Sunday, January 29, 2012

SOCCER AFRICA: African Cup of Nations 2012 Updates

SOCCER AFRICA: African Cup of Nations 2012 Updates: Senegal's coach Amara Traore Senegal's coach Amara Traore Senegal coach Amara Traore is refusing to resign despite the humiliation of...

African Cup of Nations 2012 Updates


Senegal's coach Amara Traore 

Senegal's coach Amara Traore 
 Senegal coach Amara Traore is refusing to resign despite the humiliation of three defeats at the African Nations Cup finals including Sunday's loss to Libya in their final Group A game.

"I will not resign. The only certainty I have is that I want to continue with this team," Traore told reporters after his side limped out of the tournament.


Senegal were one of the favourites to win the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon but lost each game 2-1.


Their defeat in Bata on Sunday was a limp affair with their star-studded squad clearly shorn of confidence.


But Traore said there was no time to change the side before the World Cup 

He said rather that Senegal needed to continue with the current squad but correct mistakes made at the Nations Cup.

"These players cannot suddenly become zero," he said.


Traore added that he accepted responsibility for the fiasco.


Former Belgian World Cup great Eric Gerets expressed a similar desire to stay in charge of Morocco after they were eliminated on Friday - the second of the favourites to suffer a shock early elimination.

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Zambia's Christopher Katongo 
 Zambia doused Equatorial Guinea's celebrations with a 1-0 win which took them into the African Nations Cup quarter-finals on Sunday and left the co-hosts facing a possible match against Ivory Coast.

Christopher Katongo scored the only goal of a cagey match midway through the second half as Zambia finished top of Group A with seven points and pushed already-qualified Equatorial Guinea into second place with six.

Zambia will face the Group B runners-up in their quarter-final in Bata while Equatorial Guinea will meet the Group B winners in Malabo. Ivory Coast currently lead Group B and need a point against Angola on Monday to finish top. 
For the first time in the tournament, the co-hosts included a locally-born player in their starting line-up as Jose Bokung was picked at left-back.

Equatorial Guinea's team is made up of Spanish-born players who qualify through their parents and naturalised players from other countries including Brazil, Nigeria and Cameroon. They started their previous two games with 11 foreign-born players.

The 15,000 capacity Estadio Nuevo de Malabo was full for the match, with hundreds more onlookers gathering outside the entrance to savour the atmosphere.

Fans inside were unusually subdued by African standards with no bands playing. Instead, most of the red-shirted fans blew plastic horns and banged inflatable batons provided by sponsors and there was even the odd vuvuzela, a rarity at the tournament.

The home side had the best chance of the first-half when Ivan Bolado cleverly worked an opening but was denied by Kennedy Mweene at the last minute.

Zambia broke through in the 67th minute when Chinese-based Katongo collected the ball from a throw-in and scored with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area which went just inside the near post.

Equatorial Guinea were agonisingly close to a quick equaliser when captain Juvenal Edjogo curled a free kick narrowly past the upright.
 
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29 Jan 2012:


Libya's Ihab Al Bouseffi (C) celebrates with Ahmed Saad
Ihab Al Bouseffi scored twice to lead Libya to a 2-1 win over Senegal at the African Nations Cup on Sunday and continue the humiliation of one of the pre-tournament favourites.

Al Bouseffi scored the winner six minutes from time with a fine volley to give Libya their first win in 30 years at the Nations Cup finals.

But it was not enough to get them into the quarter-finals as they finished below Zambia who beat already-qualified co-hosts Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in Malabo on Sunday to top Group A.


Zambia finished with seven points from three games ahead of Equatorial Guinea on six and Libya with four.

Senegal limped out of the tournament having lost all three group matches despite being highly fancied before the start.

Already eliminated before Sunday's match and making five changes from their last game, Senegal were hoping to exit with a positive performance but their crisis of confidence continued in the Equatorial Guinean town.



POOR SURFACE

Playing on a surface cut up by two matches on Wednesday after a heavy torrential downpour, Libya took the lead after just four minutes through Al Bouseffi who shot through the legs of goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye.

But it was an advantage that lasted just five minutes before slack marking at a corner allowed Senegal's Ndiaye Dembe Ndiaye to equalise with a header.

