Africa Football Discussion Thread || Current discussion: African teams at Qatar.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Before this thread gets locked, let's take some time out to reflect and  evaluate the successes and flaws of this years AFCON hosted by Cameroon. Do you see the just concluded AFCON as a huge improvement from the others we have seen? in what ways to you think the tournament can be made better before it is hosted again for the second time  by Ivory Coast in June 2023?

Honestly,  this year tournament  is this best ever of all . Their is an improvement that is why many people followed it up. The performance of some teams like Nigeria, Egypt,  Cameron,  Senegal was interesting and it impressive.  This drew the attentions of fans to follow up the AFCON tournament to see who the winner will be.

Nigeria's performance at the beginning of the game was quite outstanding, but how they fell off the game was also very disheartening, normally, am not really into football but how we were able to win the first few games was what picked my interest initially, but anyways, It was a nice game, atleast, for the few I watched, looking forward to 2023 and hoping the teams that didn't perform well this year will go back to their drawing board, put hands together and perform better next year.

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[uneng]

Before this thread gets locked, let's take some time out to reflect and  evaluate the successes and flaws of this years AFCON hosted by Cameroon. Do you see the just concluded AFCON as a huge improvement from the others we have seen? in what ways to you think the tournament can be made better before it is hosted again for the second time  by Ivory Coast in June 2023?

Well, I think security mechanisms and strategies should be improved for the next tournament, so episodes like the one on the game between Cameroon and Comoros, where 38 ended injured and 8 dead, don't repeat again. Moreover, participant teams can always improve themselves to show a better performance to the public and to represent their countries better. Velocity, dribbling and physical aren't everything. A weak team can always improve its results by being more strategical. Egypt and how they reached to the final is a good example of that.

[D-law]

Before this thread gets locked, let's take some time out to reflect and  evaluate the successes and flaws of this years AFCON hosted by Cameroon. Do you see the just concluded AFCON as a huge improvement from the others we have seen? in what ways to you think the tournament can be made better before it is hosted again for the second time  by Ivory Coast in June 2023?

Honestly,  this year tournament  is this best ever of all . Their is an improvement that is why many people followed it up. The performance of some teams like Nigeria, Egypt,  Cameron,  Senegal was interesting and it impressive.  This drew the attentions of fans to follow up the AFCON tournament to see who the winner will be.

Nigeria's performance at the beginning of the game was quite outstanding, but how they fell off the game was also very disheartening, normally, am not really into football but how we were able to win the first few games was what picked my interest initially, but anyways, It was a nice game, atleast, for the few I watched, looking forward to 2023 and hoping the teams that didn't perform well this year will go back to their drawing board, put hands together and perform better next year.

Nigeria had poor game management in the game against Tunisia.
Yeah, they had a nice group stage performance winning all three but, they failed to do so against Tunisia.
Games like that opportunity and chances shouldn't be taken for granted, Ghana as well , was a big blow for them go go out of the competition.

[sana54210]

This was 33rd edition of this AFCON and first win for team Senegal which was full of some very talented and skilled players this was very bore match as Egypt were going with their own way of defensively in entire tournament, and they never try to have some better way of play which hurt them in this last match because Senegal goalkeeper done some better job instead of Egypt.

When Mane missed penalty there were some good chance for Egypt, but they hold nerve and done good job until end of extra time and in penalty shoot-out Senegal take their first win in this tournament and end Egypt's hope for having all knock out matches from shoot-out for this tournament. Egypt is still leading table with 7 wins in this tournament as they are dominant country here in this region for very long time.

I did not know it was a first for Senegal to win. I have known them as a great football nation for so long that I assumed they had a lot more wins before this one. When I looked at it, they did managed to get to finals multiple times but they have failed to win. On contrary, Egypt had actually won it before and I suppose a few times as well.

