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canvey!!

canvey!!

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This is for Kalu Uche's goal for Nigeria against South Korea.

piala-afrika-2010-logo.jpg

2010 African Cup of Nations

Third Place Playoff

February 6th: Third Place Playoff

Mamadou Niang was back in action for this Third Place Playoff, and hoping to make more of an impact than he had done as an ineffectual substitute in the Semi Final. His Senegal team were coming up against Cameroon; two talented teams that both harboured realistic hopes of reaching the Final. Senegal opened the scoring fairly early on, and it was Niang that saw and took the opportunity. Nicolas N’Koulou, who crucially let the ball bounce to a Mali player in his Semi Final, did a poor job of marking the tournament top goalscorer, who rounded the 19-year-old and fired the ball home from just inside the penalty area, despite beind encroached by two other Cameroon defenders attempting to aid their struggling teenager. With the sides pretty well-matched and the play kept pretty well in midfield, no more goals were scored in the first half.

It was in the second half that things really exploded. Not wanting to be outdone by Mamadou Niang, Demba Ba decided to get himself on the scoresheet for Senegal, and did so in the 56th minute. Although the Cameroon defenders tackled the Senegal attackers numerous times in the build-up to the goal, Senegal retained the ball and played it to Ba, who rounded Stéphane Mbia before rifling the ball into the top right corner. Two minutes later it was Ba again, this time running past two defenders and sidefooting the ball sweetly into the centre of the goal. Again, however, Mbia should have done better: he tackled Ba when the Hoffenheim forward began his run, but then allowed the 24-year-old to recommence the run.

It seemed that there was a little rivalry occurring in the Senegal front line. Mamadou Niang had got Senegal’s opening goal, but he had been pipped by Demba Ba, who now led him two to one on the goalscoring front. So, in revenge, Niang scored Senegal’s fourth goal with a wicked shot in the 69th minute. Receiving the ball from Ba, he dodged around a fruitless tackle from Stéphane Mbia and fired low into the bottom right corner, past the outstretched arms of the fetal Carlos Kameni. Niang then took the lead against Ba once again in the goalscoring affair, avoiding the rushing defenders to calmly besoil Kameni’s goal again, this time in the 76th minute. The move completely lopped out Senegal’s midfield and both the midfield and defence of Cameroon, when Habib Beye, receiving the ball from Senegal ‘keeper Tony Sylva, saw that Niang was unmarked and onside, and so gave a long pass to him. The Cameroon defenders did catch up, but any attempt to tackle would have been a likely professional foul.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom for Cameroon (hey, I’m a poet and I didn’t know it!). Just three minutes after Senegal scored their fifth goal, Samuel Eto’o gave the Cameroonians some minimal dignity with his third goal of the tournament. After a defensive pass-about went wrong, due to some misplaced arrogance by the Senegal defenders, Eto’o pounced and shot from long range, knowing that Tony Sylva was too far forward to stop the shot, if only it were on target. It was indeed on target, making the score one-five, and although Cameroon couldn’t ever entertain hopes of equalising, they did have a goal to their names. Five-one was the final score.

Man of the Match: Mamadou Niang, FW, Senegal (9.5)

Final

February 7th: Final

This was it; everything that the past three weeks had been aimed towards. Nigeria meet Mali in Luanda for the African Cup of Nations Final. The first real action came in the 12th minute, with Frédéric Kanouté taking a free kick for Mali in a nice position. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old lofted it wide. Five minutes later it was Mali with another chance, albeit speculative, with Mahamadou Diarra scooping the ball goalwards from towards the middle of the pitch. However, it flew just about over the bar. Kanouté took another free kick in minute 24, but the wall saved Nigeria this time. Obafemi Martins got himself one-on-one with the counter-attack, but opted to shoot sooner rather than run and shoot later, and so wasted Nigeria’s first real opportunity of the match. They got another significant one towards the end of the first half, with Taye Taiwo crossing the ball towards Ikechukwu Uche. But Souleymane Diamoutene was on hand for Mali, heading the ball out of the penalty area. Although Chinedu Obasi got it back in there twice, Mali defended stoutly, and would need to continue against Nigeria’s corner kick. They did, clearing the ball with ease, and Uche’s long range free kick a few minutes later did not threaten Oumar Sissoko’s goal either.

