Posted on January 24, 2012 11:32
What a great African opening for the 2012 Orange African Cup of Nations. The hosts Equilateral Guinea/Gabon got the right result for the opening match by beating Libya 1-0.
Was it the added incentive by the President’s son of a million dollars or the motivation as hosts that did the trick? The second match saw our COSAFA neighbours Zambia upset the talented but inconsistent Senegal 2-1.
The Ivory Coast had Didier Drogba to thank for their 1-0 narrow win when he headed in from close range at the far post. You can’t beat class. The second match saw Angola beat Burkina Faso 2-1.
The feature of this game was the quality of the goals that were scored. The free-kick taken by Alain Traore was special. He bent the ball around the wall into the far post.
It looks like we’re in for a great Nations Cup and South Africans might at least want to adopt the team nicknamed Chipolopolo who’ve got off to a perfect start.
On the domestic front soccer fanatics will have to wait a while longer for something to talk about as the launch of our very own version of the FA Cup, the Nedbank Cup on the 6th, of February in Sandton promises just that.
Teams and coaches will be watching this closely. There was a shock when Maritzburg United re-employed former coach Enerst Middendorp as a replacement for Ian Palmer.
The likeable Ian Palmer of Maritzburg United had been given his marching orders by the Directors of the Team of Choice after a disagreement over attending a SAFA Coaching Course. At least the players will know what to expect from the talented German coach.
Santos on the other hand have been reported to be seeking the services of a head coach after Duncan Crowie was put in charge of the team.
Next week I will discuss how fortunate AmaZulu are in having possibly the best goalkeeping coach in the country, Graham Johnson.