Group A, Group D, Group F, Group J - IT'S GAME ON! All four favourites fail to win their respective games (three 1:1 draws and a 1:0 loss for Ghana).
Zambia beats Ghana... it's 'ghana' get interesting in that group! .... Too bad we have to wait almost a year for the next round of games....
Watching Morocco - Cote d'Ivoire... Morocco really going for it. But refereeing in Africa is terrible... atrocious penalty call for a ball hitting a hand at maximum velocity from 1 meter, Watching the game i feel that North Africans should never referee games between a North African team and an Subsaharan team...
Scintillating game - much better than all the Euro games I've seen so far. Both teams played some great football and went all out attack. Watching Cote d'Ivoire play is just such a feast at times. Morocco gave it their all and although they were visibly less capable they played with real heart. 2:2 draw in the end. Cote d'Ivoire should feel happy with this result, although they know that a win was almost theirs. Nonetheless they keep a stranglehold on the group and Morocco really needed to win this game to really count.
LOL... Sudan can't beat Lesotho, Mali slayers Benin draw to Rwanda and Ethiopia of all teams tops their group... Good thing I am not a betting man... CAF qualifiers are just so messed up. Three big games around the corner Libya vs CameroonGuinea vs EgyptMali vs Algeria
DRCongo win against Togo opening the group wide open, Angola can't beat Liberia, Cameroon loss to Libya despite dominating the game and Egypt is a goal down against Guinea by half time... the wonders in African football never cease... not a single favourite won a game this weekend (apart from Tunisia).
wow amazing match in Guinea vs Egypt. Guinea takes the lead in the first half, Egypt equalizes in the second, Guinea keeper concedes a penalty and gets sent off and Egypt take the lead. 10-man Guinea then equalize 2 mins from time, only for Egypt to win it 5 mins into injury time. Final score: Guinea 2-3 Egypt
Africa World Cup Qualifying, is there anything tougher? Africa is moving the ANC to odd years so they were forced to shorten this WC qualifying campaign. Only 8 matches will be needed for teams to qualify. That said, less room for error. So far we are 2 games in and 20 teams could have gotten maximum points (2 per group)... yet only Tunisia and Egypt were able to do so. Here are my reviews. Group A: Ethopia (4pt), Central African Republic (3pts), South Africa (2pt), Botswana (1pt) Analysis: Group A still looks like a group that anyone can win. Ethiopia has put themselves in the drivers seat however with an away draw against South Africa and picking up a big win and CAR. South Africa continued their troubles with a draw to Botswana. Ethiopia can really put themselves ahead if they can win their next match against Botswana, but that is a long ways away. Group B: Tunisia (6pts), Sierra Leone (4pts), Equitorial Guinea (1pt), Cape Verde (0pt) Analysis: Tunisia is playing like a team that wants back into the World Cup. They have a big game up next against Sierra Leone who were held by Equitorial Guinea. Tunisia will really have a chance to distance themselves from the pack in the upcoming games and could be one of hte first to qualify for the next round. Group C: Cote d'Ivoire (4pts), Tanzania (3pt), Morocco (2pt), Gambia (1pt) Analysis: Cote d'Ivoire might wonder what if... They had Morocco on their heals and gave up a late penalty which gave Morocco a much needed point. Still a draw away to a very good Morocco team is nothing to be ashamed of. CdI will just have to continue at what it does best and beat up on the Africa minnows. Morocco will have to face a much tougher Tanzania team in a home and away and dropping any points could spell an end to their campaign. Group D: Sudan (4pts), Ghana (3pts), Zambia (3pt), Lesotho (1pt) Analysis: Well this group just got interesting. Zambia played like the team that won the ANC and beat a very good Ghana team. Sudan was held scoreless by Lesotho. The next set of games could be huge. Zambia has a home and away vs Lesotho and anything less than max points would be awful. Ghana has a Sudan team that still thinks they can win this group. This is turning into a group to watch. Group E: Gabon (4pt), Congo (4pt), Burkina Faso (1pt), Niger (1pt) Analysis: Well at least we got some goals this time. Congo and Gabon were able to find the net and each was rewarded with 3 points. Still, this is anyone's group. Gabon and Congo will play as will Burkina Faso and Niger. Anything can happen in this group and I can't wait to see what will. One of these teams will make it to the final round and I am guessing whoever that is, will be the team that the others want to face. Group F: Nigeria (4pts), Namibia (3pt), Malawi (2pt), Kenya (1pt) Analysis: Nigeria are having a real problem finding the back of the net. This group really shouldn't be that big a problem for them but they are finding goals hard to come by. Namibia picked up a nice win but will have a home and away date with Malawi in the next set