The Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco is now at the round of 16. Eight nations including Uganda have been eliminated after 34 matches played in the group stages.
The knockout matches start on Saturday but already, the tournament has offered plenty of big moments that are unlikely forgotten on and off the pitch.
Motsepe announcement on change of cycle to four years
A day before the opening match, Caf president Patrice Motsepe broke the news that the Afcon cycle will change from two years to four. The decision has since received mixed feelings with Mali coach Tom Saintfiet and Egypt’s Hossam Hassan openly criticizing the move.
Those against it feel Motsepe is driven by UEFA and FIFA interests and not an African decision saying it is killing the culture of the continent while those in support cite alignment with other confederations.
The weather
There has always been a call to change the dates from January to July for the Afcon tournaments but Africa has different weather conditions. In Morocco at the moment, it is winter and the rains fall every day.
Fortunately, most stadia have covered stands and this hasn’t affected the fans inside but no denying that it has hit especially the travelling fans hard.
World class pitches
Despite the heavy rains, the pitches in Morocco have steadily remained playable.
This has not only impressed the watching world but the coaches and players too have enjoyed the quality of the surfaces that have surely allowed flow of the game.
Research reveals that the sub air technology used is the reason there are no signs of waterlogging. No puddles appeared, the ball has kept rolling normally, play has gone on without interruptions, and the pitch handled the heavy rain perfectly throughout the games.
The football
Managers for years in International Football would stress ‘there’s no easy games.’ While you’re still get the likes of Botswana, rocking up at Afcon, not one country has made up the numbers in Morocco.
The lower ranked nations at this Afcon will feel they are closing the gap. Mozambique won their first ever match at the tournament in 17th matches beating Pierre Aubameyang’s Gabon.
Tanzania got past the group stages for the first time (bizarrely have done that without winning a game) and an Afcon win remains elusive for them in 12 matches.
You could also argue that Mozambique, outside of hosts Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Egypt and Algeria have played the best football. The gap is closing.
The Fans
Without doubt, the fans have lit up stands in most of the matches especially in Rabat.
The numbers reveal that matches involving Morocco have been the most watched with a total attendance of 729,240 recorded in 36 matches played so far.
Best match
The tournament has so far served us with exciting matches and it is hard to pick one particular one.
However, the 1-1 draw between champions Ivory Coast and five-time winners Cameroon probably stands out as it had everything.
From the matches I was at, the Algeria one nil win over Burkina Faso was also a great spectacle as was the 3-0 win for hosts against Morocco.
Best goal
Without any doubt, Ayoub El Kaabi’s second goal against Comoros stands out.
First, he was involved in the build up and then as he raced towards the six-yard area, back to goal, his acrobatically volleys home.
Besides that, Amad Diallo also got a good goal against Cameroon and Geny Catamo’s curler versus the Indomitable Lions as well were good goals.
Most impressive player
So far, the big names have impressed. From Riyad Mahrez, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo to Brahim Diaz who for me is the probably the best player of the tournament so far.
The Real Madrid man has carried the Atlas Lions on own back even with the team working as a unit, Diaz has stood out.
Least impressive player
Because of his profile, Aubameyang was supposed to lead Gabon out of the group but the Panthers leave without a win at the tournament.
Goals
Fans go to stadia to watch goals and they have not been in short supply at the tournament with nearly all matches producing a goal save for the two matches out of 36 so far; Zambia vs Comoros, Egypt vs Angola that ended in goals.
87 goals have been scored, averaging 2.42 per match and hopefully, we get served the goals in the knockout phases.
