Sport

Africa, Sport

The Afcon weekend that was: January 20-22 – Anti-dictatorship protest continues, Gabon crash out

The Afcon weekend that was: January 20-22 – Anti-dictatorship protest continues, Gabon crash out

It’s crunch time at the Africa Cup of Nations as we head into the final round of group fixtures. Most groups remain relatively open as teams fight for a place in the final eight. By ANTOINETTE MULLER.

We’re into the business end of the group stages at the Africa Cup of Nations as teams tussle for a spot in the knockout stage. Group A was the first to wrap up on Sunday night with Burkina Faso sitting pretty at the top following a convincing 2-0 win over debutants Guinea-Bissau. Burkina Faso will play the runners-up in Group B, which looks likely to be Tunisia as things stand.

But while the Burkinabe cruised through easily, Gabon and Cameroon gritted their teeth. The hosts needed a victory in order to qualify. With Gabon having fluffed a chance early on, Cameroon were happy to sit back and slow things down, grinding out a goalless draw. The hosts didn’t exactly do much to threaten the Indomitable Lions, until the dying minutes of stoppage time.

In the dying minutes of stoppage time, Gabon hit the bar twice. Denis Bouanga hit the post in the 94th minute and Didier Ndong’s follow-up was brilliantly saved by Fabrice Ondoa as Gabon became the third host nation to exit the tournament at the group stages.

Here’s what else you might have missed.

Anti-dictatorship protests continue

Whoever said sport and politics shouldn’t mix clearly never paid attention to sport. Since the beginning of the tournament in Gabon, anti-dictatorship protestors have used the competition as a stage to highlight their plight. At the centre of their ire is president Ali Bongo, whose family has ruled the country since 1967. Bongo Jr took over from his father in 2009 and at least year’s elections there was much dispute over whether he had legitimately won the elections or not.

This weekend, a group of Russian hackers claimed that they took down the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF’s) website as part of the protest. A group who calls themselves New World Hackers sent an e-mail to the Associated Press claiming responsibility for the hack. The site was not working and AP said they could not confirm whether it was indeed a hack, while CAF simply said they did not know whether it was an “unconnected technical problem” or whether it was indeed a hack. The message to AP said: “We did this in protest against Gabon. They are running the Africa Cup in a country where the dictator Ali Bongo is killing innocent people!” [Associated Press]

Pitch not so perfect

The surfaces at the Africa Cup of Nations have caused some consternation with Ghana coach, Avrant Grant, being one of many voices to complain. He said that five injuries in the tournament so far have been down to the pitch. Grant also believes that the rules of the tournament should be changed so that players who are injured in the competition can be replaced. Egypt is perhaps the hardest hit by the injury rules with just one goalkeeper available and fully fit. Grant put the injuries down to the pitches. [BBC]

Port Gentil pitch comes under particular scrutiny as Gyan makes history

So dubious were the conditions in Port Gentil that Ghana and Mali had to reportedly warm up inside because of worries over the surface. Play did continue on the pitch where Ghana won and Asamoah Gyan made history in the process. He broke his own record of most goals in Afcon competitions for Ghana and became the first ever player to score in six Afcon tournaments.

Who’s in, who’s out

Only Group A has had all its fixtures played, but elsewhere, things aren’t quite so clear-cut. In Group D, Uganda are the only team who are definitely out with zero points from their two matches while Ghana are definitely through, even if they lose their final fixture, but the team that tops the group is yet to be determined. Senegal are also through and the only team to be certain that they will top the group even before their final fixture of the prelim stages has been played.

What does Group B hold for Tuesday?

The final games of the group all kick off at the same time to avoid any underhanded dealings. Senegal will play Algeria while Zimbabwe take on Tunisia. Senegal are sorted already, but Algeria will have to win if they want to stand a chance of progressing. Tunisia can go through if they win and Algeria win, but Algeria will only progress if they win and Tunisia lose. Zimbabwe remain in with a rank outside chance – they will need to beat Tunisia and for Algeria to lose in order to make it to the final eight. A draw for Tunisia and a win for Algeria will put both of them level on points, but will see Tunisia progress based on the head-to-head record between the teams. A draw for Tunisia and a loss for Algeria will also see Tunisia progress. Make sense? Good.

Fact of the day

Algeria have just two wins from their last 10 Afcon fixtures. They have managed to keep a clean sheet just once in their last 14 Afcon fixtures and have just two wins from their last 10 matches in the tournament. The last time they both won and kept a clean sheet in the Africa Cup of Nations was when they beat Senegal 2-0 at the 2015 edition of the competition.

Quote of the day

We made the maximum out of the situation. We were efficient and managed to score, which is the only way you can win matches.” – Henryk Kasperczak, Tunisia coach, explaining the intricacies of how wins work. DM

Photo: Evouna Malick of Gabon (R) challenged by Nicolas Nkoulou of Cameroon during the 2017 African Cup of Nations Finals Afcon football match between Cameroon and Gabon at the Libreville Stadium in Gabon on 22 January 2017 ©Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

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