Tim Vickery on the start of theCopa Libertadorestogether with comments on Chelsea and Birmingham City’s new Argentine recruits.
For all the complaining we have heard about the African Cup of Nations it does not appear to have stopped the majority of Premier clubs from intensely scouting the tournament.
A decision with significant implications for players looking to walk away fromlong term contracts has finally been made.
And Sepp Blatter’s response to the rule that he helped to bring in.
The African Cup of Nations is down to the last eight and fans in Canada will be glad to know that French language broadcaster TV5 will be televising games from the quarter finals on. For others in North America there are internet options including All Soccer Africa.
My viewing to date has been limited to the highlights of each game delivered over the internet so take the predictions with plenty of salt. However, there has been some cracking goals and a couple of good matches. Now that we have reached the last eight here is hoping that the quality is maintained. Two games are scheduled for Sunday and the others on Monday.
Ghana vs. Nigeria Former MLS (Chicago, Colorado and San Jose) striker Junior Agogo has become a bit of a folk hero during this tournament. The consummate journeyman player looks to have finally settled at Nottingham Forest and despite being left out of the 2006 World Cup he seems to have established himself as a regular member of the Ghanaian international squad.
Ghana needed two very late goals (one from Agogo against Namibia) to secure wins in the first two matches before a straight forward 2-0 win over Morocco sealed a quarter final spot.
Although Nigeria could be considered slightly fortunate to qualify from group B they should not be underestimated. A stunning goal from Salomon Kalou was the difference in their opener against Ivory Coast and although a scoreless draw versus Mali was a disappointing result it did leave the door slightly ajar for Nigeria.
Goals finally came Nigeria’s way as Mikel and Yakubu notched second half markers to beat a Benin side that was far out of their depth. Ivory Coast did the rest by refusing the rest on the fact that they had already secured passage to the knock stage and beat Mali 3-0.
Nigeria has a terrific record in the African Cup of Nations since 1984. Out of the thirteen tournaments Nigeria has made it to the final five times while wining once in 1994. On four other occasions they have reached the semi final stage and taken 3rd place each time.
Prediction – Ghana 1-0 Nigeria
Ivory Coast vs. Guinea The FIFA rankings may be suspect at the best of times but even so few soccer fans outside of Africa would be able to name Guinea as the third ranked side on the continent. They may have never made it to the World Cup Finals to date but 2010 may become their first.
This is the third straight time that Guinea has made the last eight in this tournament but any hope of progressing further this time has been severely damaged by the suspension handed to Pascal Feindouno of St. Etienne.
Between qualification games and the first two of the finals the attacking midfielder has scored eight goals in 10 games. However, his double over Morocco was overshadowed by a sending off for violent conduct. A two game ban meant he missed the final group game (a 1-1 draw) against Namibia but more importantly he will also miss the quarter final against Ivory Coast.
The Ivorians can score goals (8 so far) and give little away in defense – only one goal conceded in seven games at the qualifying and finals stages.
Prediction – Ivory Coast 2-0 Guinea
Egypt vs. Angola This might very well be the time of the round with the reigning African Champions facing a 2006 World Cup qualifier that proved tough to break down. Despite winning at home two years ago Egypt was less than impressive during the qualification phase for this edition.
But you would hardly know it based on their opening two games that saw them blow away Cameroon 4-2 and Sudan 3-0. The opportunity to rest Mohamed Zidan was taken in the final game and the resulting 1-1 draw with Zambia was more than enough to see the Champions through as group C winners.
This is the 22nd time that Egypt has appeared in the African finals and five times they have gone on to win the tournament. For a country that has historically done so well regionally only two World Cup appearances in 1934 and 1990 seems meager.
On the other hand their quarter final opponents Angola will be making a first appearance in the last eight and are looking to build on some fine displays in Germany in 2006. At World Cup 2006 the Angolans proved to be exceedingly tough to break down although they were missing a cutting edge up front.
This problem may have now been solved with the emergence of Manucho, a recent Manchester United signing. A converted winger Manucho entered the tournament with two goals in 10 international appearances but has since scored three more. With veteran Flavio also available up front Angola now have a legitimate scoring threat from their front pairing. Angola will also be eager to move deeper into the tournament as they are scheduled to host in 2010.
Prediction – Egypt 2-1 Angola
Tunisia vs. Cameroon Cameroon has bounced back from a first game loss to Egypt and with Samuel Eto’o (5 goals and an African Cup of Nations scoring record) in the side they present a potent threat. With ten goals so far Cameroon is the top scorers in the tournament and a defense record of five conceded has to be placed in the context of four goals lost to Egypt.
Tunisia won the tournament when they hosted four years ago and they have also reached the quarter finals twice and a semi final in their last six tournament appearances. Tunisia is unbeaten with a win over a bitterly disappointing South Africa side and two draws with Angola and Senegal.
Prediction – Tunisia 1-3 Cameroon
For my money the best game of the weekend in Europe is set for Florence where Fiorentina faces a Milan side that desperately want to dislodge the Viola from the fourth spot that they currently occupy. Both clubs are enjoying a fine run of form with Fiorentina having won four straight and Milan with four wins in their last five games.
Milan sits in sixth spot seven points behind Fiorentina but with a game fewer played. While Brazilian teenager Pato has been capturing the headlines with three goals since his debut against Napoli three weeks ago, the much maligned Gilardino has quietly gone about his business and has scored two vital away goals against Udinese and Reggina. Both were game winners and in all Gilardino has scored seven Serie A goals and all have come away from home.
Fiorentina’s game breaker has been Romanian Adrian Mutu. Mutu has rediscovered the form that made him one of the most sought after players in the world and it is surely no coincidence that it has coincided with him reuniting with his old boss from the Parma days Cesare Prandelli.
