African Cup of Nations Recap--Quarterfinals (Day 1)

The quarterfinal round of the 2008 African Cup of Nations opened in style today as Ghana snatched a 2-1 victory over their fierce West African rivals, Nigeria, through an 83rd minute goal from former MLS star Junior Agogo. Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari threaded a low, left-footed shot/cross across the six-yard box to leave the easiest of tap-ins for Agogo, whose second goal of the tournament proved to be the winner for the host nation.

Ghana had been playing with 10 men since the 60th minute, when captain John Mensah was sent off for a professional foul on Nigeria's Peter Odemwingie, who had broken in nearly alone on goal. There was very little contact but as Mensah was the last man back and prevented a clear goal-scoring opportunity, the match referee had little choice but to show the red card.

Nigeria went ahead 1-0 on a PK from Everton striker Yakubu, but a powerful header from versatile Chelsea stalwart Michael Essien levelled the match nearly right on halftime. The Super Eagles almost equalized in the game's dying minutes; they puffed and puffed but in the end, they couldn't blow the Ghana house down.

There were Premiership players galore in this game as four started the match for Ghana (Essien, Muntari, Paintsil, and Kingson), and four started for Nigeria as well (Yobo, Etuhu, Obi Mikel, and Yakubu).

Ghana will now play the winner of tomorrow's Tunisia-Cameroon match on Thursday in the semifinals, while Nigeria exit the African Cup of Nations before the semifinal round for the first time in five tournaments.

In today's second match, Ivory Coast cruised to a 5-0 victory over Guinea, who were playing without their captain and best player in Pascal Feindouno. My pre-tournament pick to win it all made things look easy as two Chelsea players, Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba, combined for three goals in the victory. Les Éléphants scored four times in the last 20 minutes of the game to put the match well and truly away, but this was no contest from the opening kickoff.

Five Premiership players (Kalou, Drogba, Meite, Zokora, and Eboue) featured for the winners today, who move on to face the winner of tomorrow's match between Egypt and Angola.

I got both of my predictions for today's games correct and so I'm feeling it, I'm feeling lucky. I'll go with the high-flying Cameroon side, led by Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o, to win against Tunisia. In the only real surprise pick of the round, I'm also going to go with Angola to knock off the defending champions, Egypt.

African Cup of Nations Recap--Day 9

Chelsea stalwart Michael Essien scored once and set up Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari for Ghana's second goal and that was all The Black Stars needed to see off Morocco yesterday and win Group A, likely avoiding Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals by doing so. The 2-0 scoreline was even a bit misleading as Ghana really dominated this game, but Morocco were very unfortunate to have an own goal by Ghana and West Ham defender John Paintsil disallowed as the whistle had already been blown for a foul even though replays showed there was none.

As the host nation, Ghana had been expected to make a deep run in this tournament and have lived up to that so far, winning all three of their group matches. On the other hand, Morocco will be disappointed with how things turned out. The Lions of the Atlas were predicted by most people to go through as the group runner-up, but a surprise loss to Guinea did them in.

Speaking of Guinea, they picked up a point against minnows Namibia with a 1-1 draw and coupled with Morocco's loss, that result was enough to see them through to the last eight. The National Elephants were playing without their best player and captain, Pascal Feindouno, who was serving the first game of a two-match ban for a stupid red card he received in his country's win over Morocco. Souleymane Youla scored in the 62nd minute but Namibia spoiled a victory and earned their first point of the tournament in the process with an 81st minute goal from Brian Brendell.

Guinea will likely play the Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals and without Feindouno, I don't think they have any chance to win that game. Regardless, advancing to that stage of the tournament would be significant as it would be the third straight African Cup of Nations in which they did so. Before that, the last time they progressed to the quarterfinals and behind was 1976, so it shows the upward trend of soccer in Guinea.

