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

[diderdrogba]

I enjoyed the AFCON this season. Senegal were the most impressive team and it was a good achievement by Egypt to qualify for the final stage. Salah played a good role in this success too even though they weren't able to become the champions at the end. Senegal had a much stronger lineup than all of their opponents. And when it reflected on the performances of the players too, they won the title as a result. By the way, the game for being the third in the tournament was also great. Cameroon made an unbelievable comeback against Burkina Faso from 3-0 to 3-3. And they won after penalties. What a game it was!

[KTChampions]

I agree, this is a fair victory, especially if you remember that this is the fourth African Cup final for Senegal and they lost in the previous three. Unfortunately, the final was not as enchanting as the match for third place, but in general I am satisfied. And yes, Senegal is one of the few teams that showed an adequate and interesting game throughout the championship, so the first place is deserved for them.

Senegal's performance throughout the tournament was excellent. On the other hand, Egypt's luck was very good so they reached the final. The whole party is dependent on Salah. And their game strategy is very bad. They play a lot of defensive. Which is very annoying to enjoy. I like the gameplay and performance of teams like Cameroon and Senegal in comparison.

As long as these defensive strategies are successful (and Egypt have been successful reaching the finals and if they were more fortunate they could even take the gold) many teams will use them. On the one hand, this is bad because I don’t like dull football, but on the other hand, the variety of strategies is good and it is often interesting to watch how bright attacking teams collide with “hard nuts” who prefer defensive strategies.

[gantez]

I enjoyed the AFCON this season. Senegal were the most impressive team and it was a good achievement by Egypt to qualify for the final stage. Salah played a good role in this success too even though they weren't able to become the champions at the end. Senegal had a much stronger lineup than all of their opponents. And when it reflected on the performances of the players too, they won the title as a result. By the way, the game for being the third in the tournament was also great. Cameroon made an unbelievable comeback against Burkina Faso from 3-0 to 3-3. And they won after penalties. What a game it was!

I also thinking here that the current Senegal team may become the best that has produced for a long time. The team is filled with young and youthful players and handling the team is a young coach. The game saw some young teams too like the Burkina Faso also. Burkina Faso lost focus and allowed equaliser with Cameroon and finally losing out such painful time for them. It would be more painful if Cameroon beat Egypt and Senegal to get to the trophy at last but it doesn't happen.

[BITCOIN4X]

As long as these defensive strategies are successful (and Egypt have been successful reaching the finals and if they were more fortunate they could even take the gold) many teams will use them. On the one hand, this is bad because I don’t like dull football, but on the other hand, the variety of strategies is good and it is often interesting to watch how bright attacking teams collide with “hard nuts” who prefer defensive strategies.

Based on the statistics I believe Senegal had a better game than Egypt, but for the final it is true that without a goal until the second half ended it was boring. I don't like defensive play from the first half to the whole game because it's the most boring strategy I've ever seen. I prefer both teams to play open and attack each other even though in the end the goal is also not scored.

Senegal were lucky to win this title after scoring a goal in the penalty shoot-out and beating Egypt 4-2. I think that's what they deserved after two halves of not scoring. Congratulations to Senegal, that must have been nice and worth celebrating.

[Boristhecat]

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?

If we compare this tournament with the previous African Cups, then it is probably more or less good (simply due to the fact that everything gets better with time). But if we compare this tournament with the recent European Championship, then of course the difference is huge. There are many questions in refereeing, to the organizers, to the safety of the tournament. Let's hope that the organizers will draw conclusions and by the next African Cup we will see significant improvements in all these issues.

[gabbie2010]

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.

The red card awarded to Iwobi when he was Introduced into the match has no any effect on the Nigerian team they dominated afterward infact Sadiq their main striker had some chances but very unlucky, that is football for you the underdog won the match against the well predicted Nigerian side, the Egyptian team that Nigeria defeated in their first match made it to the finals that shows that football matches are somehow unpredictable in certain occasions especially in the just concluded AFCON.

[Maestro75]

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?

