Renard (14 January 2013)

“I want to believe he (Renard) is playing a mind game here, but I think that is too early in the day. Renard should wait till we meet Zambia in South Africa. He is a coward and has simply revealed that he is scared of the Eagles. He said he wasn’t impressed with my team against Cape Verde. For me, that’s an insult because a good coach should know that that was a test match and that the game was used to see the boys in a match situation. Renard should talk about other things and stop passing insults on Nigeria. I have great respect for Zambia. They are the defending champions and there was no how I could have made such a remark about them. Anyway, we have few days to prove him wrong.” – Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi orders Zambia Coach Herve Renard to shut up (14 January 2013)

It’s about to go down!

Ten hours to go. I need to sleep now so I can see for how things develop.

Of course it could all end in an anti-climatic draw, setting up a mouthwatering set of last games to be played simultaneously.

@sscouser, you forgot to re-post Keshi’s comments about European coaches in Africa. Renard didn’t seem take them too lightly. Besides FAM might be monitoring the situation carefully as they are mulling whether to stay local or look to a foreigner to rekindle the flames.

BTW, as cream rises to the top, what will you find at the bottom?

Zambia are the defending champions but we are the favourites. The last time Zambia beat us was in 1985. I predict a 3-0 Nigeria win today.

“Ten hours to go. I need to sleep now…” – The Ugandan…

Uganda playing today?

“Of course it could all end in an anti-climatic draw, setting up a mouthwatering set of last games to be played simultaneously”

Remember how Man City won the EPL title last season?

“@sscouser, you forgot to re-post Keshi’s comments about European coaches in Africa. Renard didn’t seem take them too lightly”

That they are coming to Africa just for the money?

“Besides FAM might be monitoring the situation carefully as they are mulling whether to stay local or look to a foreigner to rekindle the flames.”

Technically, Kinnah Phiri is still the coach. The termination of his contract hasn’t been finalised yet.

“BTW, as cream rises to the top, what will you find at the bottom? ”

Sometimes not all cream rises to the top.

Bruce, come back here after the match. Zowi never came back after predicting that Angola would beat South Africa 2-0

Zambia vs Nigeria – going down right now

Zambia: Mweene; Nkausu, Mbola, Sunzu, Musonda; Lungu, Chansa, Sinkala, Kalaba, Katongo; Mayuka.
Subs: Munyao, Kasonde, Himoonda, Jacob Mulenga, Mbesuma, Felix Katongo, Chamanga, Chivuta, Njovu, Sakuwaha, Mukuka Mulenga.

Nigeria: Enyeama; Echiejile, Omeruo, Oboabona, Onanzi; Ogude, Mikel, Igiebor, Moses; Emenike, Musa.
Subs: Ejide, Yobo, Obiorah, Egwueke, Ideye, Gabriel, Uche, Uzoenyi, Mba, Oshaniwa, Agbim.

Referee: Grisha Ghead (Egypt)

You can watch it live HERE

Click here for live commentary

Half Time Zambia 0:0 Nigeria

26’ Missed Penalty (Mikel Obi – Nigeria)

Now fourth game in a row at the Nations Cup where Zambia’s opponents have missed a penalty in regulation time

Full Time Zambia 1:1 Nigeria

57’ Goal!!!! Zambia 0:1 Nigeria (Emmanuel Emenike)

85’ Goal!!!! Zambia 1:1 Nigeria (Zambia goalkeeper Kenney Mweene – Penalty kick)

After the match Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi defended Mikel for the missed penalty: “He’s our first choice taker. It’s not easy scoring a penalty.’”

Here we go. Ethiopia, make CECAFA proud. Beat Burkina and teach them how to play the game.

As cream rises to the top, what will you find at the bottom? Flames!

Server has been busy. Too much traffic. I couldn’t post comments.

