Egypt looks on course to win their record seventh title as they crushed Algeria in the semi-final of the African Cup of Nations.

Egypt assistant coach Chaouki Gharib said: “We’ve played against three World Cup qualifiers in our five matches here, we’ve beaten them all and scored ten goals against all of them.

“It’s thanks to our strategy, we know how to win games and how to deal with our rivals. We wish Algeria well at the World Cup because they are representing the Arab world.”

Egypt’s goals against their bitter rivals came from Hosni Abdrabou, who converted a penalty, Mohamed Zidan, substitutes Mohamed Abdelshafy and Mohamed ‘Gedo’ Nagy.

Indisciplined Algeria saw red three times.

First defender Rafik Halliche was sent packing for bringing down a goal-bound Emad Motaeb whch led to the spot-kick in the 39th minute.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hull City striker Daniel Cousin scored the only goal as Gabon caused the biggest upset so far in a shock-filled Africa Cup of Nations by defeating Cameroon 1-0 on Wednesday, thanks to Hull City striker Daniel Cousin who scored the only goal.

Cousin scored early in the first half of the Group D clash and the Gabonese survived numerous goalmouth scares to record only their second victory during four appearances at the biennial continental football showcase.

Cameroon, four-time champions and twice runners-up, entered the game as hot favourites to secure maximum points having comfortably beaten Gabon twice in qualifers for the Angola tournament.

“We are very pleased we got a win in the first game. Our system worked well and technically we were very good, ” said Gabon coach and former France star Alain Giresse.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Pharaohs came back from a 1 – 0 deficit to defeat the Super Eagles 3 – 1. Egypt has won the prestigious Africa Cup of Nations a record six times and they will now be aiming for their seventh title at the end of the month.

Egypt went into this match hoping to pick up their first victory against Nigeria in 47 years as the Pharaohs began their title defence. The Super Eagles looked determined from the start, making typically tough tackles, but the first chance of the game fell to Egypt, as Mohamed Zidan found himself in front of goal, but his shot was wasted as he hit it over Vincent Enyeama’s goal.

Nigeria were forceful in their play, and in the 11th minute their determination paid off, as Hoffenheim striker Chinedu Obasi turned the ball from his right foot onto his left before unleashing a thunderbolt that Egypt ‘keeper El Hadary could not keep out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Day two of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations delivered more shocks as Algeria crashed to minnows Malawi and favourites Ivory Coast stuttered against Burkina Faso.

Away from the pitch Angolan security forces, who arrested two suspects in connection with Friday’s deadly attack on Togo, sealed off the footballers’ village in Cabinda in a bid to ward off any further attacks.

It was going to be a tall order to follow up Sunday’s sensational curtain raiser when Mali fought back from four goals down to snatch a point against hosts Angola, but little Malawi managed it.

In only their second ever appearance in the competition they inflicted a remarkable 3-0 thrashing of Algeria, who arrived in Angola proudly carrying their ticket to the World Cup.

But the Carthage Eagles looked anything but world class as they were torn apart in the searing heat.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mali stunned Angola in the opening game of the 2010 Oramge Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday by coming back from a 4 goal deficit to draw the game 4 – 4.

The hosts appeared set for the best possible start when a first half double from Flavio Armado and penalties from Gilberto and Manucho had them celebrating a famous victory.

With only 16 minutes left on the clock, Mali looked down and out.

But a double from Seydou Keita and contributions from Frederic Kanoute and Mustapha Yattabare gave them an improbable draw.

This Nations Cup curtain raiser began with a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of Friday’s deadly gun attack on the Togo team bus in Cabinda.

Read the rest of this entry »

Alvaro Arbeloa have signed a 5-year contract with Real Madrid.

The 26-year-old Arbeloa passed a medical on Wednesday in Madrid
before completing his £3.5 million transfer
from Liverpool.

“The results of every test are very satisfactory,” Dr Carlos
Diez said. “He is delighted about playing for Real Madrid. It’s
always been his dream. He can’t wait to join his teammates.”

Arbeloa becomes the club’s seventh offseason signing, after
Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema, Raul Albiol, Alvaro Negredo
and Esteban Granero.

“Arbeloa’s versatility allows him to play anywhere in defence,”
Madrid said on their website. “He is a very regular and consistent
player who thrives in one-on-ones.”

Read the rest of this entry »

The clash of probably the best two players in the world, Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the UEFA Champions League final tonight have been highly anticipated.

Defending champions Manchester United will walk out at Rome’s Olympic Stadium for Wednesday’s show-case final to face a Barcelona side who have already humiliated European giants Bayern Munich and Real Madrid this season.

It promises to be a battle royal between two teams at the peak of their powers and includes a sub-battle between arguably the world’s best two attacking players who can terrorise defences on their day.

United’s Ronaldo currently has the upper hand having won both the world player of the year crown and the Ballon d’Or in 2008 while his side aim to retain their Champions League title by beating Messi’s Barcelona side.

Dead-ball specialist Ronaldo hit a staggering 42 goals in all competitions last season, but his winner away to Porto and two at Arsenal in this season’s Champions League campaign have gone some way to answering criticism of his big-game temperament.

Barcelona centre-back Yaya Toure admits the Spaniards can ill-afford to allow Ronaldo the freedom to control the midfield if they are to fulfill their ambition to win the competition they last claimed in 2006.

“They are physically very strong, they have a truly great footballer in Cristiano Ronaldo and they won the Champions League last year, so we know it will be very difficult,” said the 26-year-old Ivory Coast international.

