The record books may not show exactly how Algeria won their first Africa Cup of Nations since 1990 and, in any case, it is probably best left to the imagination. Their performances over the past month merit the accolade and that much cannot be denied; the pity was that they dropped any pretensions towards making this final a footballing spectacle after going ahead through Baghdad Bounedjah’s heavily deflected early goal, the result being a tedious encounter that grabbed the attention only during those few episodes when it seemed Senegal might punish their voracious lust for attrition.

It all amounted to a colossal riding of their luck but also a personal triumph for Djamel Belmadi, their impressive coach, who took the job only last August but has delivered a continental title where none was expected. He celebrated with his players, who raced towards a delirious 15,000-strong travelling support at full-time, while his childhood friend Aliou Cissé held a lengthy on-pitch debrief after narrowly failing to deliver Senegal a first title of their own.

Senegal 0-1 Algeria: Africa Cup of Nations 2019 final – as it happened

Cissé might have had better fortune if the referee, Neant Alioum, had not reversed a second-half penalty award, given when the ball struck Adlene Guedioura’s right arm, after a VAR consultation. Spot kicks have certainly been awarded for less in major finals this year. But ultimately Senegal ran into too many of the traps Algeria set for them and the moments when Sadio Mané, as well as the rest of a vaunted front line, could influence proceedings were vanishingly rare.

“I’m so happy for my people, who have waited for such a long time,” Belmadi said. “We have won the cup outside our country for the first time. If you look at where we came from, I took a team that faced difficulties. To achieve what we have achieved, to finish on top of Africa, I have to say it is excellent.”

Despite the deeply frustrating fare they produced, this was indisputably a meeting of the tournament’s two best teams. In the end Algeria capitalised on the slight edge they held.

They had beaten Senegal by a single goal in the group stage and repeated the trick through their one attempt of the game, a moment that briefly confused the stadium into silence.

Boundejah’s burst down the inside-left channel past Lamine Gassama oozed menace but the shot he produced after cutting inside, which looped high into the air off Salif Sané, seemed destined for the athletics track behind the goal. But it spun downwards sharply, eventually dropping into the far corner, and the dawning realisation took a few moments to morph into unbridled delight.

Sané, injured earlier in the tournament, had returned to the starting lineup in place of the suspended Kalidou Koulibaly and Senegal’s weakness had been highlighted in the unluckiest fashion.

It did not take a doctorate in Algerian football ethics to divine that, from there, Belmadi’s side might seek to niggle this all the way out. They have played some fine attacking football in Egypt and such a grim final does not erase any of that. But few have quite as firm a handle on the dark arts and they successfully squeezed the air out of what followed.

“They say you don’t play finals, you win them,” Belmadi said. “I don’t really believe that. We prepared and wanted to play against this talented team, Senegal. It wasn’t our best match. We didn’t have ball possession nor impose our play.”

Algeria deserved their Afcon triumph but a shame they decided to win ugly

In fairness it made some sense to cede the initiative to Senegal, for whom guile has long been an achilles heel. If their opponents began to get too clever, Algeria simply stuck spokes in the works. Aissa Mandi felled Mané with a crude challenge led from the knee and Ismaïla Sarr found himself on the end of a hack from Ramy Bensebaini. Sofiane Feghouli collapsed near the goalline before dusting himself down when sympathy proved in short supply. When tempers briefly flared on the half-time whistle, their substitute goalkeeper Alexandre Oukidja took a dramatic tumble while Cissé and Mandi argued their way down the tunnel.

The break felt like a relief from the sheer cynicism of it all but the game did open up enough for Senegal to believe they had found a way back. Sarr, their best attacker on the day, made excellent ground down the right before seeing his cross hit Guedioura inside the area. It recalled Mané’s slice of fortune for Liverpool in Madrid two months previously but this time, after a delay of around a minute, Alioum opted to restart with a drop ball.

“We played well and had our chances over the course of the match but against this aggressive bloc we couldn’t find a solution,” Cissé said. Mbaye Niang, from a tight angle after rounding Rais Mbolhi, and Sarr did spurn opportunities to make Algeria regret stalling to such an extreme degree. By the conclusion, though, their dirty work had been done to a strange, unsatisfactory perfection.

Source: The Guardian

The Confederation of African Football president Malagasy Ahmad Ahmad, announced the assignment of the former Cote d’Ivoire star Didier Drogba and the Cameroonian legend Samuel Eto’o as his assistants, on Thursday during CAF’s General Assembly.

Ahmad apologized to the executive committee for not informing them earlier, but he assured the assembly that this will be a quick move in the rehabilitation process.

“Drogba and Eto’o will be my assistants, and they will be given the appropriate title for their positions later,” the CAF chief said.

“I won’t be CAF president forever. There are many heroes in Africa and we can’t forget about them,”

“The path of reform has to end quickly, because we seek to organize the team inside the board,” he concluded.

