Africa Cup of Nations: 5 Best Players of the Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals of the Africa Cup of Nations are done and dusted, and only four teams remain. Tunisia, Gabon, Sudan and Equatorial Guinea all fought valiantly and played hard, but in the end, they simply weren't good enough (or lucky enough) to make it to the semifinals.

The quarterfinal matches were considerably more exciting than the average group stage match. No match had less than two goals, and the biggest stars of the competition finally made their quality apparent.

Many players were crucial in willing their team to victory, but five stood above the rest. 

Here they are.

Rainford Kalaba (Zambia)

Rainford Kalaba didn't manage to get on score-sheet against Sudan, but his influence throughout the game was instrumental in assuring Zambia's success against Sudan.

In the first half, it was Rainford Kalaba's free kick that Stophira Sunzu duly converted to give Zambia a 1-0 lead, and Kalaba almost doubled that lead when his long-range shot was only barely saved by Sudan's goalkeeper.

In the second half, it took Kalaba a while to get into his stride due to pressure from Sudan's offense, but once again he was at the center of Zambia's best play as his pace was too much for Saifeldin Ali Hidris to handle, and the Sudanese defender brought Kalaba down for a penalty.

This would be the turning point of the game, as not only would Zambia go 2-0 up after Christopher Katongo converted the rebound of his missed penalty, but Sudan would play a man down after Hidris was sent off for a second-bookable offense.

Zambia would score once more through a well-curled shot from James Chamanga, but Kalaba had already wrecked enough havoc to have put Zambia well in the driver's seat.

After the game, Kalaba's head coach had huge words of praise for his star midfielder, calling him "one of the best players in Africa, maybe in the top 15."

Considering the quality of players available to the national teams of Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and other major countries, that is massive praise for a player who has yet to play at a level higher than the second-tier of Portuguese football.

We'll see in the next game if he is indeed worthy of such praise, but his performance against Sudan would certainly point to him being a potential star with bags of ability.

Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

Didier Drogba had been having a decent tournament prior to Ivory Coast's quarterfinal match with Equatorial Guinea, but against Equatorial Guinea, Drogba finally decided to show his quality as Ivory Coast's captain and one of the best African center forwards in the history of football.

The game did not start ideally for Drogba. Although his flick was crucial in the buildup to Ivory Coast's penalty, Drogba would see his penalty attempt saved, much to his chagrin.

In Drogba's defense, there wasn't much wrong with his attempt; Equatorial Guinea's keeper just did well to read it from the start.

From there however, Drogba was at his best. First, he capitalized on a mistake by Equatorial Guinea's defense to score the opener for Ivory Coast.

Though the mistake by EQ's defense created the opportunity for Drogba, he still had to dribble past two defenders before firing the ball past the keeper, which he did to great effect at a rather tight angle.

Drogba then followed up his solo effort will a rocket of a header in the 69th minute, putting the game to bed.

Yaya Toure would put the cherry on the cake with his rocket of a free kick, but it was Drogba's hard work that ultimately won the game for the Ivory Coast.

Chieck Diakate (Mali)

This was anticipated by most to be the closest quarterfinal in the round, and so it proved. There weren't too many goal-scoring chances all game long, and after 120 minutes the two teams could still not be separated.

In the end, it took a penalty miss from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang—who had an awesome Africa Cup of Nations, performing well against Mali, too—to separate the two sides.

Seydou Keita, Mali's captain, would convert the fifth and final penalty for Mali to give Mali the win and earn the team a place in the semifinals.

The man of the match for this game was Cheick Diabate, scorer of Mali's 84th minute equalizer. Though he only came on as a substitute in the 76th minute, he changed Mali's play, and his goal was well taken after a headed pass from Modibo Maiga.

Diabate also coolly slotted in Mali's first penalty to get Mali on their way to their penalty kick victory.

Again, not a performance of the same class as Drogba's or Kalaba's, but Diabate will surely be included as a starter in the semifinals by Mali's manager.

Andre Ayew (Ghana)

Ghana and Tunisia's quarterfinal matchup was not a pretty; in fact, you could call it the anthesis of an advert for African football.

The tackles were rough, none of the goals were really inspirational or impressive, and the game simply came down to which team lost their temper first.

As it turned out, Ghana was able to outlast Tunisia, and Andre Ayew was key in making this happen.

First, Andre Ayew was in the right position to put the ball into an empty net after a howler from Aymen Mathlouthi, Tunisia's goalkeeper. This put Ghana into the lead in the 101st minute, and was when Tunisia's morale began to crumble.

Second, Andre Ayew was able to convince the referee that Aymen Abdennour's elbow was not incidental, thus earning the Tunisian center-back a red card and all but ending Tunisia's hopes of grabbing an equalizer once again.

Check this video to make up your own mind on whether it was a red card foul or not. To me, it was a clear yellow, but not remotely violent enough or damaging to be a red. But then again, as they say, hindsight is 20/20, and referees don't have the benefit of replays.

So, in a game of poor football and few notable moments of good play, Andre Ayew's tap-in goal and influence on the ref won the game for Ghana.

He was active as always on the wings and did his job, but he and Ghana will need to do more to advance beyond Mali in the semifinals.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)

It was truly a shame to see Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and his team crash out after performing so well during the tournament.

It's hard to think of a youngster who's performances were more surprising or impressive than Aubameyang, and hopefully he'll' receive some recognition at the end of the tournament for some terrific performances.

Again, Aubameyang was at the center of his country's best play, and it was his ability to control the ball of a header in the box and cross it back into the center that allowed Gabon to open the scoring against Mali.

Unfortunately, it was Aubameyang who missed the penalty shooutout's only missed penalty, and the mistake will likely haunt him for a while. But he should take heart in knowing that he was easily his country's best player, both in the group stages and against Mali.

Aubameyang recently signed a permanent deal with AS Saint-Etienne, but if his performances for his club are anything like his performances for his country, he could be well on his way to the biggest clubs of Europe.

At only 22 years old, Aubameyang has a bright future.

Honorable Mentions: Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Badu (Ghana), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia)