BUSINESS END OF AFCON

During the group stage, the teams had time to test each other out. All countries had equal opportunities to collect as much points as possible to book a place in the knockout stages. Some nations, like Nigeria and Cameroon, were not at their best and scraped through to the Last 16. Even the hosts had to wait until the last games to go through as one of the best thirdplaced teams. Now boys are going to be separated from men, heroes will become villains and there will be tears and cheers. In the group stage, 95 goals were scored and there were big-margin scorelines, but in the knockouts it will be smaller margins. Nigeria proved to be too strong for the Indomitable Lions by sending them packing. The stage was too big for the Brave Warriors, who were easily eliminated by Angola. What a shock result for the surprise package of the tournament, Equatorial Guinea, who were top scorers in the group stage. The leading scorer of the tournament, Nsue, became a villain for his country by missing from the penalty spot, only for Guinea to score with the last touch of the game. More casualties are to follow before the final on 11 February. Gavin Ryan, Emalahleni

Nigeria started the Afcon slowly and, like me, many people didn’t think they would be where they are right now. Remember in the World Cup qualifiers they drew against Lesotho. Truth be told, prior to the tournament I thought to myself they would be out of the tournament in the group stage, but look where they are now… in the quarterfinals. Anything is possible. They can reach the final if they play their ‘chess’ nicely. Nyambeni Samson Khuphani, Tshiawelo Ext 5

When Equatorial Guinea captain Nsue stepped up to take a penalty in their game against Guinea, I got excited thinking he would convert and thus open a gap among other challengers for the Golden Boot. Alas, he missed! Costly. However, the 34-year-old had a good tournament. He can play as a right back or a winger and he is so composed. Pity they have gone back home after having a good start to the tournament. Congrats to the winners so far and we’re looking forward to the quarterfinals, which I pray will include Bafana. Amos “Tiger” Tshukudu, Ga-Maria

What a dramatic turn of events! Nobody on earth would have given Ivory Coast a chance to defeat the mighty Lions of Teranga. But I am

impressed by the Elephants, who overcame a disastrous group stage campaign to upset Senegal with their galaxy of stars. It is true that it is not how you start but how you finish that matters. As I’ve mentioned before, this 2023 Afcon edition is one of surprises, believe you me. Who would have thought that the Pharaohs, the most successful team in Afcon history, would be eliminated by DRC? Again, who would think the red-hot Equatorial Guinea would be sent home by Guinea? A classic example of how many Goliaths will be defeated. Mark my words, one of the underdogs will win this year’s edition. Boitumelo Vanrooyen, Schweizer-Reneke

The knockout stages started on a high note, as neighbours Namibia and Angola played out a tremendous encounter that saw red cards issued for both teams. The Brave Warriors wanted to beat the Palancas Negras. However, the hunter became the hunted. Namibia tried their best though. In a nutshell, we salute Bafana, Angola, Namibia, Zambia and Mozambique for their exceptional performances at Afcon. They represented Southern Africa with pride. They showed African football powerhouses like Egypt, Angola, Algeria, Tunisia and Ghana that Southern African teams are no longer pushovers. Angola’s march to the quarterfinals was no surprise, for they’ve been on the up. They are well-structured in all departments and play comprehensive football. The outstanding fact behind the triumph of this Southern African country is that the team has effective on-field leadership. The captain, Fredy, has been demonstrating such since the start of the tournament. Like in business, the coach is like a general manager, while the captain is the operations manager. While the coach is giving instructions from the touchline, the skipper is in conversational proximity to his fellow players. This is how Fredy is inspiring the team to phenomenal victories. Another who is the team’s engine room is Dala. A versatile player that can play as an offensive midfielder and a forward. Generally, the players are a collective unit. Batsirai Kativu, Jo’burg

As SA, we don’t need to have more players playing abroad to do better in African competitions like the Afcon. We have the best and respected league on the continent. As the competition advances, it gets tougher. Writing this on Monday, I say the boys need to fight and show hunger and make us proud. It’s almost two decades since we last won the Afcon. Bring it home boys, we are fully behind you! Luyanda Ntlantsi, Mqanduli

I’ve been watching the Afcon games with keen interest after initially being apathetic due to the shenanigans that often characterise African football, such as time-wasting. Alas, none of this has been experienced to date. Just to put things into perspective, let me state that I’ma bona fide South African and I therefore owe my allegiance to none other than Bafana. I set lofty standards in life, including for our national team. For me, the Afcon starts now. I will not celebrate our progression to the Last 16 because this is just standard procedure, in my opinion. I’m of course happy that we are now in the next round, but I want more. Anything short of a semifinal berth is tantamount to mediocrity. We achieved a quarterfinal slot in 2019 courtesy of a 1-0 victory over Egypt. Let’s go one notch up this time around. It is doable. Good luck Bafana! George Sithole, Honeydew

Abongile Tom and his officiating team were horribly exposed in their handling of the Egypt v DR Congo game where, as smart players will do, falling all over the field after each touch was the order of the day. I guess the players quickly realised how poor the officiating was. This is unlike when the same players play under different referees, who know that African players, unlike PSL ones, are built tough and all you must do is allow them to play the men’s game. Only if most referees played the game would they also realise that a player can’t jump to head the ball with hands folded like cards, never. As long as there’s no intention to harm the opponent, it must be taken as normal play. Again, I still want to know from FIFA, how does taking your shirt off when celebrating a goal harm the game because we see the same players lifting the same shirt after missing a goal, before or after being substituted or after the game, and no harm is experienced? The law that I’d propose is to banish to the touchline for a minute or two a player

whose team is leading and the referee feels he/she is intentionally wasting time by faking injury. That means for those two minutes, his/ her team will be a player down. This will improve the game somehow. Romario Koos Machacha, Emalahleni