Daily Archives: February 3, 2010

Egypt’s Three-peat – The Latter Stages Of The African Cup Of Nations

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“The climax to Group C summed up this Cup of Nations, a curate’s egg of a tournament which ran out of good football from the second week onwards. A tournament during which the look of delight on the face of one CAF official when Algeria beat Cote D’Ivoire turned to horror when he remembered that Algeria played Egypt next. A tournament during which the players from the English Premier League, the “best” league in the world, were almost uniformally rubbish. And a tournament which ended with the unfeasibly fierce-looking Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata managing a smile at the end which made him look even more fierce. I’ll be having the nightmares for a while.” (twohundredpercent)

Africa Cup of Nations 2010: A Tournament Best Forgotten?
“The 2010 Africa Cup of Nations is over. Though I usually love the tournament, I won’t be remembering this edition fondly. For several reasons.” (World Cup Blog)

Four things I learned from the Africa Cup of Nations
“1) There is no one at the CAF fit to manage football. The choice of Angola to host the tournament in the first place was bizarre, given that it’s a quasi-Communist autocracy in the midst of a long and bloody civil war (which stipulated that, as a nation-building exercise, many of the games in this tournament would be held in the home of the hopeful secessionists). How the tournament actually panned out made the rejected bids of places like Zimbabwe and Mozambique look sweet by comparison.” (The 90th Minute)

Questions and Representations in the Year of African Soccer
“Finally, after an eventful January, I’ve got some answers to the big questions for this year of African soccer. Was Angola 2010 a success or a failure? Yes. Will the World Cup in South Africa be a success or a failure? Yes. Let me try to explain.” (Pitch Invasion)

Video Of The Week: Every Goal Of Italia ‘90

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“Continuing our series of World Cup compilation videos, this week we have every goal from the 1990 World Cup, which was, of course, held in Italy. Time has a tendency to soften our viewpoint of previous World Cup tournaments – particularly when, as with this one, England surpass everyone’s expectations and scramble as far as the semi-finals – but the truth of the matter is that the 1990 World Cup finals were probably the worst that have been held in recent years.” (twohundredpercent)

A Way for the Future?

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“With the January transfer window closed and Boro having cut various deals to expel some players and recruit others, what have we learned? Let’s start with a look at the Outgoing column. The most significant of these was of course the transfer of Adam Johnson, a deal that should benefit both Manchester City and ourselves, let alone giving the player an opportunity to thrive on the biggest of stages. In letting him go, we have effectively jettisoned the last of the crown jewels, albeit one that caught us a bit by surprise as we didn’t know until his loan spell at Watford quite what a star we had on our hands.” (Smog Blog)

Henry Winter: Fabio Capello has been let down by his employers as well as John Terry

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“Much of the rhetoric flowing through the FA’s Vision 2008-2012 argues that football can be a force for social change, for bettering the lives of millions through every action from tackling obesity to encouraging literacy. The FA runs a highly successful community programme, often using England internationals to promote important initiatives.” (Telegraph – Henry Winter)

John Terry set for Fabio Capello showdown after day of of confusion and misinformation
“Following a day of confusion and misinformation over Terry’s intentions — and Capello’s thoughts — the England manager has told the Football Association and his advisers that he will try and reach a decision before he boards a plane to Warsaw on Saturday morning ahead of the Euro 2012 draw the following day.” (Telegraph)

Carlo Ancelotti clears way for John Terry to visit his wife in Dubai
“Carlo Ancelotti has cleared the way for John Terry to take a break from playing for Chelsea by saying that if ‘he needs to have a holiday I will give him holiday’, following allegations about his captain’s private life.” (Guardian)

Capello puts back Terry call for fear of further scandal
“Fabio Capello and his advisers are concerned that further revelations about John Terry this weekend could undermine any decision on him continuing as England captain made before then and are considering delaying an announcement until Sunday at the very least.” (Independent)