2017 Africa Cup of Nations

Cant really say who is going to win. The favorites have never won the tournament in the last decade at least. So if I were to choose a favourite, I would then say they probably wont win.

I think I would have to say that Algeria are favourites, like I thought they were in 2015. So I am sure that I am jinxing them.

CIV - have been poor since their ANC 2015 win, but they had a decent win over Mali in WCQ. Are they turning things around ? They have the best defence in Africa, but their attack is not what it once was.

Ghana -Has been very poor of late, especially due to injuries, but they lack scoring ability.

Senegal - Could be a possible candidate to win IMO. They may actually have the best overall squad, strong in attack, midfield, and defence.

Egypt - Will probably do well, but I dont think they are strong enough to win

DR Congo - I think they will do well, but again probably not good enough to win

Cameroon - Naaaaah.


I know I will get a lot of flack for this but I think Africa's best team at the moment is not even going to be at this competition.

Shame when you have the likes of Guinea-Bissau, Zimbabwe, Togo to water the tournament down.

 

being AFCON, we literally have two wait for draw to choose

 

I think the bolded will qualify

GROUP A: Gabon, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau
GROUP B: Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Zimbabwe
GROUP C: Ivory Coast, DR Congo , Morocco, Togo
GROUP D: Ghana, Mali, Egypt, Uganda

 

Cameroon have an easy group despite being in pot 3. They should storm this group, but well... Not a country you can count on.

I think all of the pot 4 sides are just making up the numbers.

Group C and D most intriguing with DRCongo, Morocco and Mali on the rise, but Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana struggling. We could have great 1/4 finals setups like:
Cameroon vs Algeria or Senegal
Cote d'Ivoire vs Egypt or Ghana

Ghana and Egypt... really at it lately. Be interesting how they match up. Egypt still on a revenge path for 2014...

Cote d'Ivoire get their WC qualifying group opponents Morocco. They'll play first in November and then move straight on to play them in Gabon.

I have a feeling this is between Senegal and Algeria, but I'll wait after the squads are announced.

 

Senegal Algeria are my 2 picks as well. CIV solid all around though if not spectacular.

 

I wouldn't say pot 4 sides will make up the numbers...
GNB - lot's of Europe based players and as we saw in these WCQ 10 days ago Congo and Zambia aren't bad teams and they threw them out
Togo - Le Roy and Adebayor. Enough said
Uganda - very disciplined side and tough to beat, drew against Ghana with 0 goalscoring chances from open play, also Ghana didn't beat them in the last 3 encounters
Zimbabwe - very interesting offense with Malajila, Billiat, Mahachi, Musona...

And they'll be highly motivated to show themselves.

 

I'm not saying they won't get some points, but they all have superior teams in their groups and an odd win is likely the best they can count for.

Thanks for the Uganda reminder... So basically Ghana got their World Cup qualifying group with one change...

 

Alot depends on form going into the tournament. Continental cup comps can often be a crapshoot.

 

Algeria are overrated and are an above average team on a good day. The moment they meet any top African team they seem to struggle.

My money is on CIV, Senegal or least likely Egypt

 

they may or may not be overrated, but they took the world champions to overtime in the last WC and played a very good match that day. I think you are being a little harsh. They are a very good side that you would not want to meet if they are at their best.

 

I'm just being honest. I wasn't surprised when they got knocked out in the Quarter finals of last AFCON. They really aren't that convincing. Just big names that's all. I can guarantee that if they meet. Camaroon, CIV, Ghana, Senegal or even Egypt ... Algeria will be on their way home. They just aren't that good.

In their opening game of last AFCON they were virtually outplayed by South Africa and had South Africa not missed that penalty, which made them drop their heads and virtually give the game away to the infuriation of us South Africans back home, SA would have won that match easily.

Algeria aren't bad but neither are they as good as their hype makes them out to be. I doubt they will make it out of their group to be honest.