“As cream rises to the top, what will you find at the bottom? Flames! ”

If you work as a welder, you know that what’s good doesn’t always rise to the top – not all refining works like cream is separated. To welders, the “slag,” the inferior impurities, are what rises to the top of the molten metal as some types of welding is done. After the weld cools and solidifies, the worthless and brittle slag is easily chipped off just by lightly tapping it with a slag hammer, exposing the actual weld, the best of what welding is all about, below. In nature, as well as in politics (which is also nature, human nature), the very best, or the very worst, can be found at the top.

Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia

Burkina Faso: Soulama; Koffi, Kone, Koulibaly, Panandetiguiri; Kone, Kabore, Pitroipa, Traore, Sanou; Bance. Subs: Diakite, Dah, Henri Traore, Rouamba, Dagano, Ouattara, Balima, Rabo, Pan-Pierre Koulibaly, Abdou Razak Traore, Nakoulma, Germain Sanou.

Ethiopia: Tadelle; Debebe, Bogale, Hailu, Tesfaye; Megersa, Teshome, Bekele, Hintsa; Girma, Seid. Subs: Bancha, Zinabu, Bune, Alula Girma, Kebede, Oukri, Elias, Ibrahim, Estifanos, Saleh, Assefa.

Referee: Bernard Camille (Seychelles).

You can watch it live HERE

Click here for live commentary

Half Time Burkina Faso 1:0 Ethiopia

34’ Goal!!! Burkina Faso 1:0 Ethiopia (Alain Traore)

Full Time: Burkina Faso 1:0 Ethiopia

60’ RED CARD Burkina Faso Goalkeeper Abdoulaye Soulama (60 mins) – He handled the ball outside the penalty area. Where is the consistency? Yesterday Ghana goalkeeper handled the balled outside the penalty area but was only shown the yellow card
74’ Goal!!! Burkina Faso 2:0 Ethiopia (Alain Traore)
79’ Goal!!! Burkina Faso 3:0 Ethiopia (Djakaridja Kone)
90’ + 5 Goal!!! Burkina Faso 4:0 Ethiopia (Ethiopia – Jonathan Pitroipa (90+5 mins)

“When we scored (our first goal), it acted as a release. We played freely and with 10 players against 11, we did very well. This is great for our confidence. Everyone wanted to prove something. We are closer to qualifying, but we have to keep our feet on the ground.” – Burkina Faso coach Paul Put

“We weren’t expecting this result, but anything can happen in football. I believe we still have a chance of qualifying.” – Ethiopia coach Sewnet Bishaw

Group C
1) Burkina Faso (4 points)
2) Nigeria (2 points)
3) Zambia (2 points)
4) Ethiopia (1 point)

Zambia/Nigeria facing elimination? Yes but both of them can qualify. If Zambia will beat Burkina Faso and if Nigeria will beat Ethiopia, Burkina Faso will be out.

In case of equality of points between two or more teams, at the conclusion of the group matches, the ranking of the teams shall be established according to the following criteria:

72.1. Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the teams in question;
72.2. The best goal difference in the matches between the teams in question;
72.3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
72.4. Goal difference in all group matches;
72.5. Greatest number of goals scored in all the group matches;
72.6. Fair Play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards;
72.7. Drawing of lots by CAF Organising Committee.

72.6. Fair Play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards
So far (according to my records):

Yellow Cards: Burkina Faso = 0; Zambia = 6; Nigeria = 6; Ethiopia = 3
Red Cards: Burkina Faso = 1, Zambia = 0; Nigeria = 1; Ethiopia = 1

We must beat Burkina Faso on Tuesday because I don’t see Nigeria losing to Ethiopia. It is going to be a tragedy if we fail to reach the quarter finals

Andrew Mumba, you realize you almost didn’t even qualify?

Appreciate the moment. Some Uganda Cranes players are not even watching the matches.

While Malawians don’t even know whether they have a coach or not.

Posted from  United States

The Ugandan, we qualified because our players are more experienced than Uganda. When the match went into penalties we already knew that Mweene was going to save us. There is nothing to appreciate about the the way we are playing now. If we don’t make it to the knock out stage I will also vouch for the dismissal of Herve Renard.

