Six games producing only one win and nine goals is a far cry from what the fans were accustomed to in this football showcase, the biggest on the African calendar.
Also, the fans have been starved of the yesteryear skills of Nigeria’s Austin “Jay Jay” Okocha, Tijani Babangida, Finidi George and Nwanko Kanu, Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o Fils, Pius Ndiefi and Modesta Mbami and South Africa’s Doctor Khumalo, John “Shoes” Moshoeo and Siyabonga Nomvethe and Senegal’s El Hadji Diouf.
They also miss the drive and fighting power of Nigeria’s Sunday Oliseh, Taribo West and Garba Lawal, South Africa’s Eric Tinkler and Cameroon’s Rigobert Song, the scoring prowess of South Africa’s Benni McCarthy, Egypt’s Hossam Hassan and Cameroon’s Eto’o and Patrick Mboma.
Group A, with hosts South Africa, has so far been the worst performing – the first 180 minutes having produced two big yawns of a game and two goalless stalemates.
The hosts, playing in a wet National Stadium, were as erratic as the stadium’s name, which has been changed from FNB to Soccer City, back to FNB and then to the current National Stadium.
Bafana Bafana failed to knit together passes in the manner they had in pre-tournament friendlies, were disjointed at the back and failed to find the target, resulting in a dull 0-0 draw with minnows, Cape Verde Islands in the opening game of the tournament.
The same script was replayed in the second game, between Angola and Morocco and the same result reached.
The second day gave fans the first goals at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth – Ghana’s Emmanuel Agyemang Badu thumping the Black Stars into the lead on 39 minutes and central defender, Jerry Akaminko heading home from a corner-kick in the second half against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
However, The Leopards roared back through Tresor Mputu before Dieudonne Mbokani restored parity minutes later. Mali got the first win of the tournament later in the day, through a solitary strike by star player and captain, Seydou Keita, at the same stadium.
On Monday, Zambia took the lead through Collins Mbesuma in Nelspruit’s Mbombela Stadium, before a 10-man Ethiopia levelled through Adane Girma to make it 1-1 at the end.
Super-breeds, Nigeria, took the lead through Emmanuel Emenike in their match against Burkina Faso at the same stadium, but allowed Alain Traore to break their hearts with a last-gap equaliser that forced a 1-1 draw.
Matches 5pm and 8pm:
Today: Group B: Ghana vs Mali, Niger vs DR Congo (Nelson Mandela Bay)
Tomorrow: Group C: Zambia vs Nigeria, Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia (Mbombela)
Saturday: Group D: Cote d’Ivoire vs Tunisia , Algeria vs Togo (Rustenburg)
Post published in: Football