Nigeria started the second half as they had finished the first: on the front foot. Ikechukwu Uche crossed the ball into the penalty area, but ended up a lot closer to goal that he had anticipated. Sissoko parried the ball, but only back to Uche, who took another shot. Parried once again, and this time Mali were able to clear, although they did soon lose the momentum needed for an effective counter attack. With Mali seeming happy to just pass between the defence and the midfield, and not putting many men up front, the next significant chance fell to Nigeria in the 57th minute, with Obafemi Martins heading over the bar from Elliot Omozusi’s cross. Mali then had a chance in the 63rd minute, but Jimmy Kebé floated the ball over the bar from his position on the right and just inside the penalty area. From the result free kick, Nigeria went upfield and camped out in the Mali penalty area, but their counter-attack ended with Ifeanny Emeghara shooting too high. Mamady Sidibé then engineered himself a chance for Mali through his daring run, but he also shot too high.

Another high shot taken from long range ended Mali’s attack in the 68th minute, and John Obi Mikel headed a decent chance over the bar in minute 73. No breakthrough was made before full time, so extra time would take place to settle the match. About ten minutes into the extra thirty, Nigeria’s Chinedu Obasi got himself a yellow card for a tackle on Mohamed Fofana. The first real chance of extra time fell to Mali just after the mini-half time restart. The Nigerian defender who got himself on the end of Amadou Sidibé’s cross unwittingly gave the ball to Frédéric Kanouté. However, Kanouté couldn’t control it either, but the ball bounced off his legs and to those of the onrunning Modibo Maïga. The 22-year-old hit a clean shot, which was saved well by the Nigerian ‘keeper, and then cleared. However, when Mali brought the ball back upfield, Kanouté was taken off injured, after an unfortunate tackle from Ifeanny Emeghara. This left Mali a man down, although not for long. Losing the ball to Djimi Traoré, Chinedu Obasi tracked back with the Mali fullback, but could not avoid fouling him when he attempted the interception. Referee Senai Edwin had little choice but to give Obasi his second yellow card. The free kick led to a promising Mali attack, where Mahamadou Diarra’s shot was saved by Vincent Enyeama. Mali had another chance in the 118th minute, but this time Enyeama saved Amadou Sidibé’s shot. Nigeria coped well with the Mali onslaught, and so, if they wanted to win it, Mali would have to do it on penalties.

Man of the Match: Mohamed Fofana, DR, Mali (7.5)

Mali would take the first penalty, with Modibo Maïga being the one to shoot from the spot. He netted his kick, in the bottom right hand corner, but Nigeria pegged Mali back through Yakubu. Mamadou Diallo scored for Mali, but John Obi Mikel made it two each with his spot kick. Mali scored their third, thanks to Cédric Kanté, and Nigeria’s Taye Taiwo also scored. Up to take Mali’s fourth, captain Mahamadou Diarra. He sent his shot along the floor and towards the bottom right corner, but the ball bounced off the post and skittered along the turf away from the goal. Here was Nigeria’s golden opportunity, and Ifeanny Emeghera wasn’t going to blow it: he struck his shot sweetly and scored. If Mali missed their fifth penalty, Nigeria would win. But Djimi Traoré slid his into the bottom left corner. However, Ikchukwe Uche scored his with the minimum of fuss, giving Nigeria their third African Cup of Nations.

Next, Nigeria pick up their trophy!

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canvey!!

canvey!!

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This for Yakubu's goal against South Korea - I know you might not consider this an update, but it's all yer getting!

Ladies and gentlemen: The 2010 African Cup of Nations Runners-Up…

Mali!

Mali.png?t=1277465228

And now;

The 2010 African Cup of Nations Champions…

Nigeria.png?t=1277465220

NIGERIA!

AfricaNationsCupTrophy.jpg

Arise, O Compatriots,

Nigeria’s call obey

To serve our fatherland

With love and strength and faith.

The labours of our heroes past…

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canvey!!

canvey!!

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Everyone's canvassing votes but we've still got a World Cup to come! This is for Samuel Eto'o's goal for Cameroon against the Netherlands.

2010: January and February

January and February saw the African Cup of Nations take place. Nigeria won it on penalties after a goalless draw with Mali. Senegal won the Third Place Playoff, beating Cameroon 5-1. The Ivory Coast’s Salomon Kalou won the Best Player Award, with Demba Ba and Mamadou Niang, both of Senegal, taking second and third place respectively. Niang did win the Golden Boot, however, so Kalou was forced into second there and Ba into third. Senegal dominated the Dream Team and Yaya Touré’s goal for the Ivory Coast against Zambia in the group stage won the Goal of the Tournament.

