Some African Cup of Nations History


This item, below, from The Guardian’s (excellent) Sports Blog’s weekly round-up of Youtube videos (basically random stuff they dug up from the history of sports) can help get you into the mood for today’s last first round matches:

With the Africa Cup of Nations in full swing, what better time to look back at some of the tournament’s standout matches and moments. In the 86th minute of the 1998 third-place play-off Ibrahima Talle put the host nation Burkina Faso 4-1 up against DR Congo. Sparked by a horrendous piece of goalkeeping, what happens in the next 180 seconds of play is remarkableCongo would go on to win on penalties; In a similar vein, one of the best games of the 2010 edition was Mali’s comeback from 4-0 down in the last 12 minutes against Angola (well worth watching for the commentator’s evil-supervillain laugh as the equaliser goes in); The 1992 final that ended 11-10 on penalties; One of the best goals scored in a Cup of Nations final – Chérif Oudjani hammering home after a nine-pass move to secure Algeria their first ever title in 1990 in front of a six-figure crowd in Algiers; Zaire’s Mulamba Ndaye [that's him above in a recent picture] still holds the record for goals scored in a single tournament with nine in 1974 – including both goals in the final. From way back in 1968 – highlights of the final between Congo and Ghana (featuring a unique bit of ‘stretchering off’). And last but not least, here’s Mido calmly accepting his substitution in the 2006 semi-final.

All Senegal has left is a fight song

So in the end Senegal have been eliminated from the African Cup of Nations after two bad defeats–first to Zambia and today to one of the co-hosts Equitorial Guinea. And I thought they have an expensive strike force who play in European leagues. (Well, they don’t seem to know about defense either.) Maybe they’ll show pride in their final group match against Libya (who could still go through if they beat Senegal). At least their fight song, coordinated by the legendary DJ Didier Awadi, is worth dancing to:

The African Cup of Nations preview


The 28th edition of the African Cup of Nations kicks off in Gabon and Equitorial Guinea tomorrow. 16 teams–including the joint hosts who did not have to qualify–will play for 2 places in the final match scheduled on February 12. The big question is, of course, who will take the trophy.

[Read more...]

The French advantage


Academic and soccer fan Andrew Guest previews the 2012 African Cup of Nations for Football is Coming Home. He points to the French influence on teams that qualfied for the finals that start later this week. The post that comes complete with a table illustrating his findings: “The French influence this year seems ubiquitous; 9 of 16 teams have Francophone history, the largest delegation of foreign coaches are French (4, compared to 7 locals—which is a fairly significant local contingent compared to recent tournaments), and 8 of 15 squads draw more players from French professional teams than from any other foreign league system (the 16th squad — Sudan — has an entirely domestic roster).

[Read more...]

‘Symbols of Liberia’s Struggle’*

Rapper Nas narrates a short insert on ESPN’s “E:60″ on the Liberian national amputee team made up of men, often former enemies, who lost the use of their legs or arms in Liberia’s very recent civil war.  (Above is a kind of mash up from the in-studio introduction that usually precedes an insert as well as an excerpt from Nas’ narration. I am a regular viewer of the show.)  You can watch the 10 minute insert here. It includes some incredible goals and celebrations. It is also about the politics of rebuilding societies after wars.  Not bad for ESPN.

* That’s a line from the show.

Via The Hairdryer Treatment.

Africans Prefer English Soccer

These scenes of Angolan football fans at the recent African Nations Cup captured by Al Jazeera may give the impression that Africans still value the continental game.

Actually they prefer English football, argues sports writer Simon Kuper in a recent Financial Times column.

The History of African Football

I’m spending much of my free time (if I have any), watching what I can of the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola. Which is a good time to also catch up on the rich history of African football especially before long no one will know or care about it. I mean, how many of you know that well before European nations could get their act together Africans had organized and held its first continental competition and the role of football in political struggles.

["Africa Kicks," BBC radio documentary]

[football scholar Paul Darby on the Africa Past & Present Podcast]

* The art is that of Tsevis.

Where is Angola?

The tragic attack on the Togolese football team bus (three people were killed and one player seriously injured) on the eve of the African Nations Cup in the disputed Angolan province of Cabinda, is just that: tragic.

What’s even more tragic is that it took a random attack on a football team to get the media to give attention to the conflict in Cabinda.   Then there’s European observers who can’t help themselves in exploiting the tragedy, making connections to South Africa’s ability to host the World Cup next year. In the process they let their racism get the better of their knowledge of geography.

[Read more...]

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,264 other followers