Africa Cup of Nations 2010: A Tournament Best Forgotten?

February 1st, 2010 | by: Daryl |

Angola 2010 Afcon The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations is over. Though I usually love the tournament, I won’t be remembering this edition fondly. For several reasons.

First and foremost, Angola 2010 will mostly be remembered for the attack on the Togo team bus, in which three people died and many more thought they were going to die.We can blame the tournament organizers for putting games in Cabinda. We can maybe blame the Togolese football authorities for making less than sensible travel plans. Mostly I blame the men that did the actual shooting. But following the attack, the Confederation of African Football handled the whole thing with a confusing mix of insanity and heartlessness. First CAF rejected the Togo team’s request to rejoin the tournament after briefly returning home, and more recently CAF banned Togo from competing at the 2012 and 2014 Africa Cup of Nations.

So the football was understandably overshadowed by the tragedy. But the football itself wasn’t that great either. Certainly not as good as the previous tournament in 2008. There were a few entertaining games of course. The opening 4-4 draw between Angola and Mali and Algeria’s 3-2 win over Cote d’Ivoire in the quarter-final are the standouts. But unfortunately my six enduring football memories of Angola 2010 will be:

1. Bad goalkeeping.
It had become a lazy and borderline racist stereotype that African goalkeepers were a bit dodgy. The likes of Carlos Kameni and Essam al-Hadary had mostly dispelled that myth, but some of the comedy errors in Angola were staggering. Mozambique keeper Kapango’s flip fail vs Benin, Zambia keeper Kennedy Mweene’s inability to deal with a tame, bouncing cross vs Cameroon are the two worst examples. I’d still argue that most African goalkeepers are perfectly fine. I just won’t be using Angola 2010 as evidence.

2. Empty stadiums
Not completely empty of course. But pretty close. The attendance and atmosphere seemed to swell in the last 30 minutes or so of every game, presumably because they let people in for free towards the end. Maybe a more sensible pricing strategy would have enticed these people in from the start.

3. Group stage finales ruined by head-to-head tie-breaker system.
Group D gets a pass for the Cameroon 2-2 Tunisia game. But the finales of Groups A, B and C were almost non-events. Mostly because too many teams knew what they needed to do, thanks to Africa Cup of Nations 2010 using the head-to-head rule as first tie-breaker, and not goal difference. The result was that Algeria could get out of Group A by scoring only one goal, and playing out that brain-destroying 0-0 draw with Angola while Mali were wasting their time beating Malawi 3-1.

4. Underwhelming performances from big names
Michael Essien, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o were among the big names we were looking forward to seeing in Angola. Essien went home injured after 45 minutes, Drogba scored one in three before going home, while Cameroon boss Paul Le Guen inexplicably asked Samuel Eto’o to spend most of his time playing either wide left or behind the strikers.

5. None of the World Cup teams looked convincing
If this is how Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria perform in tournaments in 2010, then we shouldn’t expect much from them at World Cup 2010. Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire especially. The Indomitable Lions spent the tournament chopping and changing personnel, while The Elephants choked when it mattered. We might have to stop making them pre-tournament favourites from here on out. Ghana and Nigeria were a little better, but both went far without ever clicking or impressing. The only upside is that Ghana gave valuable tournament experience to some talented youngsters. Otherwise, let’s just hope South Africa are a much better team than we’ve been led to believe.

6. Egypt aren’t going to the World Cup
The Pharaohs were far and away the best team in Angola. They were the only consistent team. The only team that looked like they had a plan, and knew how to make it happen. They also provided many of the best moments: The Gedo super sub phenomenon, Ahmed Hassan redeeming his own goal with a long range striker on his 170th international appearance. So why is this a bad thing? Because after winning their third consecutive Africa Cup of Nations trophy (2006, 2008, 2010) they are demonstrably the best football team in Africa, or at the very least the best tournament team. Which makes it all the more depressing that Egypt won’t be at World Cup 2010.

Can anyone offer a more positive take on Angola 2010?

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http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

You’re right, besides Egypt and a few other highlights, this tournament was everything it shouldn’t have been and CAF capped it off with their sickening decision to ban Togo for four years. Simply infuriating. I hope this leads to Issa Hayatou and his cronies finally packing his bags and leaving. We’ve had enough of their stupidity.
Jonathan

The lesson we can take from this tournament is clear: Pray to Allah, and win.
http://egypt.worldcupblog.org Tamim

“Can anyone offer a more positive take on Angola 2010?”

we won our 7th title, 3rd in a row, beat Algeria 4-0, beat 4 world cup teams, dominated ALL individual titles (best player, top scorer, best goal keeper, fair play, best substitute) and all this without Abu Treika and Zaki……..can it get any better!!!!
http://www.worldcupblog.org chris

To be fair, Algeria were robbed, beaten and then robbed again by the referee in the semifinal. They were fine til the absurd sending off and simply beating CdI lends some hope for them in the World Cup in a group in which second is very much up for grabs.
Seth

Yeah this tournament really was awful. I was looking forward to it so much (and it was my first time watching), but I guess I had hoped for too much and was disappointed in the end. The Ivory Coast really let me down.

