Winners and Losers from Final Day of AFCON Qualifying
The qualifiers for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations were wrapped up today with a full schedule of fixtures across the continent.
Beyond hosts Equatorial Guinea, nine teams had already confirmed their place at next year’s African showpiece heading into the last round of matches.
There were, however, a final handful of automatic qualifying spots up for grabs, as well as the spot at the showpiece for the best third-placed team, a race which included, at the start of play, teams from every group.
In this article, we present the winners and losers from the final day of AFCON qualifying.
Winners: Ivory Coast
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Herve Renard has struggled to effectuate change with the Ivory Coast since taking the Elephants hot seat.
The West Africans have shown themselves to be an often-irrepressible offensive force during the qualifying campaign, but they headed into their Group D decider having conceded 11 goals in five matches.
In their final match, they struggled to ignite against an already-qualified Cameroon side, but they did show a much greater defensive resolve than usual.
Renard will have been delighted with his first clean sheet as Elephants boss, but he will be even happier to have confirmed qualification for the AFCON.
If he can give the team a little more defensive grit, then anything might be possible in Equatorial Guinea.
Losers: Nigeria
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The bigger they come, the harder they fall.
And within an African context, they don’t come much bigger than Nigeria.
Twenty-three months ago, when the Super Eagles lifted the 2013 Cup of Nations, their triumph was meant to herald an exciting new era of dominance. With a talented young team, featuring a spine the envy of most continental rivals and under the tutelage of ex-skipper Stephen Keshi, anything appeared possible.
Only a handful of players have seen their reputations enhanced over the intervening years as the West Africans have lurched from lethargy to malaise with not inconsiderable lashings of controversy in between.
Heading into their last fixture, the Super Eagles just needed to better Congo-Brazzaville’s result. Keshi’s side welcomed South Africa to Uyo while Claude Le Roy’s Red Devils travelled to face Sudan.
Nigeria couldn’t do it.
While Congo picked up the victory in Khartoum, Nigeria could only draw with Bafana Bafana, requiring a Sone Aluko brace just to avoid defeat.
Ultimately, it wasn’t enough, and the reigning champions will not get the chance to defend their title in January.
Winners: Democratic Republic of Congo
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While the Ivory Coast will rightly be remembered as the “Entertainers” of the qualifying stage, the Democratic Republic of Congo have run them close.
The pair will potentially get the chance to renew acquaintances in Equatorial Guinea after the Leopards confirmed their place among the elite.
Drawn in the group of death, Congo did the business against Sierra Leone and managed to best the Elephants in that 4-3 thriller in Abidjan in the middle of October.
Ultimately, this victory could be considered the decisive result, as the Central African side finished the group stage on nine points, leaving them well-placed to progress as the best third-placed team, depending, of course, on other results...
Losers: Egypt
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Knowing that the Democratic Republic of Congo had beaten Sierra Leone 3-1, Egypt were aware that a two-goal victory over Tunisia would be enough to see them to Equatorial Guinea.
However, the short-term context—Egypt had won only two and lost three heading into this one—and the long-term context—their poor away record against other North African nations—didn’t bode well.
Chelsea forward Mohamed Salah opened the scoring inside the first 15 minutes. It was a goal that gave the Pharaohs hope and, potentially, a platform upon which they could construct an unlikely return to the continental top table.
It wasn’t to be.
Tunisia’s class told after the break and the home side equalised on 53 minutes through Yassine Chikhaoui after a Hossam Ghaly error.
Egypt knew their number was up, but their evening was compounded by a delicious Wahbi Khazri free kick.
The difference in quality between these two old rivals has rarely been as marked.
Winners: Ghana
5 of 5Throughout the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, Ghana have looked like they would ultimately manage to seal progression to the continental main event.
However, a penultimate-day defeat to Uganda had raised doubts that the Black Stars would make it across the finish line.
The absence of Asamoah Gyan, Kwadwo Asamoah and Andre Ayew—arguably the team’s three best players—added another element of uncertainty to their fate.
Ultimately, however, Ghana pulled through in Maxwell Konadu’s last game as interim coach. Waris Majeed opened the scoring, before Wakaso Mubarak—making his first start after seven consecutive substitute appearances—fired in an incredible long-range goal.
Captain Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu added a second-half goal, reducing Floyd Ayite’s effort to redundancy.
They made hard work of it, but Ghana ultimately negotiated a fairly straightforward group. Next stop, Equatorial Guinea.
