An interesting first week

So, an interesting first week at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. A few things stood out for me, including the fact that Zambia showed that they shouldn’t be counted out. Yes, they might not be considered title favourites at this stage, but I think they’ve shown that they deserve a lot more respect than perhaps people were giving them.

They’ve played good, organised, attacking football and have looked impressive – certainly in the draw with Libya and the win over Senegal. On a personal level, it’s been nice to see my former teammate, Chris Katongo, doing well for the Zambians and getting a goal against Libya.

The big surprise, so far, for me, is the Senegalese going out of the tournament, following their defeats to Zambia and Equatorial Guinea. You just wonder if Senegal’s big stars were up for the challenge of playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, or if they would have preferred being back in Europe in their cushy environments with their clubs?

There’s no doubt that staying in hotels in the likes of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea is a far cry from what they are used to in Europe, and you just don’t get the luxuries you do in the more developed world. So, it requires a bit of resolve, and I just wonder if the Senegalese were up for it, because their results have been disappointing, without taking anything away from the gutsy performances produced by Zambia and an inspired Equatorial Guinea.

Generally, I’ve enjoyed the first week of the tournament and have been impressed by the quality of football. Equatorial Guinea also proved the point I made in previous blogs about watching out for the host nation. Burkina Faso did it in 1998 and now Equatorial Guinea have already produced a surprise, in seeing off Senegal 2-1. They also got past Libya 1-0 and have already proved that they shouldn’t be written off.

Just looking at the pre-tournament favourites, I thought that Ghana made it tough for themselves, with John Mensah getting sent off against Botswana. But, the important thing is that they got the job done, and I feel that they will get better. Botswana were a little unlucky, but they really should have utilised the extra man a bit better.

Another of the big names, Ivory Coast, also got the job done against Sudan, without being particularly impressive. Didier Drogba showed why he is one of, if not the best striker on the continent – he just seems to get very important goals, and his experience will be vital for the Ivorians going forward.

Aside from that, not many talking points, and Mensah’s red card was arguably the only contentious issue – even that wasn’t that contentious, with Mensah being the last line of defence and pulling the man down. It’s quite nice to see that the first week of Afcon has generally been quite clean and devoid of dirty play and controversy.

Back home at SuperSport United, the running has continued, with Gavin putting us through a variety of fitness exercises and bleep tests. What was nice this past week was getting the new Reserve League up and running with a 2-1 victory over Orlando Pirates.

The boys were a bit tired after all the fitness work, but we still managed to come through, and that was quite satisfying, particularly as Pirates had a few first-team players in their side. It’s actually quite a nice initiative, this Reserve League, and I think there are some PSL teams and some First Division teams involved. It’s apparently going to be run like PSL games, with proper referees, cards etc. So, it’s a nice platform for guys to show their worth, and try and push for places in their respective first teams.

More from me next week.