North African Teams Deserve More Respect

January 24th, 2008 | by: Daryl |

Before the Africa Cup of Nations kicked off, all the talk was about Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’ Ivoire and Senegal as favourites. A North African team couldn’t win this one, we thought, because the tournament is being played in West Africa. But after the opening round of games it looks like we’ve got that all wrong. Egypt didn’t just beat Cameroon, they beat them well. And they did so despite the absence of captain Ahmed Hassan. Tunisia didn’t look so impressive, but still managed a 2-2 draw with Senegal thanks to moments of individual brilliance from Issam Jomaa and Mejdi Traoui, while Morocco looked a class above Namibia on Monday with a 5-1 win.

So should we now be considering at least Egypt and Morocco amongst the favourites? We’ll know more today after Morocco face Guinea, who should offer a tougher test than Namibia. Egypt will be confident of another three points against Sudan on Saturday, while Tunisia get a second chance to impress against South Africa on Sunday.

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Medionsaturn

Egypt should most definitely be considered a force to be reckoned with now, they thrashed their Group C rivals, and thrashed them well at that. They played the best team football of all the teams that played their opening games.

However, Tunisia might have done better but they played too negatively, if they played to make it 2-0 they might have killed the game before it truly game alive, so I’m not sure if we’ll still see the best from Tunisia if they keep playing the same tactics.

Finally, Morocco, well they did look convincing against Namibia – but the fact is, it was just Namibia! They were expected to be the whipping boys of the group from the start, and when it came to Namibia’s goal Morocco looked very shaky, perhaps even prone to complacency. The real test will come up against Guinea, that’s for sure.
Bman

This debate will be a very fluid one. But one thing is certain, all the betting people and everyone didnt recognize exactly how strong North African teams are.

Morrocco went to Paris , played France and pushed them to the limit with a 2-2 draw just 2 months ago.

I think definitly, besides who won the last 2 cups and had 3 of the 4 last finalists. I dont know what Nigeria or Cameroon did lately to be ranked as the top african teams.

Egypt was the strongest team i witnesssed so far, Morroco looks really good, Ivory Coast, and Ghana look good.

As for Tunisia, they are better then how they are playing and it is never easy for anyone to defeat them.
karl

i agree wit you to the fullest..am cameroonian ..but here is my standing:

Egypt
Cameroon
Ivory coast
Ghana
Tunisia
AngolA
Nigeria
Guinee