The African Footballer of the Year does not need me
as a fan, but nonetheless, he is making good progress in impressing me. I don't doubt his quality but the problem is me. A few
flashes of tactical awareness as well as unquestioned individual brilliance did
not convince me that Africans can compete outside their sphere of influence.
There were pockets of good decision-making,
obviously a result of the experience these players gained in the Barclays
English Premier League and the French League. Where decisions were bad, the
execution of technique cancelled matters out, given the opposition did not
capitalise to punish the wrong decisions.
It was a solid and round performance by African
standards, but still lacked the tactical maturity of the game at national
levels. Tunisia had hoped to steal something out of the match with Drogba
benched.
The former Chelsea cult hero came on and nearly
registered his first 2013 Afcon goal. He proved a thorn as his presence led to
that Yaya goal after Gervinho had short the Elephants ahead in the first half, and
when Tiote scored with his first touch after coming on, it was a master stroke.
Algeria huffed and puffed firing blanks as they have
done in their build-up to the tournament, as well as the 2010 Fifa World Cup. I
cannot remember the last time they hit the net in a tournament. Their
adversaries, Togo, started slowly, sizing up their way up.
The Togolese always played the inaccurate long ball,
which was spot on just on one occasion and Emmanuel Adebayour punished them,
beating the goalkeeper on a one versus one.
It was a basic route one football, a long ball from
the back and then a ping-pong heading tennis from Adebayour to Romao onhis left and
then to Adebayour’s path. The tall Tottenham Hotspur striker outpaced the
defender and slotted the ball under advancing goalie.
A physical battle in midfield ensued and that
brutality led to several claims by the North Africans for penalties. The
referees did not bow down to pressure. Algeria forced their way into the final
third often but failed to direct the final pass or the shots.
As the attack swarmed the Togolese penalty area, it
seemed the desperate attempts would yield something for the Algerians but it
was vain attempts. It was until the drama of the broken goalpost that stole the
show in the last five minutes.
The upright post broke at the base and the wobbling
posts and nets had to be replaced, though it took far too long. To add unsolicited drama, the match officials played the five minutes and then added thirteen more minutes.
That gave Togo one more counter-attacking
opportunity. A through pass from the centre circle was chased by substitute
Wome, who had a few touches and slotted the ball once again, under the
advancing goalkeeper to make it 2-0.
The Algerians
became the first team to be eliminated while the Ivoirians were the first to
qualify with their 100% records each.
