Report - African Cup of Nations - 
Article published the Saturday 28 January 2012 - Latest update : Saturday 28 January 2012

CAN - It's not over 'til it's over

Gabon's Bruno Zita (13) celebrates his goal against Morocco
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya

By Paul Myers

Five things we learned about the second round of games in Group C.

  • There’s no point in creating lots of chances, it’s goals that win games. Niger carved open Tunisia time after time but the side netting or just past the post ultimately mean nothing if the besieged opponents hit the target for the winner in stoppage time.
  • Tunisia have the luck of champions. They clung on for a 2-1 win over Morocco in their opening game and they were on the ropes against Niger before landing a sucker punch on Niger for another 2-1 victory.
  • Daniel Cousin is a 34 year old lumbering block of a striker. But he is a Gabonese legend. He came off the bench and brought belief to his team mates as they chased the game against Morocco. His aerial prowess unnerved the Moroccan defence for Gabon's equaliser and his girth must have mesmerised the Moroccan keeper as he did an oil tanker of a turn on a sixpence to poke in the goal for 2-1. He was still barrelling around the box as the co-hosts hunted victory in stoppage time.
    Dossier: Africa Cup of Nations 2012
  • When it’s not your moment, it is just really not your moment. Senegal equalised in the 88th minute against Equatorial Guinea on Thursday night and rather than shutting-up shop for the draw that would have kept them in the tournament, they went for the win and David Alvarez Aguirre’s right foot pile driver won it for the co-hosts.
  • When it is your moment, it just really is your moment. Gabon trailed Morocco for more than half their match, scored twice in less than three minutes to lead and then conceded as the clock hit 90 minutes. Rather than shutting-up shop for the draw that would have put them in a strong position to make the last eight, they went for the win and Bruno Mbanangoye’s Roy-of-the-Rovers free kick nicked it for the co-hosts.
tags: Africa Cup of Nations 2012 - CAN - CAN Blog 2012 - Gabon - Morocco - Niger - Report - Tunisia
Related articles
Comments
React to this article
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters (without spaces) shown in the image.
Close