Africa Cup Poll

[rowan]

Kicks off today in the central-west African nation of Gabon, Who's your money on? I've set up a poll but feel free to state your preference here as well. I'm going with Ghana

NB: Omitted from the poll are outsiders Guinea-Bissau, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Togo, DRC, Uganda & Mali.

http://www.worldsoccer.com/features/201 ... iew-394218

[rowan]

Hosts held to a 1-1- draw by Guinea-Bissau in the opener.

Same result in the late fixture between Cameroon (who led for much of the game) & Burkina Faso.

[rowan]

Algeria and Zimbabwe play to a 2-2 draw. So three games and no winners or losers yet. This is the biggest problem with the round-ball code, though it's not quite as bad as cricket In fact, one of the changes mooted for the FIFA World Cup in 2026 when it expands to 48 is that all drawn games will be decided by penalty shoot-out, even at the group stages. Anyway, tournament favourites Senegal are up next against Tunisia. Let's see what happens there... UPDATE: Senegal win 2-0

[rowan]

DRC just got the 2nd win of the tournament, and what might be considered its first upset, with a 1-0 win over Morocco. Earlier Ivory Coast were held scoreless by Togo.

[rowan]

Ghana's Black Stars (my pick) squeezed a none-too-impressive 1-0 victory out of their opener with Uganda's Cranes, joining favourites Senegal and surprise package DRC as the only first round winners, after Egypt and Mali fought out the fifth draw of the opening round.

[rowan]

Gabon & Burkina Faso drew today, the second such result for both teams, who will now need to win their third in order to qualify, and for the former nation, tournament hosts, that means overcoming highly-rated Cameroon, who collected their first win against Guinea-Bissau in the later game, 2-1.

[rowan]

I very nearly picked Senegal, except that seemed just a little too easy as they are the bookies' favourite, and no surprise is they collected their second win today (the only team with two wins so far), 2-0 over Zimbabwe. They beat Tunisia by the same score in the first round, of course, and in today's early game Tunisia prevailed 2-1 in their North African derby with Algeria.

[WaspInWales]

Senegal have striked early against The Gambia.

Can Jammeh's boys mount some sort of recovery?

[rowan]

I think you might be confusing politics with football there, Wasps. Gambia's not actually playing

[WaspInWales]

I think you might be confusing politics with football there, Wasps. Gambia's not actually playing

It's a metaphorical match

[rowan]

Morocco just became the first team to score three goals in the tournament (after a dozen matches), dispatching Togo 3-1. Ivory Coast continue to disappoint, however, and were held to their second draw, this time at the hands of DRC (who beat Morocco in the first round). So the Ivory Coast needs a win against Morocco in the last game to progress. DRC needs only a draw against Togo to ensure their passage to the 1/4s.

[rowan]

My team Ghana join favourites Senegal as the only two teams with two wins from the first two rounds after holding off Mali 1-0 in tonight's early game, though they do not look to be playing as quite the same level as the 'Teranga Lions.' Egypt & Uganda will both be looking for their first win in tonight's late game, which concludes round 2.

Update: & that finishes 1-0 with a late goal to Egypt! Uganda also lost their opener by the same score and are, I believe, the first team officially eliminated. 3rd round kicks off tomorrow with Cameroon against hosts Gabon in a crucial match-up...

[rowan]

Cameroon drew with Gabon which sends them through to the 1/4s ahead of the host nation (who had 3 draws), along with Burkina Faso who just beat Guinea Bissau 2-0.

[rowan]

Senegal and Tunisia join Cameroon and Burkina Faso in the 1/4s after a 1-1 draw with Algeria and 4-2 victory over hapless Zimbabwe, respectively, today.

[rowan]

Surprise package DRC through after a 3-1 over easy-beats Togo, while Morocco edge a disappointing Ivory Coast 1-0 to follow them into the quarters. The lineup will completed tomorrow.

[rowan]

Egypt defeated my pick Ghana 1-0 tonight but it didn't matter too much as the Black Stars were already through. It does mean the Pharaohs top the group, but their reward is a tough QF against fellow North Africans Morocco, while Ghana get to take on the in-form DRC. Mali and Uganda drew in the other match, so both are eliminated. Mali had to win and hope Egypt lost, but that was not to be, while Uganda were already eliminated after 2 defeats. The 1/4s kick off on Saturday with Burkina Faso against Tunisia, followed by favourites Senegal v. savvy Cameroon. Egypt - Morocco and Ghana - DRC will be played Sunday. NB: Burkina Faso & DRC are the only 2 QFists not on my poll...

[rowan]

Burkina Faso sinks Tunisia with two late goals in the first QF. Senegal and Cameroon up next it what promises to be an epic clash of West African giants.

Just noticing, too, that southern African is not really represented here, with DRC being more central, lying right across the equator. 4 of the remaining QFists were from the west, and 3 from the north. But with Tunisia already out of the equation, there can only be one North Africa team in the semis, as Egypt and Morocco will meet in the second of tomorrow's QFs (following Ghana v DRC).

Meanwhile, voting on this thread closed at 8:13 tonight and I'm the only one still in with a chance...

[rowan]

Big shock as Senegal lose to Cameroon 4-5 on penalties after dominating a goalless draw

[rowan]

My pick Ghana through to the semis after a 2-1 over Congo. So it'll be 3 West African teams in the semis plus the winner of tonight's North African derby between Egypt & Morocco.

[rowan]

Feisty game! African refs don't seem too interested in cards and the players are taking full advantage. Morocco surprisingly look to have the edge on Egypt but it's scoreless at halftime.

[rowan]

Didn't see the 2nd 1/2 but Egypt won 1-0. I believe they'll meet Burkina Faso on Wednesday while Ghana will play Cameroon in the other semi the following day.

[rowan]

Egypt are easily the most successful team in tournament history, with 7 wins and the best record overall. Cameroon and Ghana follow with 4 apiece, though the latter have not won since way back in 1982 The remaining semi-finalist, Burnkina Faso, have never won the tournament but were runners-up in 2013. In fact, they are not included in my poll, but it would be good to see them win!

[rowan]

Burkina Faso's fairy tale ends in heart break with a penalty shoot-out loss to Egypt. The final will thus be a clash of the titans, as the Pharaohs will meet the winner of tomorrow night's 2nd semi-final between Ghana & Cameroon. Again, Egypt have won the most titles with 7, followed by Ghana and Cameroon, 2nd equal on 4 apiece.

[rowan]

Egypt - Cameroon final it is! After a slow start Ghana (my pick) appeared to have taken control of their semi-final against Cameroon tonight, but squandered their chances before giving up a 72nd goal with some woeful defense. Then Cameroon sealed it with a 2nd in the 4th minute of injury time, 2-0. Anyway, you'd have to pick Egypt for the final, though Cameroon are a wily team and certainly can't be written off.

[rowan]

Burkina Faso finished 3rd with a 1-0 win over Ghana, who were my pick Actually, I'm quite happy to see this because the Burkinabes were the surprise package of the tournament. Ghana never really reached any great heights. Final tomorrow, Egypt favourites, I imagine, but I'll like to see Cameroon take it, mostly because I despise Al Sisi