Tim Vickery on the start of the Copa Libertadores together 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 from long term contracts has finally been made.

And Sepp Blatter’s response to the rule that he helped to bring in.


The Times looks back half a century.


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.

Last season Chelsea won the Premiership by 8 points with Manchester United finishing as the runner-up. Liverpool was a point further back and then Arsenal was 15 points behind and then came Tottenham another 2 points back and in fifth place. So the gap between first and fifth was twenty-six points.

The season before the corresponding gap was thirty-seven points and between the winners Chelsea and runner-up, Arsenal was twelve points. The gap has been reduced over the last two seasons but can any team stop Chelsea from winning a third consecutive Premiership title? The season gets going in a little under five weeks and to date Chelsea has been the most aggressive as far as signing are concerned.

Michael Ballack from Bayern Munich; Andriy Shevchenko from Milan; Salomon Kalou from Feyenoord; John Obi Mikel from Lyn; have all signed and rumours of Roberto Carlos coming to Stamford Bridge continue – although I don’t see that as a positive. Perhaps the biggest problem for Mourinho is going to be keeping his squad happy. At the moment Jose Mourinho has a team of midfielders to choose from alone and at least eight of them are bona fide starters - Ballack, Cole, Robben, Wright-Phillips, Duff, Makelele, Lampard & Essien.

For Manchester United it has been a case of standing pat so far although it looks as if three injured players should be back for the start of the season - Solskjaer, Scholes and Heinze – with Alan Smith ready to start training again in the fall. The biggest hold in the United squad continues to be the centre of midfield. United had 11 players on World Cup duty but not one of them was a central midfield player. With what seems to be the imminent departure of RVN, United will also need another gun up front.

Liverpool has made some interesting moves in signing Gabriel Paletta from Banfield; Craig Bellamy from Blackburn Rovers; and Fabio Aurelio from Valencia. Bellamy should give Liverpool some different options up front and watch for Aurelio from set pieces – he has a great left foot. We will also get a chance to see mark Gonzalez who was signed last summer but who has now received a work permit.

Arsene Wenger has limited Arsenal to Tomas Rosicky plus three youngsters for the future. Even though the youngsters will continue to improve is hard to see how the squad as it stands could push Chelsea for the title.

Tottenham’s hopes will be to build on last seasons fifth place finish but other clubs have found it difficult to hold on to what they achieved the previous season. Spurs’ chances may be better than most given that they have a young squad and have made some interesting additions with the likes of Dimitar Berbatov from Bayer Leverkusen; Benoit Assou-Ekotto from Lens; and Ivory Coast World Cup standout Didier Zokora from Saint-Etienne.

So with five weeks left and friendly games already underway what does Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and perhaps Tottenham need to do to take the Premiership title away from Stamford Bridge?