International clubs are on the lookout for fresh African talent and local players are not leaving anything to chance as they give their all to impress the scouts – a trend that does not auger well with the tournament’s presumed darlings

It has been a season in which football fans simply go gaga. For all the right reasons. “I have my money on Senegal because they have unarguably the best all-round team this time round and because they are Senegal,” said Joe Oloo, a Kenyan soccer fun who was remarkably confident about who will triumph at the end of the Equatorial Guinea vs Senegal match. He lost kshs10,000 and his team was the first to be bundled out of the tourney after losing two consecutive games in a row. Another fan, wagered kshs3,000 against the Elephants of Ivory Coast, hoping that after the tournament favorites’ dismal performance in their first match against Sudan, they would lose. He lost.

It is fast, if not already, becoming clear to many fans of the ongoing African nations cup that to some degree, relying on only historical results to gauge a team’s performance can be problematic in a knockout tournament structure where many local football stars have something to prove to the many international club-level emissaries who flock to the tournament scouting for fresh football talent. And where most teams are playing in unfamiliar an environment.  That Sudan, who after winning the Nations Cup on home soil in 1970 suffered a 32-year absence from the finals, could put up a struggle against the Ivorians, was unimaginable.

And the Teranga Lions, packed with European-based players boasting of Champions League experience, were and still are shell-shocked after being trudged – twice, consecutively - by a largely unknown Zambia and co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, who are 108 places below them in world rankings.

Despite winning all their first encounters and clinching a quarterfinal spot, Ivory Coast has failed to hit the heights expected of a team packed with players who are idolised in the English Premier League.  The Elephants struggled against lowly-ranked Falcons of Sudan in their first match only to be saved by a first-half Didier Drogba header in the 39^th minute – and afterwards receiving criticism that the players were too accustomed to being pampered back at their European clubs.

Sudan, on the second match of the biennial tourney, went ahead to end a 36-year Africa nations cup draw as they came from behind twice to  level with Angola, another fitting team that has failed to live up to its expectations in the competition. The upsets leave many wondering if at all from now on; teams would be branded “favourites” or “largely tipped” to win any tournaments. Because as it is, embryonic teams are playing like they have everything to lose and pulling fast ones on teams considered ‘legendries.’   This is as challenging as it gets for the scouts.

Ghana’s hitman Asamoah Gyan has also reportedly confessed that their win against the Zebras of Botswana in their opening group game had a lot to do with luck. For the Teranga Lions, one of three African teams to ever make it to the quarter finals of a World Cup, the only objective left was to salvage some pride in their final match against Libya. But they threw away the opportunity giving the Mediterranean Knights’ a terrific end to what has been an enthralling campaign for them after they registered the very first victory at the Nations Cup since hosting the tournament in 1982 and also the very first victory ever at a Nations Cup on foreign soil.

So now, Senegal head home without a point – a most embarrassing exit for a team of such caliber. Senegal’s two sequential defeats earned Equatorial Guinea, Africa’s third smallest country, a ticket to the quarterfinals and an increasing chance for Ivory Coast to win the event. Equatorial Guinea later helped Zambia book a place in the quarters after they went down 1-0. Zambia’s win very much helped them avoid the potential prospect of meeting top seeded Ivory Coast in the next round.

The other knockout phase rests between Angola and Sudan, who drew 2-2 in their last meeting, with the Black Antelopes holding a three-point advantage going into the final group stages.  Other than Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast, six teams are largely expected to make it to the last eight – Angola, Tunisia, Zambia, Ghana, Gabon and Mali.

It is still unclear whether Equatorial Guinea, who started-off their winning campaign with fast calculated solid goals, will make it as far as the semi-finals if the President’s son decides to say no to the gratuity linked to their wins. But they are on home soil and the idea of another team winning the trophy on their backyard does not at all reverberate melodious tunes to them.

For the Elephants, they are already past a crucial stage where realising a defeat would have meant a fifth consecutive first round exit from the tournament. The four-time African champs, the Black stars, are hungry for a win as they also seek to put an end to a 30-year long wait to a title they last won in 1982. This reduces the title contenders to three: the Elephants, the Black Stars and by far, Equatorial Guinea with regards to the level of skill and experience required of a winning team. Let us sit back, watch and wait!

By RONALD BERA