After being sacked by Chelsea Mutu signed on at Juventus but failed to make a signicant impact. Fiorentina moved in and last season brought 16 goals in 33 Serie A games. This season Mutu has been responsible for close to 40% of Fiorentina’s goal production with thirteen goals in his twenty appearances.
As the dust finally settles after the World Cup equivalent of the Gunfight at the OK Corral another question surfaces – why was Ruud van Nistelrooy still on the bench while Dirk Kuyt started, and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink came on as a substitute?
Has van Nistelrooy suddenly become so poor that he has plummeted below Kuyt and JV of H in the Dutch pecking order?
His record during the group stage was:
Serbia and Montenegro Started but replaced by Dirk Kuyt after 69 minutes
Ivory Coast Started and scored a goal but replaced by Danny Landzaat 73 minutes.
Argentina Started but replaced by Ryan Babel 56 minutes.
So how do you go from the first choice striker – albeit one who is replaced in the second half of all three group games – to not even seeing any action in a must one game against a side that at various times is up a goal but down a man?
Of course the issue is complicated by his fall out with Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford and likelihood that RVN will be changing his place of business come the new season.
There has been mention of tactical situations but I’m not sure that the explanation holds water given the desperate nature of the game against Portugal. Maybe at the kick off, but when you have the kind of possession that the Dutch enjoyed late in the game, who would you want on the park Hesselink or van Nistelrooy? (For what it is worth did Kuyt show anything to indicate that he is worth the fee that has supposedly being placed on him?)
It would seem to me that one is beyond tactics and the only explanation is van Nistelrooy and Marco van Basten must have had “words” and severe ones at that. I had expected RVN to arrive at the WC ready to take out his club frustrations on other countries.
Apart from a decent first half against Serbia and Montenegro and the chance he put away against the Ivory Coast he looked out of sorts and lacking sharpness.
The Dutch midfield missed a match-fit Rafael van der Vaart and although the passed the ball nicely in midfield there was few penetrating passes into the penalty box – the kind RVN feasts on.
Well this one turned out to be a big disappointment. It sounds as if the IC vs. S&M would have been a better choice.
I'm not sure what we learned from this game. Both defenses were almost water-tight with both attacks being largely restricted to efforts from long-range.
I would say that Van der Saar was the busier keeper and Argentina did have the shot that came back off the post in the first half. However, the Dutch finished more strongly.
It looked like Argentina missed the intelligent running of Crespo and Saviola in attack.
The Dutch and Portugal seems to be a well matched pair while Argentina will surely have to much for Mexico.
Argentina and Netherlands are both through to the last 16. The Ivory Coast just coul not get that equalizer that would have kept them in with a hope - even though it would have been faint - going into the last game.
The Dutch look to have a good side but so far they don't look to be a great one. But there is a long way to go.
As for the Ivory Coast that's twice they've gone behind by two goals in the first half. No team can affoird to give an oponent a two goal start at a World Cup. They are a nice team going forward but the defense is poor.
Man of the Match - Robin Van Persie. He scored one, had a part in the RVN goal, cleared a certain goal off the line, and generally contributed to the Dutch cause.
Ivory Coast is moving through the Dutch midfield with relative ease. The IC four is having the best of the Dutch 3 at the moment.
The IC needs some sort of the result in this one so their should be opportunities on the break for Holland.
Adrian Healey has just told us the goal difference is the first tie breaker - unfortunately he's wrong. The first tie breaker is head-to-head result(s).
I think we should see IC throwing on some attacking substitutes soon.
Zokora could have pulled one back but he hits the woodwork. Kone does though with a spanking goal.
There looks like there are more goals in this one as well. The Ivory Coast has so much speed in the team that they always look liable to break the game open.
Van Persie creates a free kick chance and then nearly takes the net of the moorings. Van Basten has van Persie out on the right so he can cut inside on his left foot.
Van Persie does just that and Toure fouls him. Van Persie drills it - 1-0.
A game strikingly similar to Argentina and Ivory Coast. Ghana caused the Italian defense problems when they ran at them. Essien was immense. But the Ghanaians made two mistakes and they paid heavily for them.
The defense went to sleep when the corner was played short to Pirlo and from there Gilardino deflected Pirlo's shot into the net. The second goal was a disaster for Sammy Kuffour. He made a dreadful pass back that came up short.
Ghana pushed to the end but for no reward.
Man of the match - Michael Essien. Essien showed what he can do when he is given some freedom.
Less than 10 minutes to go and suddenly the Ivory Coast is back in this. Drogba gets the goal after an extended spell when Argentina looked so comfortable and crusing to a win.
Three minutes later and it looks like Maxi has sealed this one for Argentina but the assistant referee gets it right and it is chalked off for offside. The original shot was from that man Riquelme again.
Into injury time and Ivory Coast need to get the ball. But they can't and the final whistle is blown.
Ivory Coast gave Argentina some problems but not enough to get a share of the points. If we didn't know it before the World Cup we know it now - how goes Juan Roman Riquelme, goes Argentina.
The half time whistle goes and the Ivory Coast is wondering how they are 2-0 down. One word - Riquelme. He set up the first with a free kick that was not dissimilar to Beckham's effort earlier in the day. The second wass a delightful pass to Saviola who timed his run perfectly after Crespo created space for the pass.
The Ivorians will be wondering about their positioning on the first free kick while there wasn't any pressure put on Riquelme when he had time to thread the needle on Saviola's goal.
The Argentine defense has looked uncomfortable for most of the half with the Ivory Coast's power and speed but they their goal has survived intact.
If Argentine get the next goal then it is all over - it might be already - but if the Africans can get one back then who knows what might be in store.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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