Aside from Salah, I do not remember any "superstars" from Egypt so I assumed it was Senegal who would have won more times before I saw this post. In any case, Egypt is already a good team and already won it so many times, let Senegal get their first, after learning about this situation, I am feeling happier for Senegal to be fair.

[ILuckyGuyI]

The AFCON tournament was really delightful and it has finally finished. Senegal got a very well-deserved title that is for sure. But I wouldn't like to underestimate Egypt's great effort until reaching the final round also. They played really smart against all of their opponents. They did really well against Senegal in the finale too. Senegal had the game under control but still Egypt got what they wanted by resisting them until the penalties. This was their biggest chance as they eliminated some opponents like this before. But Senegal still won after penalties.

[Zanab247]

A big congratulation to Senegal team to become a winner in AFCON Final that happened between Egypt and Senegal yesterday. The two team really performed wonders in the full game but when it came to penalty shoot out Senegal became winner. It was a big celebration to all Chelsea fans yesterday for the good performed their goal keeper did for his team and Chelsea fans.

Senegal players did not miss this opportunity this year 2022, they have played many final and lose at the end but this time around they do everything possible to win the AFCON title 2022.

[Minecache]

Nigeria had poor game management in the game against Tunisia.
Yeah, they had a nice group stage performance winning all three but, they failed to do so against Tunisia.
Games like that opportunity and chances shouldn't be taken for granted, Ghana as well , was a big blow for them go go out of the competition.

Nigeria's performance against Tunisia was not too bad. After watching the group stage matches, I thought Nigeria would be able to reach at least the semi-finals. But unfortunately they lost against Tunisia. Tunisia played completely defensive after scoring a goal. So the Nigerian players did not get a chance to score. They had problems with match strategy. They would have been able to win if they had kept the defense strong from the start of the match and continued to attack.

[Zilon]

A big congratulation to Senegal team to become a winner in AFCON Final that happened between Egypt and Senegal yesterday. The two team really performed wonders in the full game but when it came to penalty shoot out Senegal became winner. It was a big celebration to all Chelsea fans yesterday for the good performed their goal keeper did for his team and Chelsea fans.

Senegal players did not miss this opportunity this year 2022, they have played many final and lose at the end but this time around they do everything possible to win the AFCON title 2022.

Senegal lifted their first ever AFCON cup with a well deserved game played, although it was looking like a sold match but the ended up championships with a beautiful penalty kick save from the penalty shoot out. I am glad manes penalty miss in the early minutes of match didn't cost them to lose their biggest opportunity to be AFCONs championship

[CryptocurencyKing]

I must congratulate both teams for how far they came, I didn’t see it coming at the start of the tournament. When the competition started I was thinking maybe Nigeria or Cameroon because they looked more dangerous during the group stage of the AFCON. Sadio Mane missing a penalty at the 7th minute changed the game entirely and and both team really played well and tried to win it, both defenses and keepers were incredibly and Senegal were the better side as we’d have expected because Egypt have been playing defensively in previous games. Sadio Mane gave it all in this competition and I think he deserves to win.

I didn't bet on this match because I had no idea who could win. If it were a league match, I would most likely bet on a draw. Before the game Egypt seemed to me that have potential to win, but Senegal was also very dangerous at all stages of the tournament. This match verified everything and there is no doubt that Senegal was the better team and fully deserved to win.

Half way into the semi finals, I knew that Senegal are going to win the finals, Egypt struggled too much to get there, they're not good enough, playing till extra time and progressing on penalty shootouts was a very risky thing. I must say Egypt were completely outplayed in that game. They never looked like beating Senegal. They was just lucky to be in the final. Senegal should have led in the first half, they just squandered lots of chances. Sadio Mane was super on the day even though he missed the penalty. I saw how uneasy he was during the shootout, but when it mattered the most, he didn’t disappoint.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Nigeria's performance against Tunisia was not too bad. After watching the group stage matches, I thought Nigeria would be able to reach at least the semi-finals. But unfortunately they lost against Tunisia. Tunisia played completely defensive after scoring a goal. So the Nigerian players did not get a chance to score. They had problems with match strategy. They would have been able to win if they had kept the defense strong from the start of the match and continued to attack.