The two chosen legends, Drogba and Eto’o, had a big role in introducing African football to the world, and their glorious journey to the European stadiums which is full of major individual and club titles.

The Champions League winner Drogba played for many clubs around the world, but his legacy was made during his time with Premier League’s Chelsea, where he spent his longest period from 2004 till 2012, and then returning to the club in 2014, staying for a single season. He was named African Footballer of the Year twice.

Meanwhile Barcelona and Inter Milan’s former star Eto’o was awarded the Young African Player of the Year in 2000, African Footballer of the Year 4 times, the 2010 FIFA World Cup Golden Ball, and is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations, with 18 goals.

Source: ahram.org

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the pots for the 2021 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

The 2021 AFCON will be organized in Cameroon. Cameroon was set to host the ongoing 2019 tournament but was stripped of hosting rights. The West African country was not prepared for the tournament in terms of the standard of the stadium and other issues.

The CAF listed the teams in 5 pots according to their FIFA rankings. The first two pots include 12 national teams, while the remaining three have only eight. Morocco was listed in the first pot alongside Algeria, Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Tunisia. CAF Announces 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Qualifiers Pots. The draw of the 2021 AFCON will be made on Thursday, July 18 in Cairo, Egypt.

Source: Morocco News

South Africa stunned Egypt and Nigeria delivered another upset against Cameroon in a suspenseful second day of the Cup’s round of 16.

Thembinkosi Lorch scored five minutes from time to hand South Africa an upset 1-0 win and knock holders Egypt out of the Africa Cup of Nations as the shock results at the competition continued on Saturday.

South Africa, who had lost two of their three group games yet crept into the knockout stages, showed great improvement and were the more enterprising team, leaving 70,000 partisan fans stunned at the Cairo International Stadium.

Lorch finished off a sweeping counter-attack as South Africa, who created much the better chances, finally got an effort on target.

They will now meet Nigeria, who earlier on Saturday eliminated holders Cameroon, in Wednesday’s quarter-final.

Nigeria heads to quarter-finals with 3-2 win against Cameroon

The earlier match on Saturday also marked a major upset. Odion Ighalo scored twice and teed up Alex Iwobi’s winning goal as Nigeria eliminated defending Africa Cup of Nations champions Cameroon after a thrilling 3-2 victory in Alexandria on Saturday.

China-based forward Ighalo bundled home a scrappy opener but Clarence Seedorf’s Cameroon hit back through Stephane Bahoken and Clinton Njie with two quick-fire goals before half-time.

Nigeria drew level as Ighalo volleyed in his second just past the hour and he then turned provider to play in Iwobi to steer home three minutes later and set up the prospect of a highly anticipated quarter-final clash with hosts and favourites Egypt.

Seedorf’s penchant for change has seen the former Dutch star heavily rotate his Cameroon side in Egypt, with Karl Toko Ekambi dropping to the bench here and 2017 player of the tournament Christian Bassogog recalled along with Clinton Njie in a bid to breathe life into a faltering attack.

Nigeria boss Gernot Rohr paid the price for resting key players in the shock 2-0 loss to Madagascar, with Wilfred Ndidi, Kenneth Omeruo and Alex Iwobi all returning to the starting line-up.

The Super Eagles eliminated Cameroon in the first knockout round the last time they were reigning champions in 2004, and their bid to repeat history looked on when Ighalo nudged Nigeria ahead with a scrappy opening goal after 19 minutes.

Moments after Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui powered a header over at the other end, Peter Etebo hooked a deep cross to the far post where it was driven back across goal by Omeruo and Ighalo stabbed home via a huge deflection that wrong-footed goalkeeper Andre Onana.

It was the first time Cameroon had conceded in Egypt, but after scoring just twice in three group games the Indomitable Lions matched that output in three frenzied minutes before half-time.

Bahoken pulled Cameroon level on 41 minutes when he ghosted in behind Omeruo to connect with a terrific whipped cross from Bassogog, and Njie soon fired them in front after outpacing Ola Aina to a flick-on, holding his nerve and balance to slip beyond Daniel Akpeyi.

Njie nearly got the better of Akpeyi early in the second half, the Nigeria ‘keeper superbly clawing the ball out from just inside his post after the Marseille winger’s cutback was deflected towards goal.

Rohr introduced Samuel Chukwueze with an hour gone but it was Ighalo, the top scorer in qualifying, who came to the rescue once more with a thumping finish after Ahmed Musa chested a cross into his path.

Ighalo joined Senegal star Sadio Mane on a tournament-leading three goals and he played a key role in Iwobi’s decisive strike on 66 minutes, threading the ball through to the Arsenal winger to side-foot past Onana.

Ngadeu-Ngadjui toed wide at a corner but Cameroon struggled to threaten Nigeria in the closing stages with Ighalo denied a hat-trick late on as Onana plunged low to his right to knock away the forward’s header.

(AFP)