@ Andrew, I hear Herve Renard is already planning to go to Nigeria. He’s trying to emulate his mentor Claude LeRoy.

Kalusha Bwalya should get someone able to take the Chipolopolo to Brazil 2014 but it should happen after your game in Ghana because Renard knows how to beat them.

I kind of understand your frustration. I miss the old Zambia that used to play free-flowing football while scoring 3 goals. Drawing patched up Nigerian team via a fake penalty is not good at all.

“Some Uganda Cranes players are not even watching the matches” – The Ugandan…

Tell them to watch and learn

Cote d’ Ivoire vs Tunisia (15:00 GMT)

Cote d’ Ivoire: Barry, Eboue, Bamba, Tiene, Zokora, Tiote, Toure, Romaric, Gervinho, Kalou, Lacina Traore. Subs: Yeboah, Kone, Boka, Toure, Razak, Drogba, Bony, Konan, Ismael Traore, Gradel, Lolo, Ali Sangare.

Tunisia: Ben Cherifia, Ifa, Abdennour, Chammam, Ben Yahia, Traoui, Mouelhi, Hammami, M’Sakni, Ben Youssef, Khelifa. Subs: Ben Mustapha, Hichri, Baratli, Gharbi, Dhaouadi, Harbaoui, Darragi, Dhaouadi, Jemaa, Boussaidi, Khazri, Mathlouthi.

Referee: Rajin Seechurn (Mauritius)

You can watch the match live HERE

Click here for live commentary

Half Time Cote d’ Ivoire 1:0 Tunisia

21’ Goal!!! Cote d’ Ivoire 1:0 Tunisia (Gervinho)

Full Time Cote d’ Ivoire 3:0 Tunisia

87’ Goal!!! Cote d’ Ivoire 2:0 Tunisia (Yaya Toure)
89’ Goal!!! Cote d’ Ivoire 3:0Tunisia (Didier Ya Konan)

Cote d’ Ivoire through to the 1/4 finals

Algeria vs Togo

Algeria: M’Bolhi, Mostefa, Halliche, Belkalem, Mesbah, Guedioura, Lacen, Feghouli, Soudani, Kadir, Slimani. Subs: Doukha, Cadamuro, Boudebouz, Bouazza, Medjani, Aoudia, Lemmouchia, Bezzaz, Tedjar, Ghoulam, Rial, Si Mohamed.

Togo: Agassa, Akakpo, Salifou, Nibombe, Djene, Romao, Jonathan Ayite, Mamah, Amewou, Gakpe, Adebayor. Subs: Atsu, Wome, Bossou, Floyd Ayite, Mani, Ouro-Akoriko, Segbefia, Placca, Ametepe, Donou, Damessi, Tchagouni.

Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (Madagascar)

You can watch live HERE

Click here for live commentary

“I’ve seen the determination in my player’s eyes. They have an inner force. There’s still a good spirit in the squad. I know our backs are against the wall. We have to look for two victories. We’re going to do everything to win because the only solution is victory.” – Algeria Coach Vahid Halilhodzic

“After the match against Ivory Coast we had a meeting, right afterwards because we had to recover quickly. The players now don’t think about Ivory Coast, they’re only thinking about the game against Algeria. In this group we are maybe the little team but I know my team, we have good players. It’s a difficult group but against Ivory Coast we proved that we can play good football and are good enough to go to the quarter-finals.” – Togo Coach Didier Six

HALF-TIME Algeria 0:1 Togo

32′ Algeria 0:1 Togo (Emmanuel Adebayor)

Full Time: Algeria 0:2 Togo

90′ Algeria 0:2 Togo (Dove Wome)

Group D
1) Cote d’ Ivoire (6 points) – Through to the 1/4 finals
2) Togo (3 points)
3) Tunisia (3 points)
4) Algeria ( points) Out!

2013 AFCON Match Day 3: Who will join Cote d’ Ivoire in the 1/4 Finals