Posts Tagged ‘Angola’

2013 Cup of Nations Review: Group A

Posted: February 13, 2013 by SFG in Africa Cup of Nations 2013
Tags: , , ,
0

As part of SFG’s Afcon 2013 post-mortem, the SFG writers take the first cursory glance at the fortunes of each team at Afcon 2013, deconstructing the performance of each team in the format of Sergio Leones’ seminal work The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. We start with Group A:

South Africa

The Good

Well, it could have been worse. They did at least get out of the group this time, and on top. That is progress for a side some suggested would underachieve on the big stage again. And they ended the tournament unbeaten in normal time after being eliminated on penalties. In terms of players, Thuso Phala looked good on the right, and Dean Furman made an impact when introduced to central midfield in the second game after a nervy opener. Defensively they also looked good with Khumalo and Sangweni making a solid partnership in front of the ever-impressive Khune.

The Bad

It seemed as if South Africa went into the tournament with Gordon Igesund yet to decide on a first XI and I think it really hindered them. The line-up against Cape Verde had a few surprises, with Mphela, Serero and Furman all on the bench. In fact, the Ajax youngster Serero, marked out as the potential successor to Pienaar, didn’t start a single game for the Bafana Bafana. By the time they went out, 4 different strikers had started, one of whom (Parker) ending up replacing the disappointing Tshabalala on the left flank, and by the final game Igesund had switched from 4-4-2 to a 4-2-3-1 with Rantie up front on his own. Similarly, various combinations of centre midfielders were used to different levels of effect.

(more…)

South Africa Heldon as it’s Swan-Sang time for Morocco

Posted: January 27, 2013 by SFG in Africa Cup of Nations 2013
Tags: , , , , ,
0

by Sam Crocker and Alex Queiros

SOUTH AFRICA 2-2 MOROCCO

In what was an absolutely extraordinary final quarter of an hour in Group A, the hosts emerged as group winners in the end, with Morocco once again disappointing everyone with their early exit.

It was Morocco who started the brighter out of the two teams in the first half, as their technical superiority clearly evident with their flowing attacking moves, El Arabi acting as a central fulcrum to most of their moves. Seemingly brimming with creativity, and with South Africa conceding a number of set-pieces early on, it was almost inevitable that Morocco would take the lead as they did.

A delicious corner was swung in by Abdelaziz Barrada, swinging inwards at the last minute as it got into the penalty area, headed right towards the cluster of players that populated South Africa’s six-yard box. El Adoua, not believing his luck at having a free header right in front of goal, rose to head the ball down and watch it eventually roll through the traffic of players into the goal. Khune was undoubtedly at fault, as despite the ball being very close to his goal, he managed little more than a flap at the ball, constructing a particularly colourful expression on his face to add to the plethora of others that he made during the first half.

(more…)

Opening day stalemates an unusual Angol

Posted: January 19, 2013 by SFG in Africa Cup of Nations 2013
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
1

SOUTH AFRICA VS CAPE VERDE

Pressure and atmosphere, atmosphere and pressure. They can either visibly lift performance on host nations or render them to drown in a sea of self-doubt; there is no middle ground. Opening games usually set the tone for the rest of the tournament, or so they say. The script usually goes like this: the host team wins. As long as the host team win, everything is fine. But South Africa didn’t win.  If they’ve set the tone for the tournament, it’s an abysmal one. With a 0-0 draw in the other Group A match between Morocco and Angola, this was the first time there have been two 0-0 draws on the opening day. The only way is up.

International football has, of course, become about establishing a cohesive unit either through sticking with a cadre of players in the medium-long term, like Zambia, or plucking a phalanx of individuals from a handful of club teams, like the epochs of Spanish and Egyptian football have shown. While South Africa have defensive dignity formed largely from well-resourced teams in Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, their attacking armour is severely lacking. Constructing simple moves seems to be an arduous task, one which shows no sign of improving on the basis of this game.

Bafana Bafana incoherency exacerbated by curveballs

South Africa coach Gordon Igesund had been mischievously keeping everyone guessing about the identity of his starting XI versus Cape Verde throughout the week, and when he named it an hour and a half before kick off there were curveballs which induced wide-eyed wonder in many. In a surprising move, striker Katlego ‘Killer’ Mphela, who started the recent warm-up friendlies against Algeria and Norway, and Thulani Serero, who started against Algeria and came off the bench against Norway, both started on the bench. In a way it shouldn’t have come as a surprise, for both of the players have only returned from long-term injuries, but it still was. In their place came in Kaizer Chiefs duo Lehlohonolo Majoro and Bernard Parker – a move that made sense given the Bafana Bafana’s lack of understanding in attack and their club connection – whilst Thabo Matlaba was chosen ahead of the experienced  Tsepo Masilela at left-back.

(more…)

2013 Cup of Nations Preview: Angola

Posted: January 13, 2013 by Salim Masoud Said in Afcon 2013 Previews, Africa Cup of Nations 2013
Tags: , , , , ,
0
Angola's Probable XI

Angola’s Probable XI

More famous for their handball and basketball exploits, Angola reached the quarter-finals of the 2008 and 2010 editions of the Cup of Nations, with the latter edition on home soil, but their streak was derailed when they were eliminated in the group stage in the last tournament.

The premature exit saw Uruguayan coach Gustavo Ferrin replace Lito Vidigal, becoming Angola’s sixth coach in four years. Still, being endorsers of Roman Abramovich’s Guide to Retaining and Sacking Managers has, like Chelsea, still seen them thriving: they will be making their fifth consecutive appearance at the finals and their seventh appearance in total.

Whereas Vidigal had the side playing bone-chilling, cagey football which would have been utterly unforgettable had there not been another Cup of Nations so soon, Ferrin has the side playing the type of football that may just construct an Angolan house down Memory Lane by the end of the upcoming tournament. Ferrin is an ethnologist to the core, and it shouldn’t be a surprise that Angola’s present modus operandi is compatible with that of their national teams in their more celebrated sports like basketball; he is a coach who doesn’t merely select a system to suit his players but adapts the style of play according to what he considers to be country’s philosophies on life.

(more…)

Africa Cup of Nations 2013: 2nd Leg Qualifying Round-Up

Posted: October 15, 2012 by Salim Masoud Said in African Football
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

Zambia are back…just!

Taoussi finally attains balance in Morocco’s attacking ranks

To some people, football is a foreign film without subtitles. One of those people is Eric Gerets. For all the blinding achievements of his managerial CV, the simplicity of finding the equilibrium between an exposed defence and a superabundance of attacking players seemed to be a crippling problem for the Belgian during his time in charge of Morocco.

His successor Rachid Taoussi not only tried to attain balance by dropping several attacking midfielders and going back to basics, but also brought effervescence that was contagious on Saturday as he patrolled the Marrakech touchline like the ebullient uncle cracking jokes at a family wedding. After a nervy opening 20 minutes, for an hour or so thereafter the Lions of the Atlas had imperious control of midfield as they pinned  Mozambique inside their own half and pummelled them without respite; captain Houssine Kharja drove from midfield with malevolent intent; Abdelaziz Barrada showed Adel Taarabt how to play football without gewgaw; Oussama Assaidi’s half-time introduction added incision and end-product; the substitution of Younes Belhanda for Nordin Amrabat brought more impetuous into Moroccan forward line as they went in search of more goals; and Youssef El Arabi’s futsal dynamism sealed the aesthetics and added further variation in attack.

(more…)

Older Entries