Cup of Nations Update
by Richard Farley on Jan 19, 2010 2:05 PM EST
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The holiday weekend here in the States saw matches which, combined with Tuesday's win from Ghana, have given us some clarity on Cup of Nations' knock-out rounds.
Five teams are in: Algeria, Angola, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana. We know Angola and Ghana will meet in the draw's "top" half. Algeria and Cote d'Ivoire meet in the bottom.
Tomorrow, Nigeria can get in with a tie, while Gabon and Cameroon are in the driver's seats to come out of Group D.
With only one match today, and a straight-forward on at that, let's use today to take inventory on the weekend's action and on where we stand as we approach the end of group play.
Here are the tables for the four groups along with links to Set Piece Analysts' game reports that are being done by myself and Ray Curren.
More after the jump.
Group A
| Place | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Angola | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | Algeria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Mali | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| 4 | Malawi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| Matches |
|---|
|
January 10: Angola 4, Mali 4 |
Group B
| Place | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cote d'Ivoire | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Ghana | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Burkina Faso | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Matches |
|---|
| Played |
|
January 11: Cote d' Ivoire 0, Burkina Faso 0 |
Group C
| Place | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | Nigeria | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Benin | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Mozambique | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Matches | |
|---|---|
| Played | Remaining |
|
January 12: Egypt 3, Nigeria 1 |
January 20 (Benguela): Benin vs. Egypt January 20 (Lubango): Nigeria vs. Mozambique |
Group D
| Place | Team | GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 2 | Cameroon | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | Tunisia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Zambia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Matches | |
|---|---|
| Played | Remaining |
|
January 13: Gabon 1, Cameroon 0 |
January 21 (Benguela): Gabon vs. Zambia January 21 (Lubango): Cameroon vs. Tunisia |
The strongest team in the tournament has been Egypt. Heard that story before? Well, it wasn't supposed to be that way this year. Beyond the Pharaohs missing the World Cup (another story we've heard before), there was their age and their inability to convince in a third round qualifying group that, in hindsight, looks relatively weak.
But who has stepped-up? We expected Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Cameroon. Ghana does not appear to be taking this tournament seriously, between their injuries and Milovan Rajevac's unwillingness to start a full-strength lineup. Cameroon has struggled in both of their matches. Cote d'Ivoire has been most convincing with their 3-1 win over Ghana, but is Ghana really trying? If not, Les Éléphants' inability to score against Burkina Faso looms large.
With each of those three nations failing to impress, Egypt and their pedigree half to be considered the favorites, even if you're only inclined to give them that moniker by default.
But there is always the case for Angola. As Curren pointed out at Set Piece Analysts, Angola has not lost a meaningful match on home soil in more than a decade. Take that with a grain of salt, as you rarely find the Brazils of the world traveling to Angola. But the Brazils of the world are not in this tournament.
We can't dismiss the Antelopes, and Gabon has yet to allow a goal. Both serve as exemplars in a wide-open tournament, where you could make a case of any of the quarterfinalists winning the tournament.
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