The World Rankings released after the tournament put Edward Still’s Senegal as the highest ranked African nation. They moved up 6 places to 8th, although the Ivory Coast moved up 7 to 9th. Champions Nigeria climbed 19 places and now sit 20th, but hosts Angola climbed the most. Juan King’s side ascended 32 places to 78th in the world. Morocco were another big climber, moving up nine places. As for falls, Jeremy English’s Sudan fell 12 places down to 77th, Zambia fell 8 places to 70th, and Cameroon fell seven places.

Our African nations have as many as two friendlies to play before the FIFA World Cup kicks off in South Africa, but once that does happen, the world’s eyes will be focused towards the continent’s southern tip. Matt Lepino’s team, as the host nation, will want to do well, but it is a golden opportunity for any of the African nations to reach the last four or even the Final.

[font=Courier New]  [b]Nation       P W D L GF GA  GD[/b]
 Cameroon     6 3 1 2  8  9 - 1
 Mali         6 4 1 1 10  3 + 7
 Nigeria      6 4 2 0  9  3 + 6
 Senegal      6 5 0 1 22  8 +14

 Angola       4 1 0 3  4  7 - 3
 Cape Verde   4 2 0 2  5  6 - 1
 Ivory Coast  4 3 0 1 15 10 + 5
 Morocco      4 1 2 1  4  6 - 2

 Burkina Faso 3 1 0 2  2  2   0
 DR Congo     3 1 0 2  3  9 - 6
 Egypt        3 1 1 1  1  2 - 1
 Ghana        3 1 0 2  3  5 – 2
 Sudan        3 0 0 3  1  7 – 6
 Tunisia      3 1 0 2  6  7 – 1
 Zambia       3 0 0 3  3  9 - 6

 No Games:
 Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea,
 Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius,
 Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland,
 Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe[/font]

Let’s go, Toe! - Nation in the Spotlight

Lesotho.png?t=1277541210

Name: Lesotho

Capital: Maseru

Population: 2 million

Manager: Joe Tompkins (joetheref)

World Ranking: 169

Stadium Capacity: 20,000

Last Three Results: A vs. Ghana, 1-2; H vs. Gabon, 0-0; n/a

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canvey!!

canvey!!

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This is for Yaya Touré's goal for Côte d'Ivoire against North Korea. The fixture order I put below is actually slighty wrong, but the games are right.

2010: March

Only friendly games this month, and only involving three African nations. Cameroon hosted the Republic of Ireland, who feature in World Cup Group H alongside the Netherlands, Senegal and South Korea, and beat them 1-0 thanks to a Pierre Achille Webó goal in the first half.

Meanwhile, Tyler Burrows’s Egypt hosted Singapore. Burrows’s team ran out to a confident 4-0 win, although their 1-0 lead at half time was tenuous. Amr Zaki opened the scoring in minute 11, and the score was doubled only in the 55th minute, thanks to Hany Said, who plies his trade at Al-Ahly. Five minutes later, the Pharoahs went 3-0 up thanks to Mohamed Zidan, and the rout was completed with three minutes of normal time remaining, Zamalek’s Gamal Hamza getting the goal.

The final match also involved a Singaporean, and took place in Europe. Mentho Latum’s Tunisia made the trip to Amsterdam to play the Netherlands, and they did a good job of it. Hocine Ragued opened the scoring for Tunisia in the 13th minute, although the team were pegged back by Mark van Bommel in minute 36. However, they took the lead again in the second half, with Chadi Hammani the scorer this time. Yet a goal for Dirk Kuyt and then one for Wesley Sneijder finished off Latum’s team and gave the Netherlands a 3-2 win.

So there is now a pretty empty gap until the World Cup kicks off in South Africa. There are some pre-tournament friendlies at the start of June, and then our African nations get to prove themselves to the rest of the world. Here is a list of the fixtures that will be played in June:

Friendly

Hong Kong (China PR) vs. Ivory Coast

Cameroon vs. Japan

Russia vs. Egypt

Spain vs. Tunisia

World Cup

Tunisia vs. Israel

Serbia vs. Mali

Turkey vs. South Africa

Ivory Coast vs. France

Cameroon vs. Iran

Tunisia vs. Italy

Netherlands vs. Senegal

Mali vs. Chile

South Africa vs. Paraguay

Russia vs. Ivory Coast

Cameroon vs. England

Senegal vs. Ireland

Uruguay vs. Tunisia

Germany vs. Mali

Mexico vs. South Africa

Ivory Coast vs. Saudi Arabia

Spain vs. Cameroon

South Korea vs. Senegal

Plenty to look forward to!