Read the rest of this entry »

A final of epic proportions was played in Acra last night. As a devout follower of the game I fully realised the importance of a quality keeper in a team. Al Hadari and Kameni were rock solid. It was a great game of many chances and both keepers were looking unbeatable. Rigobert Song will be wondering how his decision to dribble the ball from the last line of defence could have cost his team so much? Mohamed Zidan chasing the veteran defender all the way to his box and making enough of himself to release an unmarked Mohamed Aboutraika to slot home the only goal under an outstretched Kameni. The only goal in a game that resembled the complete chess match.

Egypt now do what only one other team has managed in the tournament and retain the title. Deserving victors, they ran around tirelessly all game and defended with conviction, Cameroon were unlucky at times and can be proud of pushing the Egyptians as hard as they did.

So in review the AFCON was brilliant! The goals were of the highest quality, the teams demonstrated potential ability to start punching in the international arena and young talent flooded the fixtures.

On the down side the organization was pretty shocking! The medals that were handed out were tied up at the back and some were unravelling in the hands of Sepp Blatter as he was trying to hand them out, capping an extremly poorly carried out tournament. Even the advertising was disastrous, with posters depicting the old South African flag and a picture of Benni McCarthy’s face! The football however was a huge redeeming factor (is it not always?) and however bad The admin went, at least we can look back on a free scoring, highly tactical spectacle. Many teams will use this as a platform to try catapult the continent into world cup history and that is very encouraging.

Hassan Shehata can be a proud coach, he retained a title many people gave him no chance of keeping. The coach was tactically brilliant and it was evident that the Egyptians were extremely unified and extremely disciplined.

Hosni Abd-Rabou was voted Player of the tournament after many solid consistent performances. He is one of 5 Egyptians to make the AFCON XI side

1. Essam Al-Hadari (Egypt)

2. Wael Gomaa (Egypt)

3. Geremi Njitap (Cameroon)

4. Hosni Abd-Rabou (Egypt)

5. Michael Essien (Ghana)

6. Sulley Muntari (Ghana)

7. Alexandre Song (Cameroon)

8. Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)

9. Mohammed Abou-Treika (Egypt)

10. Amr Zaki (Egypt)

11. Manucho (Angola)

Substitutes:

1. Richard Kingson (Ghana)

2. Hani Saied (Egypt)

3. Ahmed Fathi (Egypt)

4. Saber Ben Fraj (Tunisia)

5. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

6. Abdelkader Keita (Ivory Coast)

In a terrific and thrilling evening, 2 Semi finals played out. Contrasting stories, Devastating results, Sublime football. Let me start by saying that the AFCON has been great. It has been thoroughly enjoying to watch teams in the knockout phases. The story has played out better than any soapie you could find on daytime television.

A brief review:

Ghana spent almost the entirety of their alloted 90 minutes attacking a very stubborn Cameroon. Sumptuous build up play however well executed was let down by woeful (painfully so) finishing. It was Ghana’s demise at the world cup 2006 and popped up again last night. Its unfortunate but now needs to be addressed. Ghana have a fantastic football attitude in that they rarely protest and get on with their game. Cameroon were dogged, defending most of the game, but keeping themselves well and truly in it. 71 minutes into the game, it took a moment of pure counter-attacking brilliance to claim the match and Cameroon provided it, with a total of 4 passes from defence to attack in a move that would please any hardened footy fan. Substitute Alain Nkong finishing delightfully after some very slick, simple and match winning interplay. Cue the host nations heartbreak.

I like that they have hour breaks between games because it gives one some time to reflect on the game. Ghana whist unlucky will have a clear goal of how to progress in 2010. They do everything but finish and it has cost them progression again. I recommend plenty of shooting practice. The do have a team that will challenge the worlds best, that is for sure. Cameroon have done well to get to where they are. Defensively they were reasonably tight, The moment of brilliance was a superb demonstration of how to tactically defeat a team who assault your goal constantly without any result. The Lions now go on to battle a team that in all likelihood could have them shaking in their collective boots.

Egypt demolished favorites Ivory Coast. The best African performance I have ever seen. The mighty elephants were left reeling after the full time whistle. Clinical and efficient were the perfect adjectives for a performance that literally came from nowhere.

Although it all started with a twice deflected goal, the Egyptians went on to deliver a 5 star performance. The speed they deployed the ball was dizzying to a very highly rated Ivory Coast squad brimming with Africa’s biggest names. The quality of the finishing was also great. Egypt were looking like a team that knew their path and they were determined to sprint through it.

Essam El-Hadary the Egyptian keeper defined the game with a performance that will have alerted many scouts worldwide. He was the best player on the park. He did what Europes elite fail to do regularly and kept Drogba completely at bay. He saved everything that came his way except the homing missile which bright star Kader Keita unleashed in the second half. Keita had a great tournament and will reflect on this tournament as a personal success.

Goals from Ahmed Fathi, Amr Zaki (2) and Mohamed Aboutraika thrust Egypt into the final.

Cameroon vs Egypt, not many peoples final predictions. The prospect however is mouthwatering! The winner will no doubt deserve it and go on to represent the continent in next years eagerly awaited Confederations cup and match their skills with the worlds football super-powers, Italy and Brazil lay ahead and there are more to come!

Manucho Gonçalves

23

Angola

Angola have done very well at the AFCON this year. For the first time in their history it looks like they might qualify for the knockout stages. much of that is down to the talented striker Manucho.Who is yet to play in Europe, starring for the past couple of years in Angolan domestic football with Luanda club side Petro Atletico.

Manchester United have signed the talented striker and barring a failed work permit application the youngster is threatening to shake up the already star strike force at Old Trafford. Manucho has displayed fine striking instincts and looks to be slick, powerful and speedy. Ferguson was full of praise for the youngster and with Portuguese speaking Nani, Ronaldo and Anderson, he will find little problems adjusting in the team.

Great to see another African joining a big club and his goals at the AFCON suggest he could be successful. Scoring 3 times in 2 games and showing that he is good in the air. Good luck to the young star!