Nigeria team was too confident going into that game having been the only team to progress from group stage winning all their group stage match. They felt they could out beat Tunisia without stress bit began to panic when the breakthrough wasn't coming. I was the first half and Nigeria looked convincing to win but after that early goal at the second half, you could see Nigeria players begin ti panic.

All the shots Nigeria was throwing at the Tunisia goal post was a wasted effort, go back to the stats I think we only had one on target. We didn't play like a team that had just won all group stage match in the second half of the game. Iwobi red card also contributed to our loss and lastly what was the keeper even thinking in that game, everything was just poorly executed.

[Newlifebtc]

Yes Nigeria had full confidence but shouldn't have gone into the game with that approach.
I play soccer and analyse football with a higher view of it, when you want to win games like that, you looking and wanting for goals should watch your back, your defender's and defensive midfielder has to be on alert always.
Shambolic response to that strike from the goal keeper Okoye.

[Gosgosking]

Nigeria against Tunisia no one  thought that  Nigeria will loose that game ,normally Nigeria has good players than Tunisia,  so everyone were expecting something different.  Not knowing that the Tunisia guys have already studied the strategy of the Tunisia players, and they succeeded in trading Nigeria.

[Desmong]

Nigeria against Tunisia no one  thought that  Nigeria will loose that game ,normally Nigeria has good players than Tunisia,  so everyone were expecting something different.  Not knowing that the Tunisia guys have already studied the strategy of the Tunisia players, and they succeeded in trading Nigeria.

Nigeria started the AFCON match with good spirit but I was quite surprised to see that the team suddenly lost there eagle spirit of dominating and winning matches. No one ever thought that Nigeria would ever lost the match which the blame was on the goalkeeper to not be dexterous enough to save the country from one of their most important match.

[Rruchi man]

Nigeria started the AFCON match with good spirit but I was quite surprised to see that the team suddenly lost there eagle spirit of dominating and winning matches.

Even in the game where Nigeria lost to Tunisia, Nigeria dominated play, they were just the unlucky side of the day, there is no need to push blame around, It sometimes feel like hypocrisy to me, "Everyone is raining praises when they win, but curses and insults when same team looses". The Tunisians understood that the flanks were Nigerias greatest tool, so they covered their flanks very well. The moment the Nigerian coach brought in Iwobi to create chances from the middle, he was sent off, very unlucky. The Tunisians has a moment and took full advantage of it, and then played hard to secure their lead. It was a good game, i don't think the Nigerian team played bad.

[coco23]

Nigeria started the AFCON match with good spirit but I was quite surprised to see that the team suddenly lost there eagle spirit of dominating and winning matches.

Even in the game where Nigeria lost to Tunisia, Nigeria dominated play, they were just the unlucky side of the day, there is no need to push blame around, It sometimes feel like hypocrisy to me, "Everyone is raining praises when they win, but curses and insults when same team looses". The Tunisians understood that the flanks were Nigerias greatest tool, so they covered their flanks very well. The moment the Nigerian coach brought in Iwobi to create chances from the middle, he was sent off, very unlucky. The Tunisians has a moment and took full advantage of it, and then played hard to secure their lead. It was a good game, i don't think the Nigerian team played bad.

But this is one of the appeals of the elimination round. Sometimes you do get a surprising outcome due to luck, surprising goals or tactics and it has a huge influence on the tournament.
In a league where teams are matched to play against all other teams you get a "fairer" result, but on the downside it takes a whole year to find a winner

It is not enough to be the best team to win a tournament like the Africa Cup or the World Cup. (Everybody thought Nigeria is the best team after the first round.)