This is why I’m not going to have high expectations for the World Cup.
Seth

Also for the sake of the World Cup, Fifa should boot one of the lackluster African teams (Ghana, Cameroon, Algeria, Nigeria) and let Egypt participate instead :P
Brian

Not a single red card awarded to Algeria was absurd. They were all clear cut straight red cards. Not to mention their gk who should have been sent off for attempting to head butt the referee. I heard that Beldadj and Chaouchi are going to be punished by not playing in the world cup due to their behavior. They played a terrific game against Cote d’Ivoire though. More of the same and they can make it through in the WC group stage.
http://ghana.worldcupblog.com Gary

Seth, how long have you followed soccer? Boot one team out…now there’s a thought!
MoMONEY

CAF actually gave the ref for the Algeria game an 8.5/10 rating. And he was going to be at the World Cup but FIFA dod not like that he did not send off Chaouchi and Ghezzal for their offenses (Chouchi’s first) so he isnt going… How anyone thinks Algeria was robbed that game is beyond me…
Jose75

They really have to stop holding the ACN in World Cup years. None of the World Cup teams seemed to be taking it seriously! As you mentioned, they were experimenting with line-ups, had a bunch of starters missing and seemed to be preparing for the World Cup.

And Seth, let’s be frank. What this tournament proved was that Egypt is a screw-up/disappointment. To have a team that wins three ACNs in a row and still fail to make the World Cup… especially after having been assigned an easy group by most outsiders. It sounds harsh but they have only themselves to blame.
Shane

It was certainly a bad tournament. Egypt, Ghana and Angola looked the only sides who cared. And it is no shame that Egypt aren’t in the World Cup. They don’t deserve to be. They played 7 games of qualifying in the final round and came up short. They have only themselves to blame. Plus I don’t want to risk seeing them lose 4-0 to the USA again.
http://tunisia.worldcupblog.org Rami

Jose75, that’s probably going to happen. There might be a 2013 ACN right after the 2012. Then they’ll be out of the World Cup years. Still going to keep the January timing though. It’s all being discussed by CAF. I’m just waiting to hear what happens with their Togo decision. They should be ashamed of themselves.
Brian

Shane, it was 3-0! And to be honest, why was there a playoff for Egypt anyways? Both Algeria and Egypt had the same amount of points and goals etc. Shouldn’t Egypt have qualified due to the away goal (1-3 defeat in Algeria and 2-0 win in Egypt)?
I think Issa Hayatu is going mental with his management and decision making. He should have supported Togo not ban them!
http://guinea.worldcupblog.org shane

Brian: They did not break the ties based on away goals thankfully. Away goals is one of the most annoying things in sports. Playing the one game playoff was the much more sensible option from a fairness standpoint.
MoMONEY

But te rule everywhere but caf us away goals…

And egypts group isn’t as easy as it seems. Zambia and Algeria proved dangerous in the tournament. Nit to mention winning obscure African matches in the heat of the middaysun and corrupt refs is hardly easy…

Obviously it is still down to Egypt to qualify but one loss and one draw from 6 games is hardly choking. If anything the issue is the number of African teams to qualify. Concacaf gets three and Africa with gets five despite having the most countries.
http://www.assyriska.theoffside.com Luka

The refereeing was pretty good though.
Jose

Mo thats true but if those were the rules from the beginning, then you know Algeria would have played differently in Cairo after going 1 down.

And it Was easy in the sense that the top two teams only dropped two points to the bottom two. And if I recall, the Egypt blog here celebrated the draw :p
fan across the atlantic

Non-soccer fans in the USA actually heard about it. Even though all they really heard about was the attack on the Togo team.
Shane

I’m a huge fan of CAF but they shouldn’t get more than the 5 spots they have right now. The fact remains that they have never had two teams advance out of the group stages in the same tournament. If only 1/5 is advancing you don’t deserve any more berths. I think this coming World Cup is the most important ever for Africa. If only 1/6 were to advance then you can forget about the extra spots argument for quite some time.
MoMONEY

@Jose
yes we thought it was an easy draw and I give full credit to Algeria. We blew our chance and there is no way around it. We usually do when we are favorites, its a mentality thing. My point is it wasnt an utter collapse like some are making it seem. It was quite close. And even the game in Sudan we had something like 70% possession just couldnt get the breakthrough. We need to learn to be more professional and I am hoping this AFCON will help us get there…

@Shane
I am not so sold. Grouping it that way doesnt seem to do it justice because CAF has more countries than any other region. Put it this way: Who has a better chance at advancing from Slovenia, Slovakia, Honduras, New Zealand vs Egypt, Tunisia and a bunch of other solid African countries? Unfortunately I think your train of thought will indeed be the way the decisions are made but I do not think it is fair…
http://angola.worldcupblog.org/ Kiko

It was a disappointing tournament. Too many issues for me to enjoy.

