AFCON 2023 has been deliciously bonkers.
I hadn’t planned to post anything about the competition until after its conclusion. But the past few days of action have been just too good.
First and foremost, kudos to KBC for airing all the matches. Going into the tournament, I didn’t expect that to be the case but I was pleasantly surprised. The timings have been a bit of a challenge (looking at you, 11:00 p.m. kick-offs) but the fact that all the games, sans the simultaneous games seen in the final round of matches, have been available to watch is a big plus.
And, boy, has the tournament been a treat. Right from the off, it has delivered some terrific results, with the traditional African superpowers struggling against “weaker” opposition.
On day two of the tournament, for example, Cabo Verde, the surprise package of the tournament, earned a shock win against Ghana; Egypt, record winners of the tournament, were held to a draw by Moçambique.
And in what is perhaps a sign that the level of football across the continent is on the up, there have been no scoreless draws in the 28 matches that have been played so far.
Coming into this edition of the tournament, Mauritania, for instance, had only scored one goal, a penalty, across their two previous appearances at AFCON. And yet, somehow, they managed to score two absolute rockets in a 3-2 loss to Angola.
But the absolute highlight so far was the round of fixtures held on the 22nd of January.
In a match that will probably have far-reaching repercussions for the team, the hosts, Côte d’Ivoire, lost 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea. That’s right, the hosts were hammered by a team from a country with a population that’s less than half the population of Abidjan. That result leaves their chances of progression to the last-16 out of their hands and dependent on how other teams perform. But the real treat came later.
Group B stood poised on a knife-edge, with only Cabo Verde having qualified for the next stage of the tournament. Continental powerhouses Egypt and Ghana needed wins against the aforementioned Cabo Verde and Moçambique respectively in order to be sure of progression. And in most tournaments, one would have expected the two “bigger” teams to get the needed wins. But this isn’t your typical AFCON. And the “smaller” teams are no longer the pushovers they used to be.
Ghana held their fate in their hands when they got themselves into a 2-0 lead. Yet, they somehow ended up conceding two goals in the dying minutes (the 91st and 93rd minutes) of the game, effectively ensuring their elimination from the tournament.
Egypt, meanwhile, made hard work of their game, conceding the first goal. They did eventually end up going into a 2-1 lead in the 93rd minute, only to concede again in the 99th minute. Thankfully for them, the 2-2 draw was enough for them to go through to the next round. (Side note: I absolutely loved the refereeing in this match. The referee was consistent and allowed the game to flow.)
The tournament has been brilliant so far. Long may it continue.
The one thing that I’m not in love with is the play-acting in some matches. Play-acting in football is when a player exaggerates contact or feigns being fouled in order to earn an advantage, such as a foul or getting an opposing player yellow or red-carded.
Seeing a grown man go down at the slightest of touches, if there’s any contact at all, and roll on the ground as if he’s been shot is a real embarrassment. I mean, come on, you’re a grown man, an athlete whose body is tuned to perform feats of endurance that the average person just can’t pull off and you drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes because someone looked at you sideways? It’s a blight on the global game, one that I hope doesn’t take root in a tournament that has been slowly improving in quality.
While reading about matches may not be anywhere near as exciting as actually watching them, maybe this post might get you to watch a game or two. And if not, ah, well.
Until the next one.