Chelsea’s last 4 teams on their fixture list were Tottenham, Barcelona, Arsenal and Barcelona once more, yet they did not lose any of those games despite what has been said in the media. As a result of this, the Sandals For Goalpost’s Player of the Week award has to go to Ramires for this outstanding contribution.
Day 2 of the African cup of nations saw Group B taking to the field. Pre tournament favourites Ivory Coast went head to head with unfavoured Sudan, while Burkina Faso and Angola did battle in the second of the two games.
It’s not everyday you see a brilliant and well taken care of pitch, especially compared to some of the ones on display in England. But the Nuevo Estadio de Malabo in Equatorial Guinea’s capital, Malabo, should receive acknowledgement for the care that has been put into it.
The 1st game started off relatively slowly, with Ivory Coast dominating possession and Sudan quite happy to let them have the ball. The Ivorians failed to show any penetration in the final third and the Sudanese defence was happy enough to intercept play. However the Sudanese players were bereft of ideas when the ball was in their possession and more often than not they attempted a long ball, which was ineffective and allowed the Ivory Coast players to recycle possession from the back. The frustration of Ivory Coasts inability to break down the Sudanese defence began to manifest itself in several long range efforts from the likes of Drogba and Gervinho as the half wore on.