Libya's Mohamed Esnani cleared off the line from a Mamadou Niang header and their 39-year-old goalkeeper Samir Aboud, who said before the match he was playing his last game, made a low diving save to deny Souleymane Camara in the first half.

Senegal sought to boost their attack after the interval by bringing on Papiss Demba Cisse for his new Newcastle United team mate Demba Ba and later fellow striker Moussa Sow, who made a surprise return hours before kick off after travelling to Turkey by private jet to sign for Fenerbahce.

But Cisse could only conjure up a long-range chip over the onrushing keeper that went over the bar.

Libya's win was their first at the tournament since they reached the final of the 1982 edition which they hosted.

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Mali midfielder Diakite joins QPR on loan 



Samba Diakite
Mali midfielder Samba Diakite has joined Queens Park Rangers from Nancy on loan until the end of the season, the Ligue 1 club said on Sunday.

Diakite, 23, had been allowed by Mali coach Alain Giresse to fly from Gabon, where he is playing in the African Nations Cup, to London to sign his contract.

"It will become a permanent transfer if the London club stay in the Premier League," Nancy said in a statement.

QPR, who are two points above the Premier League relegation zone, will have to wait to see when Diakite can join them as it will depend on how far Mali get in the African Nations Cup which runs until Feb. 12.

Mali are third in their four-team group with three points from two games, level on points with second-placed Guinea with one Group D game to play. The top two teams in a group go through to the quarter-finals.


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Gerets vows to stay on despite Morocco exit  Previous  Next 
27 Jan 2012:


Morocco's coach Eric Gerets
Morocco coach Eric Gerets said he hoped to keep his job after two successive Group C defeats condemned one of the pre-tournament favourites to an early African Nations Cup exit.

"If they let me I'll continue but it is not up to me," the former Belgian international said after a 3-2 defeat to co-hosts Gabon in Libreville on Friday.

"If they are not happy with me, they'll let me know," added a coach hailed just weeks ago for bringing on an exciting young generation of players, many tipped for success at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

"For the last 15 months no one talked about me being a bad coach. It would be a surprise to me if I was let go but it can happen. In my job one day you can be king and the next day not."

Morocco's surprise early exit follows defeats to both Tunisia and Gabon.

They are left with a meaningless match against Niger, also eliminated, next week.

Morocco join Senegal on an early list of heavyweight casualties at a tournament one week old and already full of surprises.

"As long as I'm coach I'll take my responsibilities and keep with my philosophy. I know my players can do it, they've shown several times in the past. Of course I'm not happy to lose and I take final responsibility."

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Gyan stunner helps sink spirited Mali  28 Jan 2012:


Ghana's Gyan Asamoah celebrates his goal
Second half goals from Asamoah Gyan and Dede Ayew saw Ghana overcome a spirited struggle by Mali to win 2-0 on Saturday in their second Group D game at the African Nations Cup finals.

The World Cup quarter-finalists emphasised their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites with a strong finish as they slowly overwhelmed their west African rivals in hot and humid conditions in Franceville.

Gyan, who caused a big stir when he left Premier League Sunderland in September in a loan move, repaid the faith placed in him by Ghana by scoring an excellent, long-range free kick to open the scoring in the 63rd minute.

Injury concerns had made him doubtful before the tournament and again ahead of Saturday's match in the Gabonese provincial town, but coach Goran Stevanovic risked playing him.

Gyan's right-footed shot was driven wide of the diving Soumbeyla Diakite to keep up the high standard of goals at the tournament, being co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Ayew's effort in the 76th minute was as good as he cut in from the right wing, turned his defender one way and then the other before squeezing a shot inside the upright.

Ghana had gradually taken control of the game after Mali produced the best effort of the first half - a free kick from youthful striker Cheick Tidiane Diabate that hit one post, ran across the goal line, hit the opposite pole and bounced to safety.

Ghana played with a makeshift defence after the suspension of central defenders John Mensah and Isaac Vorsah but did not allow Mali any clear chance in open play.

Ghana are now on six points in the group but mathematically still not yet sure of a quarter-final place. They next meet Guinea on Tuesday. Guinea and Mali have three points and Botswana, whipped 6-1 by Guinea earlier on Saturday, none.

Gyan, a record signing for Sunderland, is now on loan to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.
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Sunday, 29 January 2012






























































































































































































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