2012 Africa Cup of Nations

[jack95]

Superb game, this has been a brilliant tournament so far. Really nice to see both the hosts through to the knockout stages as well, especially with Gabon securing it it with a 96th minute free-kick and Equatorial Guinea upsetting all the odds. Would it be too much to hope Sudan are able to sneak through as well?

[Lineker]

Couldn't agree more with the last two posts. Gabon/Morocco was an epic match!!

[Lineker]

I can't believe you're missing this Botswana game metalman just for a silly Kilmarnock match!!

That said, they are losing.

[METALMAN]

silly? this was the effing league cup semi final biggest rivalry of all time!

[Lineker]

Scottish League Cup.

[METALMAN]

the original league cup!

[Lineker]

Libya beat Senegal!! So Senegal finish bottom of the group with 0 points! Brilliant!

[Baddar]

Did you guys see that score earlier? Ghana 8, Ethiopia didn't.

[Lineker]

Give this man an Oscar.

[Thrilla]

Haha, amazing.

[IAceI]

What are people opting for then?

Sudan v Burkina Faso

Ivory Coast v Angola

[Lineker]

Neither - what were the scores?

While Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba is on the football pitch, his mother is cooking for Africa Cup of Nations fans.

Clotilde Drogba's makeshift kitchen is at a dusty stadium on the outskirts of the Equatorial Guinea capital of Malabo, the Associated Press reports.

She serves up chicken and fish dishes, with rice, plantains and spicy sauces fans, while her Chelsea star son eats at the hotel with the other players.

Mrs Drogba also prepared food for fans at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Drogba is one of the most famous people in Ivory Coast - last year he was named on the country's Truth Reconciliation and Dialogue Commission set up to ease the wounds after a bitter election dispute and years of division.

A group of about 60 fans has travelled to Equatorial Guinea, where the Ivory Coast team - the Elephants - are playing their opening matches - and every day they sit down to a plateful of traditional food cooked up by their star player's mother.

"Everyone has their thing and what they like to do,'' Mrs Drogba, wearing the orange of Ivory Coast, told AP after preparing lunch on Monday.

"This is not about my son, it is about supporting my country."

Mrs Drogba told AP that she watched Ivory Coast's opening two victories on a TV screen - in between cutting onions, tomatoes and chicken.

She added that she hopes to watch the semi-final in the stadium in Bata - if Drogba and his team-mates make it that far.

She says she respects the rules that means her son cannot eat her food - and eats only at a luxury hotel.

Even without her cooking, Mrs Drogba told the AP she is confident she will see her son finally lift the African Cup of Nations - which they are favourites to do.

"The team plays very well and it's my wish that they win the cup,'" she said.

[jack95]

Ivory Coast 2-0 Angola, Sudan 2-1 Burkina Faso, so Sudan sneak into the Quarter Finals! Wonderful!

[IAceI]

The Angola match was atrocious. They showed up hoping Ivory Coast would take it easy and play out a 0-0 draw and both could go through. Ivory Coast barely broke sweat and walked it 2-0, and the 2-1 win for Sudan is sufficient for them to set up a match with Zambia in the QF's. Equatorial Guinea will play Ivory Coast.

Not a massively entertaining day I have to say, even if Sudan did just sneak through, I definitely picked the wrong match to watch.

[IAceI]

Somebody changed the ACON squads section for Equatorial Guinea to show the country of the players birth, as opposed to the country which they represent, cheeky scamps.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Africa_Cup_of_Nations_squads#Equatorial_Guinea

Players born in Equatorial Guinea: 2.

Players born in Spain: 10.

Although nothing new as you sometimes see a Brazilian trotting out for Azerbaijan and the like; it's still an interesting thing to see when there are more players born in Spain and Cameroon playing for Equatorial Guinea than there are people born in Equatorial Guinea.

Edited January 31, 2012 by IAceI

[Colly]

Love it. I'd like to see a similar exercise for the last few French squads to be honest though.

[IAceI]

Gabon v Tunisia is just about to start, Gabon are top but both teams have already qualified. Winner of the match will top to the group and most likely avoid Ghana so should still be a good match.

Niger v Morocco are the other match, haven't seen either of them play and both are already eliminated so I don't think I'll be seeing them at all.

Anyone watching?

[IAceI]

1-0 in both matches at the minute. Tunisia were dominating in the first half but Gabon have looked better in the second and lead through Aubameyang (Gabon Neymar) with a rather bizarre goal, not sure what the goalkeeper was doing.

Morocco are also 1-0 up against Niger in the battle for the irrelevant third place. It wasn't Chamakh. (He did set it up though, with a handball too I think..)

[Starvinho]

Zambia 1-0 against Sudan after 15 minutes of the first quarter final.

Ivory Coast-Equatorial Guinea is on later.

[Starvinho]

Zambia won 3-0 are through to their first semi-final since 1996. Impressive performance from them.

I really hope Equatorial Guinea can cause an upset later on tonight, that would be so great for the tournament!