African Cup of Nations 2010

[Q.]

Can't believe Ghana made it this far, they've done well for a young group without their 'stars'.

The Ghanaian press is talking as though they've got the game in the bag, the Minister of Sports came out before the Nigerian game and assured the country of a win

There will be absolute chaos here if the Black Stars win this

[RoosterMarty]

So after getting shot at, Togo have now been banned from the next two African Nations Cups.

The reason given was "governmental interference".. FIFA don't like the local government interfering with the football side of things but this was handed out by the CAF and FIFA are yet to comment. It is ridiculous really and surely they realise why the Togolese government stepped in this time.


http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... al&cc=3436

[Il Duce]

3rd place playoff

Nigeria 1 - 0 Algeria

Final is tonight

[devilsadvocate]

Egypt are ACN winners for 2010, winning the comp for the 3rd time in a row. This is Egypt's 7th tournament win, showing they are clearly the best side in Africa.

So, the question is.....how can they continue to miss out on world cup qualification? They consistantly put together excellent performances in the ACN, but can't crack it into the big dance. Doesn't add up. Bloody Algeria

[Il Duce]

Final
Ghana 0 - 1 Egypt

Egypt cant seem to qualify for the world cup because they seem to be a tournament only type team and the world cup qualifyers are spread over many months, if the world cup qulifyers where to be played over 2 months in africa I wold have no doubt they would qualify, but yes it is a very strange set of cercumstances (sorry bout the spelling)

[devilsadvocate]

Having thought about it about, there are 3 great examples why Egypt can't play well consistantly:

Amr Zaki - Great spell at Wigan for about 2.5 months where he looked like an absolute world beater. Chased down defenders. Made opposition look slow, weak and second rate when he was going forward and was absolutley lethal in front of goal. THEN his head became bigger than Tiger Woods list of ladies, he slags off Porstmouth for having Israeli players/managers and generally goes off the boil on the field.

Hossam Ghaly - showed glimpses that he could be a world class midfielder despite being a touch inconsistant for Spurs. Then, gets subbed on 60 mins, takes his shirt off and chucks it at the manager. Bye bye Mr Ghaly - brain explosion!

Mido - also showed glimpses that he can be an outstanding goalscoring forward. Then he got fat and his head also became too big for his boots and freefall ensued.

As you've said Duce, Egypt seem great in a tournament where short term performances and unity are possible. But it seems that there are too many egos and hot heads for them to have a decent run over the course of a WC qualification period. It's a shame really, because they are capable of some really nice football.

[devilsadvocate]

How's this for the most disgraceful handling of a situation ...... EVER:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8489127.stm

The CAF has bannd Togo for the next 2 ACN tournaments and fined them $50,000 for pulling out of this years competition.

What an utter disgrace. FIFA would step in here if they had any balls.

[johntheclaret]

Egypt are ACN winners for 2010, winning the comp for the 3rd time in a row. This is Egypt's 7th tournament win, showing they are clearly the best side in Africa.

So, the question is.....how can they continue to miss out on world cup qualification? They consistantly put together excellent performances in the ACN, but can't crack it into the big dance. Doesn't add up. Bloody Algeria

Watched that match. What a load of old rubbish it was too imo. If that's the best Africa has to offer........well.

[johntheclaret]

How's this for the most disgraceful handling of a situation ...... EVER:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8489127.stm

The CAF has bannd Togo for the next 2 ACN tournaments and fined them $50,000 for pulling out of this years competition.

What an utter disgrace. FIFA would step in here if they had any balls.

Agree totally DA. Absolutely ridiculous decision