There is improvement in this concluded AFCON eventhough it had a shaky start but the end justified it. To successfully host a tournament of that magnitude in Africa and bring it to a conclusion with an applause is something to cheer. In addition to that I like the water bottle discovery of listed Senegalese players by the Egyptian goalkeeper and the way those players were expected to take their penalties. I like that level of preparation by the goalkeeper. Those who term it cheating are not correct. It is preparation.

[judas]

The AFCON was really great for Senegal and Egypt especially. Maybe Egypt couldn't win the championship but they still must be contented with their general performance in this tournament. They reached the finale while they weren't seen as the favourite against some of their opponents. This is a really good achievement. And when it comes to Senegal, they were just great. It was a big pleasure for me to watch them here. They already had a big advantage of having very qualified players at their squad but their performance also was marvelous. I assume that nearly nobody would object to their title as they deserved it.

[ropyu1978]

I enjoyed the AFCON this season. Senegal were the most impressive team and it was a good achievement by Egypt to qualify for the final stage. Salah played a good role in this success too even though they weren't able to become the champions at the end. Senegal had a much stronger lineup than all of their opponents. And when it reflected on the performances of the players too, they won the title as a result. By the way, the game for being the third in the tournament was also great. Cameroon made an unbelievable comeback against Burkina Faso from 3-0 to 3-3. And they won after penalties. What a game it was!

The Egyptian national team was defeated by Senegal in the African Cup of Nations final, which was in the public spotlight. Moh Salah didn't have a chance to take a penalty kick, maybe Egypt will take their revenge in the third round of World Cup qualifiers, because this is a life and death match between the two countries, because the winner of the match can already it is certain to qualify for Qatar, while the losers must be patient and can only be loyal spectators, the world cup qualifiers will be held from March 23 to 29, maybe this will be a revenge event for Moh Salah and his friends to Senegal.

[snipie]

The AFCON was really great for Senegal and Egypt especially. Maybe Egypt couldn't win the championship but they still must be contented with their general performance in this tournament. They reached the finale while they weren't seen as the favourite against some of their opponents. This is a really good achievement. And when it comes to Senegal, they were just great. It was a big pleasure for me to watch them here. They already had a big advantage of having very qualified players at their squad but their performance also was marvelous. I assume that nearly nobody would object to their title as they deserved it.

I remember Egyptians were upset about their national team and the coach in the first games and it was hard to predict they could make it to the finals but they did it with some difficulties. I believe they played the most in term of duration in this Cup with less time to rest comparing to the other teams. Overall both Senegal and Egypt played well and Senegal made their first trophy which was a good achievement!

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament

The battle might have been won by Senegal but the war just began as Egypt and senagal (Mo Salah and Mane) will be facing each other again for who gets the slots at Qatar for the 2022 world cup. Only 5 team will be representing Africa and from the nations above, who are the teams you think will be a good pick for the world cup?

We have some strong nations playing against themselves so obviously the strongest are going to be representing Africa. What do you think about Africa nations on world stages like the world cup tournament and any prediction of some progress this time around?.

[SirLancelot]

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.

Every game could be "luck", even if you have the greatest team in the entire world, some luck wouldn't hurt. Considering Nigeria didn't really play all that well, and Tunisia played their usual self, it was expected to have a result like this. The best version of Nigerian team could easily beat Tunisia, we have seen them be awesome many many times, but sometimes teams just do not their best.

This could be considered as a way to gain experience and sometimes even the best teams have bad games and this was one of them for Nigeria and nothing more. Obviously if they played 10 games, I would wager Nigeria to be winners 5+ times. Tunisia also played with the similar roster for a while now and this allowed them to be a lot better than expected, having the same tactics with the same players is not something national teams get to do too frequently.

[Retro Harmony]

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.

Tunisia also had a not bad squad quality.  However, they could not go any further.  There will be two teams that will be remembered in this tournament.  The first is Senegal, which is the champion.  second place is Burkina Faso, which finished in fourth place (they were almost third).  I congratulate both the champion Senegal and Burkina Faso.  It was a good tournament.

