Sports
AFCON 2013: 46 Days To Go
In 46 days’ time South Africa will host the Africa Cup of Nations, two years and seven months after they became the first African country to provide the stage for the World Cup.
South Africa received high praise for the success of the 2010 tournament and for its construction of several new world-class stadia, and was awarded the 2017 Nations Cup.
Then 14 months ago, the plan to host the 2013 edition of the tournament in Libya fell apart after civil war broke out in the country, leading to the death of Muammar Gaddafi – and South Africa stepped in.
Fifteen nations are soon to arrive for the 29th edition of the tournament, which will be played between 19 January and 10 February. Is South Africa ready?
“We are comfortable with plans that have been put into place, in terms of details and operational execution,” said Mvuzo Mbebe, chief executive officer of the local organising committee.
But he conceded “there’s been a lot of fair criticism that people have not seen enough branding around various cities” and promised that visibility will increase shortly.
The government has allocated 452 million rand (£32 million) to the tournament, of which 83 million rand (£5.8 million) has been assigned to the organising committee. The rest will go to the beautification of host cities and to national departments for logistical costs.
While the World Cup averaged 49,000 spectators per game, and 93 per cent of tickets were sold, filling stadia for Africa Cup of Nations matches has historically proved a much harder task.
Earlier this year, in Equatorial Guinea, only 200 fans were present for the quarter-final between eventual champions Zambia and Sudan in Bata. The 2013 organising committee made ticket sales its number one priority, and in phase one of their campaign they sold 20,000 – double their original target.
The demographic of South Africa’s population has helped, too. The Ethiopian Football Association has requested 15,000 tickets to accommodate their fans as they compete in a major tournament for the first time in 30 years.
Champions Zambia are expecting to sell 10,000 tickets to their followers.
South Africa president Jacob Zuma says hosting the tournament will be “a timely reflection on the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which we hosted successfully with the support of the African continent”.
In a nation where half the population live below the poverty line, tickets have been priced sensibly, with fans able to watch two games for 45 Rand ($5) – since 1978, group matches have been played as double headers in the same stadium.
For a tournament that wasn’t televised until the mid-1980s, the growth has been impressive.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) says, cumulatively, the 32 matches in the 2012 tournament were watched by 6.6 billion people, providing 87,072 hours of television exposure to sponsors.
It’s one thing being good party hosts, but can South Africa perform on the pitch in 2013?
Some see similarities to the 1996 tournament, which South Africa hosted and won only two years after the free elections that saw Nelson Mandela become president.
Hosting the World Cup and now the Nations Cup is seen by many as a watershed moment, the crest of a wave that Bafana Bafana can ride all the way to the final in Johannesburg.
To lift the trophy for a second time South Africa will have to overcome some of the traditional powerhouses of African football.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has said that the Premier League leaders must win trophies if they were to be remembered like the “Invincibles” side that last won the title for the Gunners in 2004.
Arsene Wenger’s side romped to the title 22 years ago without losing a single league game.
Arsenal headede into last night’s clash at home to reigning champions Liverpool with a five-point lead at the top of the table after Manchester City and Aston Villa dropped points against Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace, respectively on Wednesday.
Arteta’s men, runners-up for the past three seasons, have two more points and four more goals than Wenger’s ‘Invincibles’ managed after 20 games.
But the Spaniard said those stats matter little unless Arsenal go on to win the league.
“No, because ‘the Invincibles’ won a lot,” Arteta told his pre-match press conference on whether his side can be considered better than Arsenal’s last title winners.
“They won consistently, and they created a history and a legacy, and we have to do that.”
The lone major piece of silverware won by Arsenal in six years under Arteta remains the 2020 FA Cup
“There are a lot of stats, but in the last two or three years we have managed more points and more goals than ever before. But at the end, we have to translate that to major trophies,” he added.
“Probably doing what we are doing now would have been enough (in 2004), but now it’s not, and we have to make the margins even bigger.”
Arsenal lost 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield back in August in what was billed as an early showdown between title rivals.