of games. They are so far off that anything can happen. Nigeria could easily sweep Kenya and take a strong hold on the group, but who knows if they will be able to finally find the goals. Group G: Egypt (6pts), Guinea (3pts), Zimbabwe (1pt), Mozambique (1pt) Analysis: Egypt won an exicting battle with Guinea to put themselves far and away above group G. They have a 3 point edge and an away win against their closest competition. The next set of games really work in Egypt's favor and they could become one of the first teams to qualify for the next round. Zimbabwe and Mozambique really haven't looked good and will likely struggle for points. Group: H: Benin (4pts), Mali (3pt), Algeria (3pts), Rwanda (1pt) Analysis: Well another favorite loses. Mali picked up a big win against Algeria to throw this group wide open as well. Benin could have really taken control of the group but couldn't pick up maximum points over Rwanda. They will face Algeria next on a home and home with hopes of picking up maximum points and moving on. This looks like another group that will go down to the wire. Group I: Libya (4pt), Cameroon (3pts) ,Congo DR (3pt), Togo (1pt) Analysis: African qualifiers are always a crapshoot. It seems every year we get major teams losing to lesser teams. Cameroon were dropped by Libya and this group is now also wide open. The next set of games should really tell us something with Libya and Congo DR going head to head hopefully to decide who is going to become the real challenger to Cameroon. Then again, everyone may tie and we could be in the exact same situation. Group: J: Senegal (4pts), Angola (2pt), Uganda (2pt), Liberia (1pt) Analysis: Dispite the draw to Uganda, Senegal should be in control of this group. An away draw against the pot 2 team in your group isn't the end of the world. Senegal now are going to play Angola and can really put themselves in control with wins. Still, I wouldn't count on this group ending anytime soon. Too many draws will keep this one from being decided early.
No answers till next year... irritating... One point of contention: A home win by bronze medalists at the 2012 AFCON can hardly be called a surprise. Mali were slight favourites in this match-up as far as I'm concerned. i believe you either overrate Algeria or underrate Mali.
Ahh my dear Cameroon... what do I say. I have so much to wrote that, I'd be better off starting a new thread... but eh: Any way, 1 thing that keeps me confident is the schedule. It is largely still in Cameroon's favour. First things first: The SONG family is once again (as was the case during the WC) ruining our football!!! Cameroonians have been scratching their heads trying to understand why we play this formation: *****************Kameni************* mandjeck---Nkoulou--Chedjou---Bedimo ------------------------Mbia-------------------- Moukandjo-----------------------Aboubakar ---------------ASong-------Nguemo--------- -----------------------Choupo-----------------. BENCH: Overtoom (OM), Matip(CB/DM), Assembe(GK), Zoua(ST), Nyom(RB), Andongtcho(FWD), Ndjeng(ST), Salli (MF/FWRD), Noonkeu (CB); Now for those who are familier with African football & Cameroon's in particular should immediately see every wrong with that layout & nothing right with it! For those who dont, I will explain: Mandjeck is a traditional DM (not even a good one), who can hardly get play time at a relegated French league club!!! Now why will anyone on earth select him to begin with & then play him at RB although we have a traditional RB in Nyom on the becn & a pretty ok one too who played regularly for Grenada in La Liga last season!? Result every game he has played has been calamitous. Not 1 single cross in, lost every single duel. Even Chedjou on occasion would give him a look on the pitch that says it all! KAMENI: Lost his touch a long. he is the type who will spend 60 mins coming up with spectacular 7 usually unnecessary feats to impress the crowd, the the rest of the time losses his concentration. OUTCOME: We concede a last second goal from Libya thanks to his approximative jumps; though we dominated the game from a to z. Just looking at that midfield brings me to tears! True Cameroon is not known for developing creative midfielders, but in the past we have played top notch football with that, simply coz we had coaches who knew how to make use of what we had! Any way u have there a midfield jammed with 3 game destroyers, 1 RB who is a traditional destroyer, 1 RM whose game relies solely on speed & a LM who is a traditional CF! Outcome, no creativity whatsoever, Alex Song has decided (with his uncle Rigo Song as team manager) to only play as a regista (qualities he never had & never will have!!!) He lost the most balls in midfield, refused to drop in to defend with the rest of the team. Nguemo was equal to himself, incalculable work volume in the middle, but again he is no creative force. At best he is a LCM! You have Willie Overtoom on the bench, whom I admit is no Sneijder, but if u watched him last season at Heracles (eredivisie) u'd agree with me he has a 