“Look at all that is good about Zambian football and you will see the hand of Kalusha Bwalya. He scored a hat-trick when Zambia beat Italy at the 1988 Olympics. After the air-crash of 1993 had wiped out almost the entire team, he was the rallying point the new side was built around. And, as Zambia look to reach their first Cup of Nations final since that remarkable renaissance side of 1994 in Wednesday’s semi-final against Ghana, it is Kalusha, now president of the football federation, who drew the blueprint.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Africa Cup of Nations 2012: Mali’s heroes weep for a nation at war
“There were a lot of tears in Libreville on Sunday. There were the tears of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, overwhelmed by having missed the decisive penalty in Gabon’s shootout defeat to Mali and there were the tears of Seydou Keita as he used his side’s progress to the semi-final for the first time in 10 years to highlight the crisis overwhelming his country.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

“This has been a tournament that has restored the joy to African soccer. Without the traditional powers of Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt, it is as if a great weight both of expectation and fear has been lifted. Only Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana are playing with the albatross of favoritism around their necks, and both have been notably cautious in their opening matches; everybody else seems liberated, as though the subconscious dread of humiliation at the hands of one of the great names has gone (Botswana, who lost by a record 6-1 to Guinea, might regret that). It has been a tournament of fluid, constant attack.” SI – Jonathan Wilson

Sudan the big positive but Angola stagger home despite the swagger
“Before Monday night it had been 42 years since Sudan had last won a game at the Africa Cup of Nations. Now, thanks to Mudathir El Tahir’s two goals against Burkina Faso and Angola’s supine display against the Ivory Coast, they are in the quarter-final, where they will face Zambia. It is deserved progress, too; Sudan have lacked a little self-belief and did their best to self-destruct against Angola, but when they have forgotten themselves and simply played, the Falcons of Jediane (they used to be the Nile Crocodiles, but have rebranded since the split with the south) have been the most coherent passing side in Group B, more fluent even than the self-conscious Ivorians.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

Senegal left soul-searching
“For some, a road without any obstacles can be just as tricky to travel on as one that is punctured with potholes. Some like Senegal. Without record-breaking continental giants Egypt, heavyweights Cameroon and Nigeria in the ongoing African Nations Cup (ANC), the path was considered clear for the likes of them, Ghana or Ivory Coast to emerge champions. But, Senegal will not get anywhere near the trophy after finishing Group A in last place. They limped out of the tournament without a single victory, despite being FIFA ranked the highest of the four teams in their pool, 20 places above the nearest challenger, Libya.” ESPN

The 2012 African Cup Of Nations: Group Stage Round 2
“Sudan went into this tournament having failed to score an ACN goal since 1976. Bet you didn’t know that at kick-off against Angola last Thursday. Bet you were sick of hearing it by full-time. Sudan broke this goalscoring duck (36 years, you know) moments after Eurosport’s Matt Jackson declared he didn’t know where their next goal is coming from. So Ahmed Bashir’s header meant that he and Dan O’Hagan could stop talking about Sudan’s ’36-year’ goalscoring drought. Unfortunately, they chose not to – almost as if Eurosport’s crib sheet only had one fact.” twohundredpercent

Tunisia – The team to beat at ACoN 2012?
“For a team that could just as easily be sitting at home watching on TV, they made a pretty good start. Tunisia were seconds away from going the way of Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria in this competition last October. With Malawi 2-1 up against Chad going into stoppage time, the South East African nation were about to cause another Africa Cup of Nations upset by sneaking to the finals alongside Botswana.” FourFourTwo

“The radio coverage was two or three seconds ahead of the television coverage, something that first became apparent 58 minutes into Equatorial Guinea’s game against Senegal. Roars could be heard across the city, followed by a great groan of disappointment. On the screen I was watching in Banapa, the district of Malabo around the city’s stadium, the winger Randy was still loping into the right side of the box at the stadium at Bata on the mainland. As two defenders went to close him down, he squared towards Fidjeu.” Guardian – Jonathan Wilson

“There are some moments in soccer that stay with you, snippets of action that seem to represent a wider trend. One such came in 2008, in Kumasi, Ghana, in the semifinal of the African Cup of Nations. Côte d’Ivoire, with one of the greatest generations of players any African nation has ever produced, faced Egypt, the team who had beaten it on penalties in the final in Cairo two years earlier.” SI – Jonathan Wilson