World Cup 2010 Blog: “10 Things You Need To Know About Africa’s Cup Of Nations” plus 1 more |  |
| 10 Things You Need To Know About Africa’s Cup Of Nations Posted: 08 Jan 2010 03:40 AM PST
It’s right around the corner, you know. And by ‘right around the corner’, we mean that quite literally: turn the corner of this week into next week and you’re there. The first game kicks off Sunday evening when tournament hosts Angola take on Mali. So with time at a premium, let’s get right down to ten things you need to know for the African Cup of Nations. i. You can call it whatever the hell you want. CAN 2010, African Cup of Nations or any mildly dyslexic variation, AFCON, AfCoN – they all work. And this year’s are simply being called Orange African Cup of Nations. Not because they’ve decided to replace color with years – which would be sweet: “we won the blue one!” – but because it’s being sponsored by the French telecommunications company. The official website even has it listed as COCAN 2012. Provided you’re somewhere in the region, people will get it – no need to be pedantic. ii. Ivory Coast are the favorites. Ivory Coast 15/8 [Via William Hill] This comes as no surprise as Cote d’Ivoire are widely considered the best team on paper. What does come as something of a surprise is that Egypt are all the way down at 9/1 despite being two-time defending champions. They’ll miss out on the African soil’s big tournament in the summer, sure, but they’ve always done poorly on the global scene yet done exceedingly well within the continent. So that may not be the worst bet…
The odds indicate the group match between CdI and Ghana is being considered a preview of the most likely (sort of) final. They also indicate Burkina Faso and Togo are mighty pissed. v. Angola’s timezone is the same as Central European time. So that’s… GMT (UK): -1 For anywhere else in the world, check World Time Zone. vi. Only 5 of the 16 coaches are native to their country. And the nations are: Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Malawi and Nigeria. (An equal number were born in France.) While Africa would probably like to go in the other direction, as in more native coaches, this may be the new trend for international coaches. After all, international football isn’t so much about patriotism as it is the results, and sometimes the best option has a funny looking passport (see: England). Some countries may take longer than others – Italy, Germany and Brazil will fight to the death – but eventually, we might see a European Championships sporting a similar ratio or worse.
And watch out when it sneaks up on your car asking for autographs without even washing the windows. viii. The stadium where the final is being held, the Estadio 11 de Novembro (bonus points for translation), has been open since, oh…last Tuesday. ix. You need to pay attention to the flight of the ball during the tournament. Why? Simple: they’re using the adidas Jabulani, the very same ball being used in the World Cup during the summer, but with an Angolan design.
Every keeper in the world should be paying attention – if they don’t already have a ball or seven – and you should too. If only to impress your friends during the World Cup: “watch it dip……….here.” x. It’s okay to be ignorant. One of the most beautiful things about this for the tournament is that for the non-African or non-African fan, it’s an immersion into a different culture and different teams which we’re not used to seeing. Most of us here watch more football than we’d like to admit – though some are holding it dear for an eventual insanity plea – but African football doesn’t get a ton of priority, if any at all – partially due to a lack of exposure. Sure, I’ve seen some games, but ask me about Nigeria’s tactics, Benin’s fullbacks or how well Mozambique plays through the channels and I’m at a complete loss. This is a chance to watch the teams we’re rarely exposed to while being that young fan who knows little, but just loves the game. And because of this it may be, World Cup aside, the most pure tournament in all the land. Cup of Nations info: Matches & Groups
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| Angola 2010: Africa Cup of Nations Squads Posted: 07 Jan 2010 12:10 PM PST
The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off this Sunday, January 10th in Angola. You can find the full match schedule here. Below you’ll find the squads for all 16 qualified nations, divided by group. A quick glance down the list reveals a lot of familiar names and a lot of European clubs.
Group AAngola Mali Malawi Algeria Group BCôte d’Ivoire Burkina Faso Ghana Togo Group CEgypt Nigeria Mozambique Benin Group DCameroon Gabon Zambia Tunisia Source: Wikipedia, obviously. Full Angola 2010 match schedule can be found here. If anyone knows of any changes to the above squads (or knows why Cameroon have no #21) then please share in the comments and we’ll get it updated.
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vii. Angola’s mascot is way cooler than 
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