2023 Africa Cup of Nations: 5 things we learned on Day 4 - Don't be a big team

The likes of Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Ghana and Cameroon haven't been able to dispose of supposedly inferior teams in their opening round of matches. Tunisia went full immersion in the emulation. 

Namibia players and coaching staff celebrate their 1-0 victory over Tunisia at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. The success brought a first win for a team from the country at the tournament. REUTERS - LUC GNAGO

History men I

The review has to admit to a soft spot for Namibia. We watched better resourced outfits overwhelm the country's rugby players during the World Cup in France last autumn. Particularly brutal were the 71-3 and 96-0 losses to New Zealand and France respectively. In their seven trips to the rugby World Cup, Namibia have not won a game. The record is: played 27, drawn one, lost 26. The country's footballers can rejoice and perhaps give heart to the rugbymen. Namibia beat Tunisia 1-0 to register their first victory at the Africa Cup of Nations. In this their fourth tournament, they now have the record: played 10, won one, drawn 2, lost seven. Deon Hotto entered the Namibian history books as the scorer of the winning goal. Bethuel Muzeu will join him there as providing the assist. Nice one, lads.

History man

The game against Namibia will provide bittersweet memories for the Tunisia skipper Youssef Msakni. The 33-year-old turned out for his country at an eighth Cup of Nations tournament to equal the record held by Rigobert Song (Cameroon), Ahmed Hassan (Egypt) and Ghana’s André Ayew. That's enduring quality and good fortune. Whether Msakni - who made his Cup of Natons debut in 2010 in Angola - will be gracing the latter stages of the 2023 extravaganza in Cote d'Ivoire will depend on how swiftly he and his teammates recover from the shock defeat. They take on Mali and South Africa on Day 8 and 12 respectively.

Cruel

Mauritania don’t have a fabulous pedigree at the Cup of Nations. They qualified for the first time in 2019 when the competition was expanded from 16 to 24 teams. In Egypt, they drew two of their three games and went out after the group stages. In 2021 in Cameroon, they lost all three fixtures. Just as Amir Abdou’s side looked to have secured a draw against Burkina Faso in their opening match in Group D of the 2023 event, Nouh El Abd felled Issa Kaboré in the penalty area. Substitute Bertrand Traoré stepped up and swept home the spot kick. And voilà, another defeat.  Angola, who drew with Algeria 1-1 on Day 3, are up next.

History men II

Still, it was nice for the Burkinabé boys. In this their 13^th appearance at the Cup of Nations, it was the first time a team from the country had won an opening game. The success allowed them to take early control of Group D. In fact they can qualify for the last-16 knockout stages if they manage to beat Algeria in their next match.

Not the best ploy

Having performed heroics during the game against Mauritania, Burkina Faso goalkeeper Herve Koffi turned his back to the pitch when skipper Bertrand Traoré stepped up to take a stoppage-time penalty. Should Burkina Faso advance to the knockout stages, the review is assuming Burkina Faso coach Hubert Velud has told his keeper not to adopt the same tactic when facing spot kicks during penalty shoot-outs.