Egypt, without a shadow of a doubt, was the most consistent team.

http://angola.worldcupblog.org/group-b/african-nations-cup-review-the-togo-team-incident.html
Jose

Momoney, you can say that Tunisis or the 6th best African team “would do better” but one has to wonder whether a lot of that is hype… The African reps have been the most underperforming based on number of reps sent (along with Asia). Concacaf always sends at least one rep (and often two) to the knockouts, and they only have 3! Thats as much as Africa or Asia have been sending with 10 spots total.
Jose75

Also, Mo, I have to point out an inaccuracy.

Apart from UEFA and CONMEBOL:

Asia/Oceania = ~50 countries /10 = 5 spots
Africa = ~50 countries /10= 5 spots
CONCACAF = ~35 countries /10 = 3.5 spots
MoMONEY

@Jose

I dont get the second post… So Asia and Africa both have 50 countries and five spots? Wikipedia (i know not the most accurate source) says 55 for CAF, 53 for Europe and 46 for Asia…

I guess they are fair points by all of you guys but CONCACAF sends two to the second round because its always Mexico and USA and they can qualify from CONCACAF consistently. Africa there is always a quality side or two that doesnt get in because of the size and inconsistency of the qualifying.

Sure it could be all hype but I am sure a lot of people would think having an extra African team would be more interesting than another Euro minnow… Of course then if a big Euro team doesnt get in it causes more controversy…

But say 2 or 3 African teams make the second round this year- will that change people’s minds?
Jose75

Mo, when people write “~” it means approximately. So ~50 means approximately 50.

CONCACAF has also sent Costa Rica to the second round in the past 20 years (twice).

I always support taking away spots from Europe :P
MoMONEY

haha gotcha

yea its obviously not a crime that Africa doesnt have more spots but I wouuld still much rather they got one more over one of the Euro minnows. Hopefully they can prove they deserve it in SA
Shane

Mo: Slovenia and Slovakia are more likely to advance then Egypt, Tunisia, Burkina Faso, etc. in my opinion. Mid-level European teams have a better track record of success at the World Cup then the African sides. Ukraine and Switzerland both advanced at the last World Cup over African sides in Tunisia and Togo. For the Africa to deserve more spots the teams at the World Cup have to perform well and one nation aside at each World Cup it just hasn’t happened yet.
Icegaze

Luka said: “The refereeing was pretty good though.”

O__O

This gotta be some sort of sarcastic comment or else I’m gonna puke. :X

The officiating in the tournament was probably the worst in football history. The linesmen were completely unfamiliar with the rules. My word…

I did not like this Afcon. Period.
DZgirl

I have to agree with Icegaze. The ref at this tournament were way below standards. The CAR after giving Kodja a 8.5/10 just banned him yesterday! Totally ludicrous. They should not allow any African ref during the WC.
Nuran

Well first of all Egypt didn’t qualify because of the terrorist atmosphere of khartoum …. the algerian fans came to support there team with knifes …. they threatened our team with horrible msgs … Second: they payed their famous referee Eddy Maillet who also helped them in their match against ivory coast …. he skipped a penalty and a totally correct goal …. so we totally should’ve quallified to WC ….. Third: we lost against USA cuz the players were injured and fatigued …. but we defeated Italy the world champion and lost in the very last mins to Brazil 4-3 … So don’t take judjements without knowing FACTS ….Egyptian and PROUD … Thanks all for ur time :)
Nuran

and by the way the videos of algerian fans holding knifes is all over the sites … and ofcourse on you tube … So beware England it’s not an easy Team
Joao Santiago

Mr…. your view about emply stadiums in Angola is a bit disrespectful for all the efforts we have made to go to the stadiums.

Benguela is not the size of London and Lubango is nowhwere close to the size of Newcastle in terms of population. Have you considered that at least a third of all Lubango and Benguela population went to the satadium to watch the matches? Why do you want to point negatively something that instead should have been regarded as an extremely positive. 18,741 per match is absolutelly EXCELLENT for Angola’s small population. plus, this is not EUROPE where people drive by car or buses to everywhere in the continent and going by plane is not possible to everyone due t high costs. Or you wanted us to build a 10.00 seats stadiums so that they would look full?

You should also Know that it was impossible to enter for free or without a valid ticket because there were automatic gates that ONLY open with the barcode in the tickets.

While everything your said in your article may be worth of considering the empty stadiums part shows lack of analysis.