Final Group A Standings: (Teams in bold advance)

1. Ghana (9 points, +4 goal differential)
2. Guinea (4 pts, 0 GD)
3. Morocco (3 pts, +1 GD)
4. Namibia (1 pt, -5 GD)

Group B wraps up today with things looking fairly stable. Ivory Coast will battle Mali and although the former have already qualified for the quarterfinals, they still need a draw or victory to win the group while Mali only need a point to advance but would need to win the game to win the group. Look for Nigeria to put a hammering on Benin today as the Super Eagles need a win and an Ivory Coast victory to avoid the embarrassment of exiting the tournament early.

African Cup of Nations Recap--Day 5

Ghana put themselves in a very strong position to win Group A and qualify for the quarterfinals of the 2008 African Cup of Nations with their 1-0 win over Namibia yesterday. The Black Stars aren't exactly winning with style right now, but they're getting the job done and former MLS star Junior Agogo's 41st minute tally from close range was all they needed to pick up the three points. Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari's spectacular bicycle kick early in the game sailed straight into the hands of Namibia goalkeeper Attiel Mbaha. Ghana now need just a draw against Morocco in their last group stage game to seal a berth in the knockout stages, but could still move on with a loss depending on the result of the Guinea-Namibia match and Ghana's goal differential.

Yesterday's other game was a better one for the viewers as Guinea pulled off a 3-2 upset over Morocco. AS Saint-Etienne attacking midfielder and Guinea star Pascal Feindouno bagged a brace but was sent off as well in the 67th minute. Feindouno put Guinea ahead on a free kick after just 11 minutes, and then three goals in eight minutes (the first by Guinea, the second by a sensational strike from Morocco's Hicham Aboucherouane, the third a PK from Feindouno) busted the game wide open. Morocco pulled a goal back in the 90th minute, but by then it was too late to really impact the game.

Morocco really had their fate in their own hands and could've basically sealed the qualification deal if they would've won yesterday, which by all rights they were supposed to do. Instead, they'll face the daunting task of needing a result against Ghana in the last group game and it will likely have to be a victory because Guinea play the lightweights of the the group, Namibia. Morocco and Guinea are tied on points with 3 but Morocco's superior goal differential (+3; Guinea's is 0) could prove significant if both teams win their last game.

Group A Standings (after two games):

1. Ghana (6 points, +2 goal differential)
2. Morocco (3 pts, +3 GD)
3. Guinea (3 pts, 0 GD)
4. Namibia (0 pts, -5 GD)

Group B is in action today and wins by Ivory Coast and Mali would seal both nations' places in the last eight of the tournament. Ivory Coast play Benin and with no disrespect to Les Écureuils (The Squirrels), this game should simply be a matter of how much Ivory Coast will win by. Mali, on the other hand, have their hands full with Nigeria and to be honest, the only team that seems likely to win this game is Nigeria. A draw for Mali wouldn't be the worst result in the world but Nigeria could really use the three points after their opening loss to Ivory Coast.

African Cup of Nations Recap--Day 1

As I said before in my previous post about the 2008 African Cup of Nations, I'm very disappointed that I'm not going to be able to watch the games on TV. I’m going to try and do my best to keep with this tournament as best I can, but that’s not nearly the same as actually watching games live. The African Cup of Nations is the second biggest continental championship in the world in my opinion, and it's an absolute outrage that it's not available here in the States for free on TV.

That said, the tournament started in rousing fashion yesterday. Ghana, the host nation, defeated Guinea 2-1 on a last-minute rocket from Portsmouth midfielder Sulley Muntari, who I picked to be the top newcomer to the Premier League before the season started. The Black Stars feature a roster that includes four players who play their domestic soccer in the Premiership and to be honest, were fortunate to beat Guinea yesterday.

What I'm planning on doing is coming out with a recap of the games every day and highlight the contributions of the Premiership players on each team. Guinea doesn't have anyone on their roster who plays in England, much less the Premiership, and Ghana's lineup yesterday also featured Chelsea stalwart Michael Essien and Birmingham goalie Richard Kingson.

There's a pretty good slate of games on tap today, particularly the Nigeria-Ivory Coast affair that's ongoing as I type this. I picked Ivory Coast to win the whole thing, so hopefully they start out group play on a good note.