First things first: the best team won. Many, including myself, dismissed Egypt’s chances of defending their crown because of a ropey qualifying campaign and because they lost a number of important players from their 2006 squad. But the Pharaohs showed that their domestic league continues to cultivate quality footballers.
Guinea go into their must-win African Nations Cup game against Namibia on Monday rocked by star player Pascal Feindouno’s two-match ban. Namibia’s own build-up has been overshadowed to this make or break Group A match by the players’ claims they were offered 000 each to throw the game.
Guinea brought more drama to the Africa Cup of Nations on Thursday with a shock 3-2 win over Morocco while hosts Ghana struggled to beat rank outsiders Namibia 1-0. Pascal Feindouno scored twice for Guinea before being sent off for stamping on an opponent in a bad-tempered match.
Namibia had already been dismissed as the no-hopers of the 2008 African Nations Cup. Just qualifying stunned African football followers who confidently predicted that traditionally strong Democratic Republic of Congo and emerging force Libya would slug it out for Group 10 honours.