[Wiwo]

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.

Tunisia also had a not bad squad quality.  However, they could not go any further.  There will be two teams that will be remembered in this tournament.  The first is Senegal, which is the champion.  second place in Burkina Faso, which finished in fourth place (they were almost third).  I congratulate both the champion Senegal and Burkina Faso.  It was a good tournament.

Senegal team will be remembered for long not because they are the trophy holder alone, but also because of it the first time to hold the cup and one thing that also got my attention to the Senegal team is they coach I learned he has being coaching the team for eight years now and this is the first time since that eight to carry cup, this speaks deep how the country football body is willing to build a strong national team and their effort paid off in the just concluded AFCON game. No one expected the Senegal team to even make it to the finals but miraculously they carry the cup.

[snipie]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament

The results of this qualification games will be different than the previous Cup.
Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria to qualify imo. Tunisia might get a chance also if it performs good against Mali. Well this is my first impression, things could change until then.

[Juggy777]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament

The results of this qualification games will be different than the previous Cup.
Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria to qualify imo. Tunisia might get a chance also if it performs good against Mali. Well this is my first impression, things could change until then.

@snipe I was expecting Egypt to win the cup, but Senegal showed great resilience and won and therefore I expect them to beat Egypt again in the qualifying rounds. Furthermore the only way Egypt will win with ease if Salah completely dominates the fixtures, but if he’s not at his best then I don’t think that Egypt will win.

[gantez]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament

The results of this qualification games will be different than the previous Cup.
Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria to qualify imo. Tunisia might get a chance also if it performs good against Mali. Well this is my first impression, things could change until then.

@snipe I was expecting Egypt to win the cup, but Senegal showed great resilience and won and therefore I expect them to beat Egypt again in the qualifying rounds. Furthermore the only way Egypt will win with ease if Salah completely dominates the fixtures, but if he’s not at his best then I don’t think that Egypt will win.

No I don't think so that Egypt will defeat the Senegal team from the final match played. The Senegal was better than Egypt on the match. They missed much chances. The team has grown to be better over last 8 years. The qualification to world cup is another to be a taste again for the two teams.

[swogerino]

The final game was a final and both teams gave 100% and the game was decided in penalties,in the World Cup qualifiers if two teams draw they each get 1 point and that can be dangerous to the qualifying campaign of such teams.I think the teams who will value more the qualification will play hard to win the game and of course leaving space behind which they can be punished by doing so but I don't see any other valid alternative to this than attacking and attacking until they get the three points.

[Marykeller]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament

The battle might have been won by Senegal but the war just began as Egypt and senagal (Mo Salah and Mane) will be facing each other again for who gets the slots at Qatar for the 2022 world cup. Only 5 team will be representing Africa and from the nations above, who are the teams you think will be a good pick for the world cup?

We have some strong nations playing against themselves so obviously the strongest are going to be representing Africa. What do you think about Africa nations on world stages like the world cup tournament and any prediction of some progress this time around?.

The world cup qualification for African nations will not be an easy one for each of the nations. What happened in AFCON can happen again, leaving everyone speechless of the results gotten.
All the same, am expecting Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Tunisia and Egypt to come out strong to represent Africa in the world cup in Qatar 2022

[KTChampions]

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
Tournament

The battle might have been won by Senegal but the war just began as Egypt and senagal (Mo Salah and Mane) will be facing each other again for who gets the slots at Qatar for the 2022 world cup. Only 5 team will be representing Africa and from the nations above, who are the teams you think will be a good pick for the world cup?

We have some strong nations playing against themselves so obviously the strongest are going to be representing Africa. What do you think about Africa nations on world stages like the world cup tournament and any prediction of some progress this time around?.

Considering the overall level of the World Cup, which is quite low (relative to the European Championship), we can say that there are several strong teams in Africa that are able to overcome the group stage. Well, then it all depends on the opponent and luck.
By the way, I understand that these are different tournaments, but why not automatically give a ticket to the team that won the African Cup?