Afcon 2023 — Thank you for the memories!
Wow, and just like that Afcon 2023 is over. Afcon 2023 will definitely go down as the tournament that had it all. From the flagrant fans, to the dancing entrances. From the controversial VAR decisions, to the big horses exiting at the early stages, to the controversial VAR decisions, to the entertaining commentary, to the old generation continuing to make their mark and the young generation announcing themselves on the biggest stage, to seeing the world’s best showcasing their skills, to having the privilege to witness some of the world’s best new talent. From the hospitality of the host nation, to the most unexpected top goal scorer. From the unfortunate situation of the Gambian team almost losing their lives, to stories of cancer survivors fighting back to become victorious.
From teams making political stances to managers being fired during the tournament. From the host nation being on the brink of a group stage exit, to being crowned the champions of Africa, Afcon 2023 had it all.
The elephants tame the Super Eagles in the final
Ivory Coast completed a remarkable tournament comeback in a one sided win in the final against a lacklustre Nigerian side. Despite Nigeria taking the lead in the first half through an Ekong header, Ivory Coast had completely dominated proceedings and were totally dominating the midfield battle. Nigeria had adopted a tactic aimed at containing the opposition. This had been Nigeria’s approach for the majority of the tournament, but Ivory Coast proved to be a step too far. During the game Brighton’s Simon Adingra had the number of Nigerian right back Ola Aina. Victor Osimhen was left to feed off scraps and a lot of Nigeria’s key man struggled to turn up on the day.
Nigeria’s resolve was finally broken in the 62nd minute after a Frank Kessie header from Simon Adingra’s corner kick. The Elephants continued to pile on the pressure, and in the 81st minute, no other than Seb Haller scored Ivory Coast’s second goal, which proved to be the eventual match winner. Haller scored with a deft flick and sent an Ivorian dominated stadium into raptures. Nigeria has a late surge after this but it was too little too late. There were opposite emotions experienced as Nigerian fans were in despair whilst Ivorian fans partied into the night. The quality of Ivory Coast shone through and for the first time since 2015, have proudly reclaimed the title of the Kings of Africa.
Afcon a hindrance or deserving of respect
Due to its placement within the club season, many have viewed the Afcon as a hindrance to the ‘more important’ competitions. However, by the end of this tournament, Afcon has proved to be a tournament that needs to be held in high regard. The disrespectful discourse towards the tournament needs to be altered. Prominent journalist Zach Lowry said in a tweet that ‘after Afcon concluded, the Afcon referees need to give the Premier League referees a lesson on how to use VAR’ He was reacting to how VAR was effectively utilised during the majority of the Afcon. The Afcon need not be seen as a hindrance but as a tournament that is to be celebrated. To many nations, because of what it represents, qualifying for the Afcon is a bigger reward than qualifying for the World Cup. Anyone who has tuned in this year will assure you that this was a massively entertaining tournament that would rival the other major international tournament in terms of entertainment.
We can’t wait for the next tournament
One message from this tournament is that we can’t wait for the next one. With this being the first Afcon largely publicised on platforms such as tiktok, popularity for the tournament grew as the tournament progressed to its latter stages. As we return to club football, Afcon will be missed, Nigerians will be in dismay, Ghanaians need to revaluate their performances, but the feeling of Afcon 2023 will remain sweet.