[font=Courier New] [b] Nation  Pl W D L F A GD[/b]
 Cameroon 1 1 0 0 1 0 +1
 Egypt    1 1 0 0 4 0 +4
 Tunisia  1 0 0 1 2 3 -1

 No Games:
 Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, CAF Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo,
 Djibouti, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya,
 Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia,
 Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan,
 Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe[/font]

Pi-

rate this thread! - Nation in the Spotlight

Somalia.png?t=1277577335

Name: Somalia

Capital: Mogadishu

Population: 9.1 million

Manager: Matt Ferguson (MattFergie)

World Ranking: 204

Stadium Capacity: 35,000

Last Three Results: n/a

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canvey!!

canvey!!

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This is for Koffi Ndri Romaric's goal for the Ivory Coast against North Korea.

FIFA_logo.jpg

2010 FIFA World Cup

The moment has arrived, almost! The 2010 FIFA World Cup is about to kick off in South Africa. But before we go there to deal with the coverage, let’s quickly examine the performances of the African nations in the pre-tournament warm-ups.

The Ivory Coast made the slightly bizarre choice to go to China for their match, where they placed Hong Kong (China PR). Baky Koné put Albert Holstein’s team ahead in the 15th minute, with Yaya Touré making it two-nil in the 24th minute. Koné second goal in minute 32 rounded off the Ivory Coast’s goalscoring for the match, which ended 3-0. Meanwhile, Liam Ferguson’s Cameroon played a competitive Japan. Shunji Yamaguchi put Japan ahead in only the 2nd minute, and it took almost the whole match for Cameroon to find an equaliser. However, Stéphane Mbia’s goal in the 77th minute brought them back into it, and they managed to grab a win, with Aurélien Chedjou, making his first appearance for his national team, making it 2-1 in minute 86.

Tyler Burrows ’s Egypt, who will not be competing in South Africa 2010, travelled to Russia for a friendly match. The cold weather won’t have done them any favours against the native opposition, but Egypt wasted no time in getting in front, taking the lead thanks to Mohammed Abou Trika’s goal in the 4th minute. Yury Zhirkov levelled the tie in the 12th minute, but Egypt prevailed, pulling off a surprise victory thanks to Mido’s 89th minute winner. And finally, Mentho Latum’s Tunisia made the short journey to Spain. Álvaro Arbeloa put Vicente del Bosque’s team ahead in the 12th minute, and while it was still 1-0 at half time, Fernando Torres made it 2-0 in minute 57, and that ended up being the final score.

All the World Cup groups, seeds in bold;

Group A: Israel, Italy, Tunisia, Uruguay

Group B: Chile, Germany, Mali, Serbia

Group C: Brazil, Czech Republic, Japan, United States (Group of Death)

Group D: Mexico, Paraguay, South Africa, Turkey

Group E: France, Ivory Coast, Russia, Saudi Arabia

Group F: Argentina, Australia, Honduras, Portugal

Group G: Cameroon, England, Iran, Spain

Group H: Netherlands, Ireland, Senegal, South Korea

The action kicks off shortly!

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canvey!!

canvey!!

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This is for Salomon Kalou's goal for the Ivory Coast against North Korea.

FIFA_logo.jpg

2010 FIFA World Cup

The excitement has been building for over a year now, over many years in fact. To deal with the World Cup, we’ll take three matches involving African nations in turn. Six teams represent the continent; hopefully some can make it into the next round.

June 11th: Tunisia 0-1 Israel

Mentho Latum’s Tunisia were unlucky to lose a match they just about had control of. They bossed the game in the first half, but couldn’t score, and Israel played a bit better in the second lot of 45 minutes. It was in minute 61 that Maor Bozaglo put his country 1-0 up, taking the rebound from a long shot by Jonathan Assous. Italy won their match 2-0 so Tunisia don’t sit bottom of Group A.

Man of the Match: Tal Ben-Haim, SW, Israel (7.5)

[font=Courier New]  Group A
 # Team    P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Italy   1 1 0 0 2 0 +2  3
 2 Israel  1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  3
 3 Tunisia 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1  0
 4 Uruguay 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2  0[/font]

June 12th: Serbia 0-0 Mali

Mikael Schøler’s Mali pick up the first point of an Africa nation in their slightly fortuitous draw with Serbia. They would have lost the game at the death, when Abdou Traoré obstructed Nikola Zigic in the box (I know an obstruction is an indirect free kick in the box or not, but the game doesn’t). Fortunately for the African Cup of Nations Runners-Up, Zvonimir Vukic hit the post with his shot, allowing Djimi Traoré to clear the ball and rescue the point. In the other game, Germany beat Chile 4-1.