 

South Africa has always been a weird team. Whenever I see them play they look great on the field. But the can not win games and score vital goals. They are fluid with the ball, but thats all. They miss the killer touch.

 

They're good, they just don't always match up well against the stronger West African sides, which is often an issue with North African sides. They showed their value in the WC and their players have shown their value abroad on good teams in Europe. Riyad Mahrez deserves to be a top contender for CAF player of the year for the forseeable future. He's currently the best true #10 from this confederation, although that may change as Iheanacho and Iwobi mature and either one of them potentially become a true #10. All sports rely on their matchups and Algeria is no different. For all of Egypt's ability to dominate CAF competitions, they've been humbled by Algeria on numerous occasions and actually have a losing record against them.

With that said, Algeria isn't as strong as they've looked either. They simply possess enough clinical attacking power to exploit the likes of Lesotho, Seychelles, Ethiopia and Tanzania and run up high scoring blowouts. Just don't forget that Nigeria has very recently struggled to beat some of these same teams under similar situations in the recent past. I favor Nigeria to beat Algeria in WC qualifying next month, which will propel them to the likely favorites of their qualification group. But had they chosen another coach who apparently believed that Iwobi and Iheanacho have to pay dues to play for some reason and continued the rotating corps of attackers who are long on talent but eminently unclinical in front of goal,... they would have drawn or lost in Zambia and I would still favor this Algeria team (even after losing to Cameroon) to beat them like a drum.

Algeria isn't a world-beating team, but it is very talented at the front but lacking balance that can be exposed against better teams since Algeria cannot press in attack like they'd prefer to against minnows. They're less likely to be picked off by lower level sides than other teams on their level because they're more equipped to exploit their weaknesses and are less forgiving on opponents who make mistakes. But that doesn't make them more likely to win head-to-head, it's always about the matchups. But even teams on their level can be exploited if they get the tactics so wrong that they leave as many holes as a minnow would. So underestimating them to that degree would be foolish.

As I said above, continental competitions are not always about who is the best team on the continent as Portugal, Greece and Zambia can attest. And teams who often dominate the AfCoN have often proven unable to convey that to other international competitions, nor has the competition seen many teams win the tournament in a truly dominant fashion. CIV has put up more dominant performances in tournaments that they've lost than the one that they finally won. So Algeria is very much a contender for the tournament, especially if they're struggling in WC qualification, since they'll be looking to build up some cohesion and correct things that they've assumed were working until the qualifiers began and exposed their weaknesses.

I picked CIV, but I wouldn't be surprised if Algeria managed to win this.

 

That's often the case with football. There are two things that separate good teams from bad teams. Alot of nations can put together tactics that enable spells of possession, even though alot of that possession is merely holding or back passing. And alot of nations can find a coach who can train the spine and backline to hold shape and be disciplined enough to not drop a whole lot of goals. But finishing and technical skills (close control dribbling/first touches/incisive passing). There are teams that can create enough chances but can't finish anything and that's a skill. Kelechi Iheanacho proves this. He's often shown little confidence in his own dribble (even though he actually should bc he often wins when he takes on defenders) but his ability to pass is almost unreal and that comes from the same place as his ability to finish. He almost always puts the ball exactly in the spot that he wants it and is almost always exactly where he needs to be. And that isn't easy, no matter how easy a poaching goal is made to look.

Close control skills and decisive passing also makes those chances, higher percentage chances. If you have players who can take on defenders successfully, then it's more likely that they'll set up chances with open goals or just the keeper to beat. Good teams either have players who can finish from almost anywhere or players who can enable such easy chances that a (obviously legless) fish-out-of-water could (or at least should) finish.

 

Good post

good post but I still simply don't rate them. They have never impressed me

 

This is true. South Africa have always had a problem with the striking department and it's very frustrating because if we sort that out, we will be a force to be reckoned with.

 

That's why South Africa were pretty good when they had Benni McCarthy.

 

Senegal will be the favourites as they already have a good talent squad.

 

I doubt it. Tunisia is not a very good team.