The Africa Nations Cup kicked off last weekend in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon with a lot of promise and hope. Big guns like defending champions Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Algeria did not qualify for the continental showpiece prompting a shift of power in African football. Here are five things we have learnt from the Nations Cup so far.
No more Minnows In African Football
The gap between the small? and? big countries is closing, from the results so far, there are no more minnows in African football. From the qualifiers, it was obvious the minnows are finally measuring up to the big boys. Minnows like Sudan, Niger and Burkina Faso, Libya and Botswana qualified for the Nations Cup .In the competition so far, all who expected a goal feast from the star studded Ivoriens against Sudan were disappointed as they could manage only a single goal against? Sudanese team, majority of whose players ply their trade in their local league. Against Angola, Sudan earned their first Africa Cup of Nations point in 36 years when drawing 2-2 .Ghana recorded a hard fought victory over Botswana who are qualifying for the Nations Cup for the first time in their history.
The Championship Lacks Colour
The championship so far lacks flair and it can be said that these Nations Cup has been the least entertaining since the inception of the Nations Cup. The football so far has been less than average with less than average performances from some of the teams. The absence of the big guns can be attributed to this, many football fans have argued that the presence of Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt and Cameroon would have added spice and some level of excitement to the games, but the big guns have no one to blame but themselves for failing to qualify and the small teams are in the tournament based on merit. So far, there have been no epic games or wonder goals for collector’s item
The State Of The Pitch/Empty Stadiums
Confederation of African Football (CAF) decision to award hosting rights to the smaller countries in a bid to make them have a sense of belonging is in good spirits but from? the marketing sense it’s a disaster. The state of the stada in both Equatorial Guinea and Gabon is poor. The game between Zambia and Libya had to be shifted due to the water logged pitch, there are no drainage systems in the stadium making it water logged.The stadium have been empty so far, apart from the games where the host were playing. If the host were to be eliminated, then it will spell doom for the competition. Even during big countries like Coted Ivoire and Ghana games the stadia were practically empty.
Favourites Failing To Fly
Coming into the Nations Cup, Coted Ivoire,Ghana and Senegal were considered the favourites to win the tournament. Senegal? are already out of the tournament, suffering two defeats in the competition already. Demba Ba who has been finding the back of the net consistently for his club Newcastle this season has been a shadow of himself so far in the tournament.Cote Ivoire parading a star studded cast with the likes of Chelsea hitman Didier Drogba, African Footballer of The Year Yaya Toure,Gervinho and Solomon Kalou have failed to impose themselves so far in the competition, they laboured to a lone goal victory in their first game and were uninspiring in their second game against Burkina Faso, From their two games, they have not showned the stuff of champions and Ghana hard not been impressive so far and based on the level of completion so far CotedIvoire and Ghana will have to step up their games if they are to win the competition.
Lack Of Goals
So far in the tournament, there hard not been any thumping victory. The results have been close with some hard fought victories. No team has been overwhelmed yet by brilliant display of attacking football? still from an opponent. These can be attributed to the defensive approach of some of the teams and as most teams play to lose and not to win prompting them to take the cautious approach to the games. Lone goal victories have been the order of the day,but Angola Striker, Manucho has found the back of the net three times and if Angolan goes far in the tournament he is likely win the top scorer award.
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