Man of the Match: Mohammed Sissoko, MC, Mali (7.3)

  [font=Courier New]Group B
 # Team    P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Germany 1 1 0 0 4 1 +3  3
 2 Mali    1 0 1 0 0 0  0  1
   Serbia  1 0 1 0 0 0  0  1
 4 Chile   1 0 0 1 1 4 -3  0[/font]

June 13th: Turkey 1-0 South Africa

Hosts South Africa were well and truly beaten in their opening game, and the scoreline could have been worse for them. They went into the break level, but their performance in the second half was little different to theirs in the first, only this time Turkey managed to score; Servet Çetin getting the goal. Hamit Altintop took a corner awarded to Turkey, and the bear strangler put his head on it despite being one Turk against several South Africans in the six-yard box. Mexico beat Paraguay 3-2 in the other game, leaving South Africa bottom of their group.

Man of the Match: Servet Çetin, DC, Turkey (7.5)

[font=Courier New]  Group D
 # Team         P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Mexico       1 1 0 0 3 2 +1  3
 2 Turkey       1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  3
 3 Paraguay     1 0 0 1 2 3 -1  0
 4 South Africa 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1  0[/font]

We’ll be hoping for some stronger performances from our African nations when we return to South Africa 2010 in the next update!

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canvey!!

canvey!!

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This is for Kevin-Prince Boateng's goal for Ghana against the United States.

FIFA_logo.jpg

2010 FIFA World Cup

We’re back in South Africa, ready to see the next three of our African nations in action.

June 14th: Ivory Coast 2-1 France

Albert Holstein’s Ivory Coast gave us our first African win of the tournament, and what a win! They looked to be going into half time level, but that was not to be, with Thierry Henry popping up and scoring from a one-on-one in the 43rd minute. But the Ivorians worked their socks off to get back into the game, and all their efforts prevailed in minute 56, when Baky Koné converted their hard work into a goal. Receiving the ball on the left wing, he ran into the central area of the pitch and shot, successfully, from just outside the penalty area. Minutes later, French goalscorer Henry was stretchered off after a challenge from Arthur Boka. A draw was manageable here, but wanting for more, the Ivory Coast pushed forward and scored a second goal, four minutes from time. Receiving the ball from Kader Keita, Arouna Koné (Baky’s brother) didn’t even need two touches before he rifled it into the net from range. With France demoralised and the Ivory Coast motivated, not even their going down to ten men, after Emerse Faé received a second yellow card in the 90th minute, could allow the French back into the game.

Man of the Match: Jérémy Toulalan, MC, France (7.5)

  Group E
 # Nation       P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Ivory Coast  1 1 0 0 2 1 +1  3
 2 Russia       1 0 1 0 1 1  0  1
   Saudi Arabia 1 0 1 0 1 1  0  1
 4 France       1 0 0 1 1 2 -1  0

June 15th: Cameroon 0-1 Iran

I guess this can be counted as an upset. I had predicted that Cameroon, although they would suffer losses to England and Spain, would beat Iran with ease. Instead, they find themselves on the wrong end of a defeat. They perhaps dominated their Middle Eastern opponents, but offered few signs of getting past the Iran defence and goalkeeper, and they were punished for that. Mohsen Ghavidel got the goal in the 84th minute, after Cameroon ‘keeper Carlos Kameni made the mistake of simply punching Abouzar Mohammadkhani’s corner in Ghavidel’s general direction. The other game, I think you’ll be pleased to know, ended goalless between England and Spain.

Man of the Match: Mohammad Shahriyari, GK, Iran (7.8)

  Group G
 # Nation   P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Iran     1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  3
 2 England  1 0 1 0 0 0  0  1
   Spain    1 0 1 0 0 0  0  1
 4 Cameroon 1 0 0 1 0 1 -1  0

June 16th: Netherlands 2-1 Senegal

It was always going to be a tough game for Edward Still’s Senegal to start off with. However, they did finely, keeping the Netherlands off the ball and having plenty of shots, although a good proportion of them were speculative and long-range. Clarence Seedorf put the Dutch ahead in the 18th minute, placing the ball beautifully into the corner of Senegal’s net from long range. However, the scores were level before half time thanks to Senegal’s very own Alan Shearer, Demba Ba. Receiving the ball from Mamadou Niang, he made his run, splitting open the Dutch defence, allowing him to slot home past Maarten Stekelenburg. But it was not to be for Senegal, who conceded a second goal on the one-and-three-quarter hour mark. Finding himself in space but a long way from goal, Wesley Sneijder took a shot and…it went in! A beautiful long-range goal gave the Netherlands the lead, which they kept to win 2-1. In the other game, Ireland and South Korea drew 1-1 with a goal from Wigan’s Daryl Murphy.