100% stake in Cameroon's starting 11! I mean how worse could he be? there is no way on earth he could do any worse than Alex Song. Rigobert Song alongside his cousins Alex Song, Kameni & Emana vehemently fought Paul LeGuen & Eto'o coz PLG brought in young players (Matip, Assembe, Choupo, Bong) into the team. Then u choose to rather suspend Eto'o & make Rigo Song the team manager: how exactly do u think those same kids those guys fough against will feel in the team?!?!? Is it so difficult to c that a midfield/forward combination as such would have destroyed Libya. I mean with the uselss lineup he had, Libya still had 10 men behind the ball all game. if not for concentration lapses from Kameni, Cameroun would have atleast had 1 pt out of that game ***************Assembe***************** Nyom*******Nkoulou***Mbia/Matip*******Bedimo/Assou *************Song*****Matip/Chedjou************* Salli***********Overtoom***********Eto'o/Aboubakar ****************Choupo**************** Thank God the country's ministry of sports had seen this coming & only gave the technical bench a 5 mnths contract! It is more than likely they will b in charge for the last time on Saturday (AFCON 13 qualifier) Thei contract runs out in October... That is why I said time is on our side: for one we should have had gotten rid of Rigo Song, & Denis Lavagne. Then the scheduling is hugely in our favour as well: H & A with Togo... while DRC & Libya will clash as well... Chances are Cameroon will pick up 6 pts while both DRC & Libya will hopefully drop pts to each other... if not, we still have to play Libya at home. The tough test will be DRC away.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelim...948/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption is titled "Kharja: Morocco fight to the end."
South Africa are utterly disappointing at qualifying tournaments. We are a relatively quality side but crumble under the pressure of qualifiers.
The Nigeria national team coach needs to stop using Nigeria's C team. These are very important matches. We need to bring in the best players aka the foreign based players.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelim...5992/index.html?intcmp=fifacom_hp_module_news says a June 3 final score is now Niger 3-0 Gabon because Gabon used an ineligible player. Congo now leads Group E. The forfeit made Gabon fall from first to third.
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelim...150/index.html?intcmp=newsreader_news_caption is titled "Busy year for African hopefuls."
http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1362711/cas-strips-sudan-of-world-cup-qualifier-win-?cc=5901 says Zambia beat Sudan 3-0 by forfeit on 3 June 2012 because Sudan used a suspended player.
Heard about that. The 3 pt forfiet really screws over Ghana by basically handing Zambia a +3 goal differential in an away leg that might be crucial to qualification. I really wish FIFA (and by proxy, it's confederations) could come up with a better way to handle tiebreakers in such situations; either remove the gd tiebreaker or just disqualify the team outright from the qualification series and nullify all of their previous results. Ultimately this is also the fault of the officials involved who should have prevented this from happening. Sudan deserves no sympathy here whatsoever, bc they should know who's eligible to play. They only have to keep track of one fvcking team, and the player himself should damn well have known if he was eligible. Either way, If the team can't keep such things straight and could potentially screw up the table and send a team through by way of their own stupidity, then they're OUT!
What do you guys think about Burkina Faso in Group E? Ignore the sad fact that the group's first round of matches were penalized. The African Cup of Nations runner-up is in last place, with two losses and -4 goal differential. The group is pretty competitive. Do you see the Burkinabe coming back from it? Who do you think has what it takes to win the group?
I wouldn't be surprised, but basically Burkina Faso need to win all remaining 4 games. So I doubt it. A shame because they have an exciting pool of attacking players plus some decent quality at the back.
Cameroon vs Togo live: http://www.canal2international.net/live.php Living dangerously so far... Alex Song benched... Barca was a bad career move... 0 Charles Itandje Goal Keeper Baba Tchagouni Goal Keeper 0 0 Benoît Angbwa Defender Dakonam Djene Defender 0 0 Benoît Assou-Ekotto Defender Mamah Gafar Defender 0 0 Jean-Armel Kana-Biyik Defender Sadate Ouro-Akoriko Defender 0 0 Nicolas N'Koulou Defender Serge Akakpo Defender 0 0 Achille Emana Midfielder Vincent Bossou Defender 0 0 Benjamin Moukandjo Midfielder Dove Wome Midfielder 0 0 Jean II Makoun Midfielder Komlan Amewou Midfielder 0 0 Joël Matip Midfielder Alaixys Romao Midfielder 0 0 Samuel Eto'o Striker Mèmè Fessou Placca Striker 0 0 Leonard Kweuke Striker Serge Gakpe Striker
What is the deal with Joseph Musonda? Is he or is he not eligible for the Lesotho match (it appears he will start)?