[Anguwa]

Nigeria against Tunisia no one  thought that  Nigeria will loose that game ,normally Nigeria has good players than Tunisia,  so everyone were expecting something different.  Not knowing that the Tunisia guys have already studied the strategy of the Tunisia players, and they succeeded in trading Nigeria.

Doesn't that sound like the ultimate definition of a lucky game? Almost everyone expected Nigeria to win that match because the Nigerian team possesses the qualities that make them deserving of victory, but the game went the other way. Mind you, if Nigeria had not received a red card, the game would not have ended the way it did because Nigeria could have won the game in 90 minutes, let alone extra time.

[CLS63]

It was a really great tournament first of all. There was a high level of competition among the teams and we saw some surprises happening too. For example, I wouldn't expect Egypt to reach the final round by the game they played. But they were doing one thing very good and that was resisting. They were good at resisting their opponents and carrying their games to the penalty shoot-outs. This helped them eliminate their opponents one by one until the finale. But this tactic didn't work against Senegal. Actually, they managed to carry the game to the penalties again but this time they were the losing side. And I believe that it was a deserved title for Senegal certainly.

[borovichok]

Nigeria against Tunisia no one  thought that  Nigeria will loose that game ,normally Nigeria has good players than Tunisia,  so everyone were expecting something different.  Not knowing that the Tunisia guys have already studied the strategy of the Tunisia players, and they succeeded in trading Nigeria.

Nigeria started the AFCON match with good spirit but I was quite surprised to see that the team suddenly lost there eagle spirit of dominating and winning matches. No one ever thought that Nigeria would ever lost the match which the blame was on the goalkeeper to not be dexterous enough to save the country from one of their most important match.

I think the red card was the cause of the defects of the super eagles in the tournament. They underestimate the Tunisians and they pay for it.if they had meet a team like Egypt they would have won because they are household name they would have been more serious.

[Iranus]

Nigeria against Tunisia no one  thought that  Nigeria will loose that game ,normally Nigeria has good players than Tunisia,  so everyone were expecting something different.  Not knowing that the Tunisia guys have already studied the strategy of the Tunisia players, and they succeeded in trading Nigeria.

Nigeria started the AFCON match with good spirit but I was quite surprised to see that the team suddenly lost there eagle spirit of dominating and winning matches. No one ever thought that Nigeria would ever lost the match which the blame was on the goalkeeper to not be dexterous enough to save the country from one of their most important match.

I think the red card was the cause of the defects of the super eagles in the tournament. They underestimate the Tunisians and they pay for it.if they had meet a team like Egypt they would have won because they are household name they would have been more serious.

I totally agree with you. After their outstanding performance on the group stage, they considered the Tunisian team a weak opponent. And the Nigerian players were overconfident in this match. Players must be confident, but overconfidence is never good. And this is why Nigeria has been defeated.

[CryptocurencyKing]

Nigeria against Tunisia no one  thought that  Nigeria will loose that game ,normally Nigeria has good players than Tunisia,  so everyone were expecting something different.  Not knowing that the Tunisia guys have already studied the strategy of the Tunisia players, and they succeeded in trading Nigeria.

Doesn't that sound like the ultimate definition of a lucky game? Almost everyone expected Nigeria to win that match because the Nigerian team possesses the qualities that make them deserving of victory, but the game went the other way. Mind you, if Nigeria had not received a red card, the game would not have ended the way it did because Nigeria could have won the game in 90 minutes, let alone extra time.

It is funny how you think that Tunisia won that game on luck. There are so many factors that determine how a team plays. It is no doubt that the Nigerian squad were loaded with players. But the right strategy and competition experience wins and makes a a team move to the next stage in a tournament like that. You should ask yourself why Equatorial Guinea stayed up so long despite the poor officiating against them. Tunisia were just a good team in this Afcon. They were very relaxed playing Nigeria and were not rushing to attack. They let Nigeria rumble around and were just unproductive. Most times the right experience matters, they needed only a goal and that was all.