Man of the Match: Wesley Sneijder, MR, Netherlands (7.9)

  Group H
 # Team        P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Netherlands 1 1 0 0 2 1 +1  3
 2 Ireland     1 0 1 0 1 1  0  1
   South Korea 1 0 1 0 1 1  0  1
 4 Senegal     1 0 0 1 1 2 -1  0

Well, the Ivory Coast picked up Africa’s first win but overall it has been a pretty bad performance from the African nations. Let’s hope for some more passion in the next three games.

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This is for Asamoah Gyan's goal for Ghana against the United States.

FIFA_logo.jpg

2010 FIFA World Cup

We’re in South Africa, bringing BATRACER viewers all the news from the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Well, not all the news – just the news about the African nations.

June 16th: Tunisia 0-2 Italy

After having lost their first game, Tunisia were up against it in their second, against World Champions Italy. Mauro Camoranesi put the Italians in front in just the 9th minute, with a plucky shot from near the byline that was probably supposed to be a cross. Giampaolo Pazzini doubled the lead just before half time, taking full advantage of his position away from any Tunisian defenders and of Camoranesi’s pass, to slip the ball home past Hamdi Kasraoui in the Tunisia net. The final scoreline was actually quite flattering for Tunisia.

Man of the Match: Mauro Camoranesi, MR, Italy (8.2)

[font=Courier New]  Group A
 # Team    P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Italy   2 2 0 0 4 0 +4  6
 2 Israel  1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  3
 3 Uruguay 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2  0
 4 Tunisia 2 0 0 2 0 3 -3  0[/font]

June 17th: Mali 4-0 Chile

Mali continued their reputation of being among the best of the African nations at this World Cup with a rousing victory over Chile. Chile got no more than one shot on target in the entire match, and Mikael Schøler’s team found themselves 2-0 within six minutes. Frédéric Kanouté got both of the first two goals, taking advantage of Claudio Bravo’s crazy goalkeeping fumble in the 2nd minute, and heading home Seydou Keita’s cross in the 6th. Keita had made a brilliant run from the halfway line, with Kanouté taking most of the glory. But Keita would get himself on the scoresheet later on, but not before Mamady Sidibé. The 30-year-old headed Kanouté’s own cross past Bravo to give Mali a 3-0 lead just before the half an hour mark. Then, in minute 43, Keita’s goal came when Mamadou Diallo’s cross came to him at the far post. Keita had escaped his Chilean marker and simply prodded the ball past Bravo to finish the rout before half time. True to real life, Serbia sprung a surprise upset on Germany in their match, winning 2-1, which puts Mali on top of the group. Uruguay beat Israel 2-0 in the other game today, which gives Tunisia a slim but unlikely chance of progressing.

Man of the Match: Frédéric Kanouté, ST, Mali (8.8)

  Group B
 # Team    P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Mali    2 1 1 0 4 0 +4  4
 2 Serbia  2 1 1 0 2 1 +1  4
 3 Germany 2 1 0 1 5 3 +2  3
 4 Chile   2 0 0 2 1 8 -7  0 –

June 19th: Russia 0-1 Ivory Coast

This is more like it! Two consecutive African wins, and Albert Holstein’s Ivory Coast seal their progression from the group stages with a win over Russia. The game was close, and the teams were only separated by Didier Drogba’s 37th minute goal. The Chelsea striker put a curling shot past Russia ‘keeper Igor Akinfeev, and it turned out to be sufficient for the win. Meanwhile, France beat Saudi Arabia 3-0.

Man of the Match: Dider Drogba, ST, Ivory Coast (7.5)

  Group E
 # Team         P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Ivory Coast  2 2 0 0 3 1 +2  6  Q
 2 France       2 1 0 1 4 2 +2  3
 3 Russia       2 0 1 1 1 2 -1  1
 4 Saudi Arabia 2 0 1 1 1 4 -3  1

So, some improved performances, or it could just be that two of the better African nations here are skewing the statistics. The hosts are up next, playing their second game.

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