Large Adepoju / imago images / Shengolpixs
Looking together: “I’d like to, but shift work in particular”
The most beautiful was the flick flack. Hervé Koffi, the keeper of Burkina Faso, did it five times after his team converted the 18th penalty to 7-6 against Gabon in the round of 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations last Sunday. Star striker Bertrand Traoré made it 1-0 in the 28th minute before Gabon equalized in the 92nd minute. Tunisia are waiting for the Burkinabe in the quarter-finals, which then prevailed 1-0 against the favored »Super Eagles« from Nigeria.
The next day, the 33rd Africa Cup was overshadowed by a mass panic that officially claimed eight dead and 38 injured. Ahead of hosts Cameroon’s round of 16 against Comoros, thousands tried to get to the Stade d’Olembé in the capital Yaoundé without tickets. Patrice Motsepe, President of the African Football Confederation CAF, has called for an official report by this Friday. Before the last Africa Cup of Nations in 2019, FIFA had withdrawn Cameroon from the tournament because of unsafe stadiums.
The ball kept rolling as Cameroon advanced to the quarter-finals on Monday after beating Comoros 2-1. Taking part in the tournament itself was a sensation for the Comoros. Coach Amir Abdou had scoured the lower French leagues for Comorian players and put together an eleven. The »Coelacanths« progressed as the fourth-best third of the group stage. Against Cameroon, a field player with Chaker Alhadhur had to be eliminated – they were badly hit by the corona.
The Africa Cup has been running since January 9th. But where are you watching that if nothing is broadcast freely? “On the net, I’ll send you a link,” said an Egyptian-born teammate during Monday training, “Comments in Arabic.” The next call was to our old neighbor from Cameroon, back in 2002 we had won the lions’ tournament together (3:2 i. E. against Senegal). “I’d like that, but shift work in particular.” The next question is for the Jansen editorial office. Olaf Jansen from Cologne wrote the guide to the tournament: “History and stories from the biggest football festival on the African continent,” is the subtitle, nice outline, nice anecdotes. Unfortunately, watching together didn’t work out.
For the time being, short recordings had to do: goals, celebrations, video evidence. So into the “Liverpool duel”: Sadio Mané (Senegal) against Naby Keita (Guinea), preliminary round match, a 0-0 of the better kind. Against Zimbabwe, Mané scored the lucky punch for the »Teranga-Löwen« in the 98th minute, the one goal was enough for the round of 16 after a 0-0 draw against Malawi. It was Mané again who put the ball under the bar to make it 1-0 against Cape Verde. When the “Blue Sharks” were decimated after two controversial red boxes, Bamba Dieng made it 2-0 in the 93rd minute. Meanwhile, Guinea went sloppy in the round of 16 against surprise winner Gambia – Musa Barrow (71st) saved the “Scorpions” with a left-footed shot to make it 1-0 in the tournament. Meanwhile, the favorites prevailed against Malawi (2-1) in Morocco. Although the »Flamen« advanced with a 40-metre shot by Gabadinho Mhango, the »Atlas Löwen« restored order in good time: After the 1-1, superstar Achraf Hakimi circled a free kick from 25 meters to the right in the 70th minute in the crease.
On Wednesday evening, two live broadcasts opened up online and each time the score was 0:0 in the extra time. Côte d’Ivoire and Egypt open eyes: The Ivorians were close but after 120 minutes without a goal it was up to Mo Salah to give the country of the pharaohs a fifth penalty. Late in the evening, the »Eagle« from Mali, who had been traded as the secret favourite, had to bow out against Equatorial Guinea (5:6 on penalties). The extension an unfortunate kick. Worth seeing afterwards: the Patenka penalty – yes, those are the lobbed ones – by Carlos Akapo.
It should be added: With Algeria, a defending champion was once again eliminated without a hitch. All the more painful as the anti-colonial history is forever linked to the »Desert Foxes«: from 1958 the selection acted for four years as the kicking leg of the liberation movement FLN before becoming the official Algerian team.
And today’s European behavior? In the mother countries of colonialism, people are upset that they have to turn off players. While regional league club Rot-Weiss Koblenz can get over the release of Gambian goalkeeper Baboucarr Gaye if the winter break lasts, Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp was not amused by this “small tournament”. He “didn’t mean to insult the continent,” he should apologize.
Now it is up to the »Étalons« (stallions) from Burkina Faso, whose anti-colonial history and worthy name (»land of honest people«) are closely linked to President Thomas Sankara, who was assassinated in 1987, to fly the flag. So go ahead, Hervé, give us the flick flack again.