The defending champions headed to the Emirates 14 points off the top after a difficult second season for Arne Slot, but Arteta insisted the Reds remain a superb side.
The Gunners were without sidelined defenders Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera but were“monitoring the load” on Kai Havertz as the Germany forward intensified his training while continuing to recover from a long-term leg injury.
Nigeria sharpshooters Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman will provide a stern test to the flawless record of Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane, a son of French football icon Zinedine Zidane, in the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in Morocco.
Zidane is the only first-choice goalkeeper amongst the eight quarter-finalists to have kept a clean sheet in all of his tournament matches so far, but the task facing him in Marrakesh tomorrow will not be easy.
Former African player of the year award-winners Osimhen and Lookman have tormented defences during the tournament, scoring three goals each.
Zidane, 27, kept clean sheets in group matches against Sudan and Burkina Faso before being rested against Equatorial Guinea.
He was recalled for a last-16 clash with the Democratic Republic of Congo and once again was unbeaten during a dramatic extra-time victory.
Former Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, his Spanish wife and another son have been among the crowds in each match Luca played for the Desert Foxes.
“It is special when your family come to watch,” said Luca Zidane, who began his career with Real Madrid B in 2016 and now plays for Spanish second-tier side Granada.
Born in France, Zidane represented his country of birth at five age-limit levels. Under FIFA rules he could also play for Spain or Algeria, where his grandparents were born.
Zidane chose Algeria, debuting in a 2026 World Cup qualifying victory over Uganda last November and, when an injury ruled first choice Alexis Guendoez out of the AFCON, he was promoted.
“I am proud to represent Algeria and play in the Africa Cup of Nations. It is a great experience,” he told reporters.
“I try to be myself, to build my career on my terms, step by step,” he said.
Algeria have been an AFCON bogey team for Nigeria, winning four and drawing two of nine meetings, including a 5-1 drubbing of the Super Eagles en route to winning the 1990 tournament at home. But the current Super Eagles appear to be in the mood to get this one over the Algerians.
The Desert Foxes have put successive group-stage exits behind them under Bosnian coach Vladimir Petkovic and substitute Adil Boulbina unleashed a thunderbolt to eliminate DR Congo.
Nigeria are the 12-goal leading scorers in Morocco with Osimhen, Lookman and Akor Adams forming a potent frontline.
But coach Eric Chelle will be concerned that the three-time champions have conceded four, the most among the eight title hopefuls.
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has said that the club would sell captain Marc Guehi this month if his asking price is met.
The England defender is out of contract in the summer and Manchester City have emerged as contenders to sign him during the January transfer window.
Palace blocked a proposed £35m move to Liverpool last summer but risk losing the 25-year-old for nothing at the end of the season.
City’s interest in Guehi has progressed following injuries to defenders Josko Gvardiol and Ruben Dias during Sunday’s draw against Chelsea.
“I’m not naive,” said Glasner, as reported by Tidesports source. “If a massive offer comes from City and Marc wants to do it, it will happen.”
Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid are among the European clubs to have shown an interest in signing Guehi on a free transfer, and he can sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club from this month.
“If you’re just valuing sports, everyone in the club will say Marc has to stay,” Glasner added. “The chairman will tell you the same. But it’s not one-dimensional. If you see the financial situation, it’s very important.
“If somebody comes, there will be a moment when the club says ‘now the financial issue is more important than the sports issue’.
“There will be a threshold where the club has to say it will happen, as long as Marc says ‘I want to leave’, because the final decision is always with the player.”
Guehi helped Palace finish 12th last season and win the FA Cup to qualify for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
The Eagles then won the Community Shield in August, beating Premier League champions Liverpool on penalties, and are 14th in the table and through to the knockout phase play-offs in the Uefa Conference League.
“The chairman rejected many offers in the summer because we want to play a successful season and wanted to win the Community Shield,” Glasner added. “Therefore, Marc is important, and then he rejected the offer.
“The threshold at that time, the money we got offered was not above it. Maybe it was close, but it was not above.”