Going to give some opinion today, because there wasn’t too much we haven’t covered from Group A about the squads. And, of course, everyone wants to talk about:
ANGOLA 0, ALGERIA 0
First of all, while it wasn’t the most exciting game in the world, there were a few chances on both sides in the first half, with the most prominent actually falling to the Algerians when defender Madjid Bougherra (of Rangers) found himself 5 yards from goal, but couldn’t finish midway through the first half. While neither team created great chances after that, it was a relatively feisty encounter with two yellow cards.
But by halftime, everyone had figured out that Mali was up on Malawi, and the second half was – let’s face it – a snoozefest, with little action at both ends. I talked last week about the 1982 Shame of Gijon in the World Cup that is still Algeria’s finest moment as a footballing nation. While not pretty, I don’t think this falls in the same category. If it were in court, I don’t think you could call the crime as premeditated.
Put yourself in Angola’s shoes for a second. Although you qualified for the World Cup in 2006 (and the African Cup of Nations in 2008), you really don’t have much history in soccer. You’ve – somewhat controversially – been given that tournament. You have an old-school Soviet dictator President in charge, who felt the need to not only keep games in Cabinda after the Togo bus was shot up Mafia-style, but told Togo they couldn’t move their games and eventually “disqualified” them (of course, it was CAF that officially did that, but you know).
You kind of need to have Angola advance in this tournament, don’t you? And if you know a tie will not only get you through, but get the other team through as well, why would you take any chances? Wouldn’t you rip a coach if he had a lead and starting sending players forward (kind of like Angola did in their first game ironically). Well, if you get two teams playing very conservative soccer for a half, you;re not going to get any goals, and there wasn’t.
So I’m not going to rip Angola or Algeria for what they did today.
The real problem may come from – ironically – an American thing: the head-to-head tiebreaker. Most tournaments traditionally use goal differential as their first option, but looking at the American sports’ ways of doing things, some soccer tournaments (including the CAN) have gone to head-to-head as the first tiebreaker. And today is a precise reason why it shouldn’t be. If goal differential were the first tiebreaker, Algeria would be long gone now and in this match would have had to try to go for it.
Simple problem, simple solution. It’s not always that easy.
* One other note about Algeria: them advancing might be the best thing to happen to the United States. I haven’t been impressed in the slightest by coach Rabah Saadane and his tactics in this tournament, and had they been eliminated today, he might have been replaced by someone else that might have a better idea on how to get his players on the same page. I haven’t seen anything in three games that indicates that they will be able to get a result against the United States in June. Algeria will meet the Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals, and if they get routed, he still may get canned. But we’ll see.
MALI 3, MALAWI 1
In the end, Mali has no one else but themselves to blame for going home. They had the talent, and it was on display today (as was the dreadful goalkeeping that has become a hallmark of this tournament). Seydou Keita’s 3rd-minute free kick was a thing of beauty and a Goal of the Tournament candidate. Already up 2-0 after 3 minutes, Mali pretty much coasted home, but as for the tournament: their defense had holes, they had no real tactics, and (as we’ve seen at the club level) lots of talent does not necessarily equal success, and it really hasn’t yet for Mali in any tournament of significance. They got what they deserved. Unfortunately, Kanoute and Keita are starting to reach the end of their careers and while Mali has some decent youngsters behind them, their window of opportunity to do some damage may have closed here.
As for Malawi, I liked their fight and they had their moment against Algeria. But as far as talent is concerned, they were probably the worst of the 16 teams in Angola, and it’s tough to overcome that. They have some young guys (like Chiukepo Msowoya) who may be heard from in the future, but they have a long way to go.
Tomorrow: Burkina Faso-Ghana, as Burkina Faso tries to finish off the hobbled Black Stars.
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