AFCON 2022: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE DOWN HORRENDOUS
Would you look at that? Senegal finally won their first African Cup of Nations in the history of the tournament. Such a shame, the Egyptians tried though(Advice: Get Salah back in your FPL team now o, anger go dey against Leicester). Apart from this, we know that the only thing you remembered was Nigeria’s embarrassing exit to Tunisia (fine-boy Okoye and Iwobi-wan-Kenobi to blame obviously). So this article is to point out peculiar or interesting things that happened in this tournament, placing them among; GOOD, BAD or DOWN HORRENDOUS.
THE GOOD
One thing about watching a tournament is seeing your favorite players play and win, in most scenarios. Also, new and improving talent go dey on display. Like this, I don go Google who Taiwo Awoniyi and Moses Simon be. Boys wey sabi ball.
Mane don claim big boy for African football now. Mendy don win another trophy, Chelsea fans go come start Ballon d’Or agenda now (Na una sabi that one sha, Mendy know say he no play like that. No come fight me abeg).
Another standout was Egypt’s backup goalkeeper, Mohammed Abougabal, who had to step in for the first choice goalkeeper due to injuries. He only conceded one goal throughout the competition and played through injuries. He also saved key penalties against Ivory Coast and Cameroon that sent them to the finals.
THE BAD
Losses are expected but some performances were really lousy in this tournament. Take Algeria for example, coming into this tournament as winners of the previous tournament held. Only gained ONE POINT throughout the group stage. Ah☠️. Ghana too produced the same thing. After all the banter Shatta Wale don bring, them still commot for group stage.
The fact we got eliminated immediately after group stage to Tunisia was another lousy outcome. Tunisia barely qualified through the remaining 4 slots kept for the best third-placed teams out of every group. Why would they sub you on and six minutes later, you chop red card? Talk about Jay-Jay’s cousin. On a more serious note, this defeat was actually disappointing, especially considering the fact that we topped our group. “But that’s the beauty of the AFCON, iyalaya anybody can be beaten.”
The greatest stick should actually go to Burkina Faso. How can a team, in a third-place match, be up three goals to nil for over 70 minutes. All of a sudden, Cameroon miraculously start a comeback, take the game to penalties and beats the team 5–3. No red card for Burkina Faso! They had all 11 men throughout the duration of the match. I’m still thinking that this Aboubakar used jazz.
THE DOWN HORRENDOUS
Now I know in Africa, things can get strange but crazy things actually occurred in this tournament. The very first thing was the officiating. A perfect example: Tunisia v Mali. During this match, so many horrible decisions were made. The referee awarded two controversial spot-kicks in the second half, one he would have missed if not for VAR. The icing on the cake was when the referee blew for the match to end at the 85th minute. After a restart was done when the error was discovered, the referee still ended the match early at the 89th minute. Security operatives had to come onto the pitch to restrain Tunisia's coaching staff who were seething with anger.
I remember a proverb, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.” Now, if your country went for the World Cup and when it was time to sing your national anthem, the speakers don’t play the tune. Eventually, you’re to just sing it like that. Won’t you be at FIFA’s throat or the throat of whoever’s responsible? So you can imagine how the players of Mauritania felt, even after THREE failed attempts. These men couldn’t sing their national anthem. Tragic.
Well, the list goes on but we have brought you up to speed with notable things that happened during this year’s African Cup of Nations. Some things might not be here cause they can’t really be classified. For example, Egypt played the final without a coach or assistant coach in the dugout because they each collected a red card. Controversies everywhere. But those who watched the tournament could fill you on anything we’ve missed. We anticipate and hope the next one will be better. Till then, back to club football.
