An Afcon to remember!

The 2023 edition of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), held in Cote d’Ivoire, will surely go down in the history books as one of the best that we have ever witnessed since the inception of the biennial tournament in 1957. It has been action-packed from day one, with several upsets, not to mention records set and broken.

The so-called small countries have been on a serious mission to make a strong case for themselves and prove that they deserve much more respect. From the very onset, a number of teams and individual players stole the limelight and made it clear that they were not in Ivory Coast just to add numbers or watch the ‘big guns’ do as they please. They are surely not letting anyone walk all over them. One must admit that there is massive improvement in the overall organisation of the tournament, the performance on the field, the attendance figures, officiating, broadcasting, more sponsors, more money and incentives, pretty much everything has been on another level. Compared to previous editions, everything has been of good and high-quality standard so far. Another feather on CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe and his team’s cap for continuously doing a great job since he assumed the office at CAF. Truth be told, ever since the South African billionaire took charge of the 6th of October, Giza, Egypt-based headquarters, there’s hardly been any negative stories about the Confederation of African Football, something almost unheard of in the history of African football. The name of the biggest football body in the continent has almost always been dragged through the mud and associated with more wrongs than rights. This is one office that many believed was occupied by people who didn’t have the best interests of continental football at heart. Certainly not a good observation for the highest football office in the continent and the link between Africa and the rest of the world at FIFA. A lot of good is now happening at CAF and, just as much as we were always ready to point out the shenanigans, we definitely need the same energy to highlight the good that they’ve been doing.

The increased prize money has really gone a long way in restoring the pride and dignity of African football. Now, everyone has been showing more respect and interest in the tournament. Teams have prepared thoroughly because they all know a lot is at stake. This shows on the field of play because the performances have been wonderful for everyone to watch. This has been an enjoyable edition of Afcon because you just can’t afford to blink. There are a number of improvements one has noticed because, unlike in the past, one can’t even predict the outcome. There were teams that were always seen as favourites and they would go out there and dominate, proving everyone right for giving them the favourites’ tag. However, that can’t be said about this year’s edition. Who would have thought that teams like Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea, for instance, would be some of the first to record their spots in the knockout stages?

Who would have predicted that the host nation, Ivory Coast, and Algeria would be spending nights with their calculators, trying to figure out if they would mathematically make it among the four best third-placed teams in the tournament? Some of the powerhouses of African football, at the time of penning this piece, were not even sure whether to book their flights back home or their stay would continue in the West African country. Who, in their right mind, would have predicted that Egypt, the most successful team in the tournament with seven titles, would only collect three points from their three group stage matches and finish second to Verde? Who would have known that Tunisia would have been out of the knockout race after just two games played, as they only collected one point from a draw against Mali? Anyone who would have predicted that Namibia would get their first-ever Afcon win against Tunisia would have been laughed at by everyone.

There have been a number of surprises, pleasant surprises at that, and this goes to show the growth and improvement of football in our continent. One can’t really put a finger on whether it is the top teams dropping the standard or the bottom teams pushing themselves up to close the gap between them and the top guns. Based on what we have seen so far, one is tempted to admit that it does look like it is the lower teams pushing their way up and closing the gap rather than their top counterparts dropping the standard. Something is definitely happening and we are all here for it. We can’t deny the fact that this has been an Afcon to remember so far! It has been wonderful to watch and has given us every kind of emotion you can think of. Ghana failing to win a single game and getting booted out of the group stages with a mere two points from two draws is one of the tournament upsets. When the draw was conducted, Cameroon, Ghana, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire and Algeria were among the top teams seen as favourites to make it past their group with ease, but this edition of Afcon proved almost everyone wrong. Surely not many would have predicted that some of these top countries would depend on other teams’ results favouring them in order to even reach the best third-placed spot.

Egypt, despite all the continental football dominance, have Mozambique to thank for their qualification, as The Mambas eliminated Ghana through a 2-2 draw in their last game and effectively ruled out any chances of the Black Stars progressing, while they opened the way for The Pharaohs. This tournament has been full of surprises and edge-of-theseat moments because most of the games have been end-to-end stuff. There has hardly been any boring game and almost everyone has been up to the challenge. This can only augur well for African football because it means when we go to the FIFA World Cup, our African representatives will have gone through a really tough qualification route and therefore go to represent the continent with pride. May this massive improvement at Afcon filter through to every country’s domestic league so that we take our football back where it belongs.

Some people are surprised to see teams like Cape Verde and Equatorial Guinea doing so well, but if you look at the leagues that their players are coming from, you get an idea of why they’ve been among the top-performing teams. If you look at the football structures and organisations running those leagues, it comes as no surprise that these players have been so impressive. There is a lot of European influence, which means these players have been exposed to top-level coaching from a young age. They’ve been well-prepared, with a solid foundation having been laid on their careers. Some of them don’t compare with most African countries in terms of population, but because the fundamentals of football were taken care of, that doesn’t count against them. If anything, they look better than most players from better countries. The development and investment made on these players is showing and their countries are reaping the rewards. When we do things right, we stand a chance of getting better results. You put yourself in a favourable position by ticking all the boxes and making sure that you cover your bases. This is a serious challenge and lesson to everyone out there, to say pay attention to getting the basics right so that the rest can fall into place. This is one of the best tournaments we’ve ever seen in the continent. Even some of the Europeans who always looked down on this prestigious tournament must be starting to give it the respect it deserves. May this improvement continue because, once again, this is an Afcon to remember!

Hopefully, by the time you feast your eyes on this column, Bafana would have secured their place in the knockout stage. Once you get to the knockout stage, it is all about making the most of the chances created and being defensively smart and organised.