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By Sammy Kitula
The Citizen Correspondent
Libreville. After eight days of action-packed football, we are now left with a similar number of teams and now the quarterfinals of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations are upon us.Zambia and Sudan get the knockout stages underway with their clash in Bata tonight, before paving the way for Cote d’Ivoire and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in Malabo.
Gabon will then entertain Mali in the third quarterfinal tomorrow here in Libreville, with Ghana facing Tunisia in Gabon’s second city, Franceville for the fourth quarterfinal duel.
But success at the continental showpiece cannot mask the underlying problem of Sudanese football. 18 of the players here are from the clubs Al-Hilal, Omdurman and Al-Merreikh. In fact, none of them plays overseas. There is no such problem for the Cote d’Ivoire side though, as none of them turns out in Africa.
Abdel Kader Keita may ply his trade for Al-Sadd in Qatar but the big guns such as Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are at Chelsea and the Toure brothers, Yaya and Kolo, are at Premier League leaders Manchester City. Gervinho is enjoying his first season at Arsenal. But while the Ivorians ooze with machismo, it has not brought them the Africa Cup of Nations title and if they fail to get past Equatorial Guinea in Malabo, it would be considered as one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history.
The Elephants sit at 18th, the highest rated African team in the Fifa world rankings while the co-hosts are rattling around at 150, the lowest rated side in the competition. Territorial advantage notwithstanding it would be an immense shock.
Equatorial Guinea’s stylish midfielder, Iban Iyanga Travieso, has impressed with his silky movement and eye for goal, so has right back David Alvarez Aguirre whose 25metre thunderbolt in stoppage time sealed Senegal’s fate on day two of the group stages.
The other tournament favourites Ghana have advanced as expected but they have pressing concerns. Two years ago in Angola, their youthful antics charmed on and off the field. By contrast the 2010 beaten finalists now seem sulky.
We’re still waiting for the panache from Ghana. Assistant coach Kwesi Appiah admitted the side hasn’t picked up yet.
“Our midfield and attack hasn’t been performing as we expect of them but we’ve identified a few little problems and we’ll try to correct them before the game against Tunisia.”
Those battling qualities will be fully tested in the match in Franceville. Tunisia can play the possession game in midfield and are able to break with speed down the flanks. There is also the knowledge of how to win a tournament.
As the clock ticks down to the quarters, it’s time for the nearly men, the Johnny-Come-Latelies, the new kids on the block, the golden boys and the rank outsiders to prepare for gloom or glory.It’s unlikely that there will be annihilations in the quarterfinals. They’re usually intense, stolid affairs.
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