Winners and Losers from Afcon Qualifiers on September 10
The African Cup of Nations qualifiers continued on Wednesday with a full programme of matches. Once again, as the groups begin to take shape, the contests were filled with goals and drama.
Notably, there were three heavyweight clashes, matches that would be fitting quarter-finals for the competition at least.
In Cape Town, Nigeria met South Africa, in Yaounde, Cameroon hosted the Ivory Coast, while Tunisia travelled to their North African rivals Egypt for a contest in Cairo.
In this feature, we present the winners and losers from Africa’s mid-week games.
Winners: The Republic of Congo
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Few could have imagined that two games into Cup of Nations qualification, the Republic of Congo would sit in top spot in Group A, ahead of continental giants Nigeria and South Africa.
The Red Devils weren’t even supposed to be in the competition still, having lost to Rwanda only to receive a reprieve when it emerged that the Wasps had fielded an ineligible player.
However, with the wily veteran Claude Le Roy at the helm, Congo are a force to be reckoned with.
They followed up a 3-2 away victory in Calabar against Nigeria with a solid 2-0 home triumph over Sudan.
Ferebory Dore opened the scoring inside the first five minutes, before Prince Oniangue added his name to the scoresheet in the dying moments of the contest.
The Stade de Reims midfielder has been one of the star men of AFCON qualification thus far and with four games to go, he and his compatriots feel confident of claiming a spot among the continental elite.
Losers: Nigeria
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The Super Eagles may have avoided defeat against South Africa in Cape Town, but the point earned hasn’t stirred up any sentiments of optimism among Nigeria fans.
Before Wednesday night’s game, Nigeria had won six and drawn one of seven previous competitive fixtures against Bafana Bafana. There is no doubt that Super Eagles fans view themselves as completely superior to their continental rivals.
Thus, Nigeria’s draw was greeted with apathy and disappointment.
Stephen Keshi’s side failed to convince once more and, indeed, could have lost the game late on had Austin Ejide not leapt into action.
The Eagles have now won only one game in their last eleven fixtures. There’s almost no possible way of putting a positive spin on that statistic.
Keshi, or whoever else takes control of the side for the qualifiers in October, must ensure that the reigning champions begin picking up wins!
Winners: Cameroon
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It was all doom and gloom for Cameroon a week ago, heading into the AFCON qualification series.
The Indomitable Lions flopped badly at the World Cup. They were eliminated after three defeats, courting considerable controversy in the process, and appeared to be a team devoid of character or collectiveness.
On top of this, their AFCON group looked hostile. Certainly, there was a very real chance that after two opening games against the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ivory Coast, things, in the words of Chief Wiggum, would get worse before they got better.
However, the side have won two out of two. They not only beat the Elephants on Wednesday, they put them to the sword, trashing Herve Renard’s men 4-1.
The federation look vindicated for having stuck with the beleaguered Volker Finke, while the manager himself looks to have pulled off a masterstroke by incorporating Lyon man Clinton N’Jie into the squad.
The 21-year-old has scored three times in his first two international matches and looks to have a long future at the pinnacle of Cameroon’s attack.
Losers: Egypt
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It’s hard to think of too many all-conquering sides that fell so far from greatness so quickly. Admittedly, several fine international teams have been knocked from their perch, but there aren’t many that have transitioned from being so consistently dominant to being so consistently dominated with such immediacy.
Having been smashed 6-1 by Ghana in the infamous World Cup qualifying first leg in Kumasi, the Pharaohs needed a convincing start to AFCON qualification.
They have had anything but.
A 2-0 defeat in Dakar was followed swiftly by a 1-0 defeat, at home, in Cairo, against local rivals Tunisia. The humiliation is matched only by the despair of already falling so far behind the top two teams in Group G
For the second consecutive match the Pharaohs looked listless, lacking cohesion and low on confidence. The new generation has some bright sparks, but there are enough frailties for manager Shawky Gharib to insist the team are in the midst of a rebuilding process [via King Fut].
Winners: Senegal
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Having missed out on qualification for the World Cup and the last Cup of Nations, and following a disastrous campaign at the 2012 event, Senegal are in need of a little good fortune.
They certainly didn’t get it with the draw, being paired up with North African heavyweights Tunisia and Egypt. Botswana complete the set; minnows, surely, but they did qualify for the continental showpiece as recently as 2012.
After two games in Group G, however, the Lions of Teranga are setting the pace.
They defeated Egypt at home over the weekend 2-0, and beat the Zebras of Botswana by the same scoreline in Gabarone Wednesday night.
Senegal and Tunisia, with six points each, have already taken control of the group and both will feel that qualification is in their own hands.
Arguably more impressive than the results, however, have been the performances of Senegal’s “new breed” of forwards. The likes of Southampton man Sadio Mane, new Stoke City recruit Mame Biram Diouf and Lokomotiv Moscow’s Dame N’Doye are reaffirming that there is life beyond the established trio of Moussa Sow, Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse.
Losers: Ivory Coast
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Another nation in the middle of a rebuilding process are the Ivory Coast.
The Elephants haven’t encountered the same level of failure as Egypt have over the last few years (they have qualified for the last five Cup of Nations tournaments and the last three World Cups), however, nor can they look upon the same recent level of success.
Herve Renard’s brief upon taking the Elephants’ hotseat was surely to both freshen-up the ageing Golden Generation, and to provide the success that eluded the likes of Didier Drogba, Didier Zokora and Kolo Toure during their international careers.
Renard has the raw materials to work with. Yaya Toure is the continent’s preeminent player at the moment, the likes of Seydou Doumbia, Wilfried Bony and Gervinho provide a stream of goals and Serge Aurier is one of Africa’s finest defenders—not to mention its most promising.
However, Renard is learning fast that the Elephants have some deep-lying problems.
They were stodgy, lackadaisical and uninspired in victory against Sierra Leone and were torn apart by Cameroon in Yaounde.
Clinton N’Jie and Vincent Aboubakar exposed the Ivory Coast’s defensive frailties—notably Sol Bamba’s absolute lack of anticipation, composure or agility—and have left the West Africans in third place in the group with a double-header against second-placed Congo to come in October.
