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African Cup of Nations


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5 hours ago, Khan of TF365 said:

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This ref blew the final whistle at 85 minutes, realised his mistake then ended the game later on 89:50, no injury time

That's funny, but if I'm the head of the Tunisia FA, I'd be writing to FIFA to have this guy banned from refereeing ever again

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I expected more from Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Egypt and Algeria, given that they are sides with a lot of talent within their squads. Ghana have been especially disappointing. Nigeria, Morocco and the hosts Cameroon have looked the most impressive sides so far, but the knockout stages should be much more exciting than the group games have been. Maybe some of the sides can pick up form and play to their potential at that stage, as it will be do or die. 

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1 hour ago, Michael said:

I expected more from Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Egypt and Algeria, given that they are sides with a lot of talent within their squads. Ghana have been especially disappointing. Nigeria, Morocco and the hosts Cameroon have looked the most impressive sides so far, but the knockout stages should be much more exciting than the group games have been. Maybe some of the sides can pick up form and play to their potential at that stage, as it will be do or die. 

Nigeria could meet Senegal in the latter stages. I think that'll be a decent match. 

Although perhaps quite cagey. I think heat and temperature is playing a big part in some of the games so far. 

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32 minutes ago, Stan said:

Nigeria could meet Senegal in the latter stages. I think that'll be a decent match. 

Although perhaps quite cagey. I think heat and temperature is playing a big part in some of the games so far. 

Yeah, that should be a good game. The heat definitely seems to be a factor influencing these games so far. Algeria having the oldest team in the tournament might be a reason affecting their underwhelming performances.

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I expected more from Senegal at this tournament. Senegal have not conceded a goal so far in this competition, but they've also only scored one goal so far. Defensively they look pretty solid but they are seemingly struggling to score goals. However, with a quality player like Mane up front for them, they should be scoring more goals. It will be intriguing to watch how they perform against a resurgent Cape Verde Islands side today, who are a very decent team themselves. 

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Despite finishing 0-0 even after extra time, the Ivory Coast v Egypt match was actually quite entertaining. Both sides had plenty of chances and there were some impressive spells of play. Egypt eventually prevailed on penalties, but really both sides were very equally matched. What is very evident, is that Egypt are very reliant on the world class Mo Salah for goals, because some of the finishing from several of their other players wasn't great. The move where Salah superbly found Al-Sulaya open in space in front of goal, only for Al-Sulaya to sky his shot over the bar was evidence of this. The Ivory Coast seem to me to have more quality offensive players, but they couldn't get past Egypt's organised and resilient defence.

Egypt advanced and they will now play Morocco in the quarter finals. On the evidence of what I have seen so far, I fancy the Moroccans to knock Egypt out. It obviously will be a close match, but I think that the Moroccans are just slightly the better side overall.

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13 minutes ago, Michael said:

Despite finishing 0-0 even after extra time, the Ivory Coast v Egypt match was actually quite entertaining. Both sides had plenty of chances and there were some impressive spells of play. Egypt eventually prevailed on penalties, but really both sides were very equally matched. What is very evident, is that Egypt are very reliant on the world class Mo Salah for goals, because some of the finishing from several of their other players wasn't great. The move where Salah superbly found Al-Sulaya open in space in front of goal, only for Al-Sulaya to sky his shot over the bar was evidence of this. The Ivory Coast seem to me to have more quality offensive players, but they couldn't get past Egypt's organised and resilient defence.

Egypt advanced and they will now play Morocco in the quarter finals. On the evidence of what I have seen so far, I fancy the Moroccans to knock Egypt out. It obviously will be a close match, but I think that the Moroccans are just slightly the better side overall.

What you say about Egypt reminds me a bit of Carlos Queiroz's time as manager of Iran. Rightly or wrongly it seems his international sides are set up with defensive mindedness and being difficult to beat first and foremost. Imo, it suits teams like Iran and Egypt better than it does other sides.

But for sure the biggest criticism of his time with Iran was he was so defensive, even though compared to many Asian sides Iran's got more firepower than most - while nobody was quite as good as Mo Salah is (because Mo is world class, like you say, and we've probably never had an Iranian player as good as him ever) - they would sometimes struggle to break through other sides that would have a similar approach.

But honestly, I think that's just about his only criticism for most Iran fans. He really is loved from his time with Iran because he came in at a bad time for Iranian football and really turned things around. Especially after the controversy with South Korea in WCQ for the 2014 WC. I think with international football, you'll win more games than you lose if you are incredibly tough to beat - and really most of his losses with Iran came against sides that just had a lot more quality all over the pitch than Iran.

I think having his tactics + Mo Salah gives Egypt a decent chance of getting passed Morocco in the next stage.

Also as a Liverpool fan, I can't help but feel Senegal should be punished for their reckless conduct leaving Sane on the pitch until he scored even though he'd been briefly knocked in the match. Head injuries are serious and it's worrying that AFCON doesn't seem to think so. I think that's another thing from this tournament to add to the list that make this AFCON tournament reflect poorly on African football, unfortunately.

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On 26/01/2022 at 21:58, Dr. Gonzo said:

What you say about Egypt reminds me a bit of Carlos Queiroz's time as manager of Iran. Rightly or wrongly it seems his international sides are set up with defensive mindedness and being difficult to beat first and foremost. Imo, it suits teams like Iran and Egypt better than it does other sides.

But for sure the biggest criticism of his time with Iran was he was so defensive, even though compared to many Asian sides Iran's got more firepower than most - while nobody was quite as good as Mo Salah is (because Mo is world class, like you say, and we've probably never had an Iranian player as good as him ever) - they would sometimes struggle to break through other sides that would have a similar approach.

But honestly, I think that's just about his only criticism for most Iran fans. He really is loved from his time with Iran because he came in at a bad time for Iranian football and really turned things around. Especially after the controversy with South Korea in WCQ for the 2014 WC. I think with international football, you'll win more games than you lose if you are incredibly tough to beat - and really most of his losses with Iran came against sides that just had a lot more quality all over the pitch than Iran.

I think having his tactics + Mo Salah gives Egypt a decent chance of getting passed Morocco in the next stage.

Also as a Liverpool fan, I can't help but feel Senegal should be punished for their reckless conduct leaving Sane on the pitch until he scored even though he'd been briefly knocked in the match. Head injuries are serious and it's worrying that AFCON doesn't seem to think so. I think that's another thing from this tournament to add to the list that make this AFCON tournament reflect poorly on African football, unfortunately.

I agree with a lot of what you say. I think having a very strong defensive unit in your team is key to success. Having a strong defensive team can help you a lot in cup competitions as you suggested, but it can also bring teams success in league competitions, as we saw with Mourinho's Chelsea among other teams. 

If Egypt can continue to defend solidly and keep their back line watertight, then perhaps the excellent Salah can conjure up some magic at the other end for them. Salah is lightening quick, so I can see him punishing teams with his pace on the counter attack. So I wouldn't be too surprised if this experienced Egyptian side, led by Salah, defeated Morocco. However, I still think that player for player, Morocco are the better team.

Sane??? You mean Sadio Mane, yeah, you have a point. Mane is even a doubt for their upcoming quarter final match against Equatorial Guinea. The health and well being of the players should be priority. I know this is competitive football and the stakes are high at the African Nations Cup, but the health of the players should always come first. I hope Mane recovers soon, as he, like Salah, is a top class player.

 

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Lyon's Ekambi has turned out to be the hero for Cameroon against Gambia this afternoon, as his two goals have sealed a 2-0 win for the host nation. Ekambi's first goal came after he rose to head the ball and he directed his header into the net at the far post. His second goal came as he raced into the penalty area, to get on the end of a cross and he met the cross superbly, as he struck the ball into the roof of the net to score Cameroon's second goal. In truth, Cameroon pretty much dominated their match against Gambia and if it wasn't for some excellent defending from Gambia, the score-line could have been larger.

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Burkina Faso knock out Tunisia through an impressive individual goal by Dango Ouattara just before half-time. Dango Ouattara would later be sent off in the 82nd minute as Burkina Faso largely defended for the second half. Truth be told, despite having most of the possession in the second half, Tunisia only really created a few dangerous chances. 

I personally wasn't too impressed with Tunisia in the group stages, but I feel they were hyped up a bit after their shock win over Nigeria(where Nigeria played the last 24 minutes of the game with 10 men) in the Round of 16. Burkina Faso will be delighted to have reached the semi-finals. Tapsoba in particular had a great game at the back for Burkina Faso against Tunisia.

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