• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Africa cup of nations: What stands out?

Africa cup of nations: What stands out?

Fifty-seven goals have been scored in 30 games, making for an average of 1.9 goals per match. Going by the number of goals set in the previous edition, the players have to score 72 goals in the remaining 22 games.

What is responsible for the low turnout of goals?

Maybe it’s the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) or the tactics employed, or the quality of the players…. Indulge me a little; the English Premier League (EPL) and Ligue Un UberEats have the highest number of contingents with 40 and 56 players respectively, 102 is the total number of delegations from the various leagues in Europe. With these in mind, it’s difficult to accept that Africa lacks the quality to “burst” the net with many “who dey breathe” goals.

Aliou Cisse (Senegal) and Kaba Diawara (Guinep deployed a three-person anchor in midfield in addition to an entirely “flat” squad. One can only wonder when African football will move from “senior man footie” to a more sophisticated. Carlos Queiroz (Egypt) expects Mohammed Salah to perform miracles when it’s not Sallah day; the squad is so essential that his goal against Guinea-Bissau was his first in 6 games!

You need to watch Ghana play to see how abysmal they are; one might just stick to only Ghana Jollof at this rate, lol. One of the striking things in their match against Comoros was the number of times I saw Daniel Amartey, Jordan and Andre Ayew, Andy Yiadom, and Thomas Partey argued about roles, positioning, and passes on the pitch – which might suggest internal squabbles and perhaps lack of understanding of the coach’s game plan and tactics. Comoros had three shots on target and scored with all 3 to condemn Ghana to a humiliating tournament exit.

Côte d’Ivoire boasts of the best legs in this AFCON with the highest goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League in the man of Sébastien Haller,,,,, who has a measly one goal so far and the most sought after midfielder in Serie A; Franck Kessié, I can’t seem to shake the feeling of the players coming back to the continent with some “agba football mentality.” I’m hoping that their match against the defending champions, Algeria,,, will be explosive so that we can have some worthy ticket display from the bigwigs.

Read also: MTN Nigeria to reward fans with free tickets to watch AFCON final

The VAR has been generating controversy based on its use and adjudication. For example, Mali vs… Tunisia was halted for full time by referee Janny Sikazwe is the 89th minute with 11 seconds to average regulation time excluding added time. The tournament officials tried to restart the match 40 minutes after it “ended,” but the Tunisian players didn’t take to the field. However; Mali won 1-0 courtesy of a second-half penalty by Ibrahima Kone.

VAR disallowed what appeared to be a clean goal scored by Guinea-Bissau in their 1-0 defeat against Egypt on Saturday. The Pharaohs lost their group opener 1- 0 to Nigeria, took the lead courtesy of Mohammed Salah in the 69th minute, but the Djurtus found the back of th net in the 84th minute through Mama Balde only for referee Pacifique Ndabihawenimana to chalk it off later after consulting VAR. It was a significant relief for Egypt as they went on to pick up their first three points in the clash at Roumde Adjia Stadium and stay on course to reach the knockout stage in Cameroon. The decision to disallow Balde’s goal has me baffled because football is a physical sport and many scenarios are 50/50. The referees act incompetent and wait for a sign from above (VAR) before dispensing their duties.

In the current tournament, VAR’s decisions include the penalty awarded to Cameroon during the tournament’s Group A opener, which striker Vincent Aboubakar converted to help the Indomitable Lions come from a goal down and beat Burkina Faso 2-1 at Olembe Stadium.

On Saturday, the video system also awarded a penalty to Sudan, who scored but lost 3-1 against Nigeria in a Group D battle at Roumde Adjia Stadium. In fact, in the last game, referee Victor Gomes needed VAR to confirm if a play was a corner kick to Nigeria or a goal kick to Sudan; that’s never part of the functions of VAR set out by The International Football Association Board (IFAB).

Some quarters think that the poor quality of some of the pitches are factors to be considered at par with the amateurish displays that have come to be a norm in this tournament; it can be argued that it contributed to the howler from Ali Sangare while in goal for Cote d’Ivoire that gifted Sierra Leone an equalizer.

Did I hear you say minnows?

Cape Verde held the host nation, Cameroon, to a 1-1 draw while Equatorial Guinea defeated the defending champions, Algeria 1-0. Sierra Leone and her goalie, Mohammed Kamara, have provided some of the finest displays. Elsewhere, Comoros made the phrase “Ghana Must Go” a reality with a superb display of wit and guile to send Ghana packing in a 3-2 victory, while Gabon has been gliding without iririrtheir helptalisman; Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The crème de la crème haven’t turned up in this championship; one can only hope they aren’t here to catch “cruise.”

Strict Health Protocol and low fan turnout

There are several reasons why fans aren’t showing up to the stadiums. The main one is undoubtedly the heavy health protocol adopted by CAF and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to limit the spread of Covid-19.
The rules are stringent, and many clubs – particularly European ones – have demanded that their players participate in the competition with the regulations in place. Only those who have been duly vaccinated, and have tested negative for the virus within the last 48 hours, can attend the matches.

Since the exceptional crowd of the opening match of 9th January because of Cameroon’s host nation’s team, the temperature has dropped following the lack of public supporters in the various stadiums. An hour after the match between the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon and the Stallions of Burkina Faso, the stands of the Olembe stadium had already emptied when the Ethiopian and Cape Verdean players came onto the pitch.

In Bafoussam stadium, where the matches of one of the favourites, Senegal, are played; in Mfandena, where Morocco is housed; in Douala Japoma stadium, Algeria played its first match on 11th January, none of them could bring in enough people! So far, the only exception: the duel between Nigeria and Egypt, which was played at the Roumde Adja stadium in Garoua, filled for the occasion up to the 60% authorised by CAF.
In a country where less than 2.5% of the population had taken their dosage a week before AFCON kicked off, the vaccination requirement excludes a large proportion of potential fans.

The schedules of some of the matches during this first phase of the competition – as early as 2 pm for some – and the price of tickets are also an issue. Depending on the category, tickets range from 3,000 to 8,000 CFA francs (about 5 to 14 dollars).
As the competition progresses, the prices go up: 5,000 – 15,000 CFA francs in the quarter-finals.
For in the quarter-finals in the quarter-finals in the quarter-finals in the quarter-finals their, final, the precious tickets will cost between 7,000 – 20,000 CFA francs. These prices might be steep for many football fans in Cameroon, so they might just end up watching at home or a nearby pub-like “Ted Lasso.”

The TV rights for the AFCON in the UK are split between Sky Sports and BBC. There’s room for a lot more improvement on the part of organisers, coaches, players, and media if we’re to see the AFCON that we truly deserve.

The following players have been my standout performers:
GK – Mohammed Kamara (Sierra Leone)
RB – Ola Aina (Nigeria)
RCB – Esteban Obiang (Equatorial Guinea)
LCB – Mohammed Camara (Guinea)
LB – Zaidu Sanusi (Nigeria)
CM – Selim Amallah (Morocco)
CM – Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria)
CM – Franck Kessié (Côte d’Ivoire)
RW – Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia)
ST – Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon)
LW – Moses Simon (Nigeria)

Oginni Noah, @Otunbaoflagos_