Group Play Done at African Cup of Nations

Group play concluded in the African Cup of Nations with Zambia and Cameroon qualifying for the quarterfinals out of Group D.

Gabon, which entered Thursday at the top of the group, allowed their first two goals of the tournament, losing 2-1 to Zambia.

The win vaulted the Zambians from bottom-feeders to group winners, their four points good enough to beat Gabon and Cameroon with tie-breakers.

Cameroon is through in second after their 2-2 draw with Tunisia, coming back from two one-goal deficits.  Tunisia scored in the first minute, a lead which they kept until a Samuel Eto'o goal just after half.  A strange own goal ten minutes later was immediately answered by a Landry N'Guemo laser, putting Cameroon though.

The Lions' second place finish means they will meet Egypt in the quarterfinals.  Zambia gets Nigeria.

Here is how Group D finished.  After the jump we'll start talking quarterfinals.

Here are the quarterfinal match-ups. I liberated this bracket from Wikipedia.

	Quarter finals				Semi finals				Final
	24 January - Luanda
	Angola
					28 January - Luanda
	Ghana
					Winners of Match 22
	25 January - Lubango
					Winners of Match 25
	Zambia
									31 January - Luanda
	Nigeria
									Winners of Match 26
	24 January - Cabinda
									Winners of Match 27
	Côte d'Ivoire
					28 January - Benguela
	Algeria
					Winners of Match 23				Third place
	25 January - Benguela
					Winners of Match 24
	Egypt								Losers of Match 26
	Cameroon								Losers of Match 27
									30 January - Benguela

The bottom half looks pretty strong.  The weakest of the four teams is still a World Cup qualifier, still a side that can beat anybody if they get the first goal. 

But Egypt versus Cameroon is the marquee, Round of 8 match-up.  The Pharaohs have been the best team in the tournament, but we have all been waiting for Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, or Nigeria to play their talent-level and pass Egypt.

At some point, we have to come to grips with a couple of things.

First, while they looked lackluster (euphemism) in World Cup Qualifying, there is something about the way that Hassan Shehata prepares his team that makes them dangerous in these tournaments.  Perhaps Shehata needs his team together for a few weeks to prepare.  The one week he gets his players in the days before World Cup Qualifiers?  That's not enough.  Once he gets a larger swath of time, he get them ready for a knock-out tournament, and that preparation helps transcend their age and their absences.

Second, these more talented teams may not be as good as we want them to be.  Neither Cameroon and Nigeria have looked particularly good.  Ghana, to this point, has used this tournament as a feeling-out-time for younger players.  Côte d'Ivoire's only good performance came against Ghana.  

Those deficiencies also make Angola a threat.  If Ghana continues playing kids, a driven Antelope side could get through and into a match-up against Zambia or Nigeria.  It's not too difficult to see Angola in the final, though a ultimate match-up against Egypt or Côte d'Ivoire would be daunting.

With two days off until the quarterfinals start here is how I would rank the team,s one-to-eight, combining performance, potential, and (in the case of Ghana) ambition.

1.  Egypt

2.  Angola

3.  Côte d'Ivoire

4.  Cameroon

5.  Nigeria

6.  Ghana

7.  Algeria

8.  Zambia

Who are you picking?  Use the poll, but also use the comments to let me know how you see the tournament playing out.