The holders of African Cup of Nations have been eliminated in the group stage. Zambia could only muster a goalless draw against Burkina Faso and it proved not to be enough, but become the third unbeaten to be ousted from the competition. Burkina Faso will avoid Ivory Coast in the quarter finals after managing to win the group on goal difference. On paper, Nigeria have set up a mouthwatering tie against the tournament favourites, but based on their performances so far, Ivory Coast may well be quite content with this fixture.
Nigeria only just scraped through to the knock-out phase and did so because of two penalties conceded by Ethiopia. Before either of the penalties had been conceding, it was looking like second place would be farcically decided by how many yellow and red cards Zambia and Nigeria had picked up. It almost got even worse as the second placed team could have been selected by a mere picking of lots.
With three of the four teams needing a win to secure a passage into the next round, it was extremely disappointing to see the lack of attacking intent or indeed goal threat imposed by them. With Burkina Faso only needing to avoid defeat to qualify, it was perhaps surprising to see them start the better against Zambia. But they were dealt an early blow when striker Alain Traore had to be stretchered off.
Despite this, Zambia should have taken the lead on 17-minutes when Collins Mbesuma was played in by Chisamba Lungu. But Mbesuma would strike it to the only place where he wouldn't score, apart from missing the target altogether, and hit it straight at the keeper. In the other game, it was Nigeria who started the better before they started conceding set-pieces.
With discipline a possible deciding factor on who progresses through, it was perhaps remarkable to see amount of bad challenges in both games. But the referees often dismissed a number of two footed challenges as just fouls. This may give a slight insight into why discipline does seem a little awry in this year's tournament.
It has also been disappointing to see how poor some of the service has been from the wings, but when the service has been good, the strikers have either not been in a good position or squandered the chance. Isaac Chansa was guilty of this right before half-time when his weak header was more catching practice for the keeper.
Nigeria had been the better side in the first half, but Ethiopia responded in the second in a bid to make a fight of the game. But they became unstuck 11-minutes from time when Victor Moses was brought down by Alula Girma in the box. The Chelsea man then got back to his feet to take the penalty and rolled it calmly into the bottom corner, asking the question why he didn't take the one against Zambia.
This question was even more affirmed in injury time when Moses converted a second penalty to guarantee their place in the knock-out phase. Moses was again brought down, this time by the keeper Sisay Bancha. Bancha had already been booked and would receive a second yellow card. This occurred five minutes before the end but because Ethiopia had used all three subs, Addis Hintsa had to go in goal. But he wasn't allowed to do so until he had changed his number to 23. After that rigmarole, Moses stepped up and again scored despite Hintsa guessing right. Final table:
1. Burkina Faso 5 +4
2. Nigeria 5 +2
3. Zambia 3 0
4. Ethiopia 1 -6
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