Guinea and Ghana take care of business

Guinea holds off the score-happy Moroccans in a surprising well played match while Ghana helps Nambia packs their bags for their trip home. Also, news on possible match-fixing has reared its head four days into the tournament. Sadly, I lost the office pool as I expected match fixing stories to come out on day two.



Thursday Results
Ghana 1-0 Namibia A closer game than one would have thought after Namibia's trouncing by Morocco two days prior, but swapping keepers is a worthy idea. The play was inspired but the result was probably set before the match started. Sorry Namibia.

Guinea 3-2 Morocco This match features some great ball play, more excellent goal scoring, and the tournament's first red card, a very nice unprofessional ankle kick. Guinea bounced back from their early lost to Ghana with great play from Pascal Feindouno, who then decided to pull a sweep the leg move on Morrocan midfieler Erbate in an off-ball incident. Morocco's first was a nice free kick just a few minutes into the match that left the keeper confused. After a second goal by Bangoura, Morocco scored on a brilliant strike to bring the match close. However, there was too much Feindouno: two goals on set pieces, and a red card. Well done.

Other News

In other news, there are stories surfacing that the Benin coach was asked to fix the Mali match. The mistake the gentleman made was that he approached the right team, but the wrong coach. You never ask a German to fix something unless you have some serious cash. They are always righteous. But he has a valid point - the smaller African counties can not pay their players that much, and the ones that don't play in larger leagues could always use the extra cash (forget that, most people could use the extra cash). We'll see if something comes out in the coming days on more stories on match-fixing.

Friday's Matches

Ivory Coast v Benin, B, 17:00 Speaking of match-fixing, they should not have to worry here, and Ivory Coast should be set to handle Benin with ease. Nothing against Benin, but with Drogba leading Ivory Coast, they will be motivated to play well or feel his wrath. For some reason I always think if Kevin Garnett when I see Drogba out on the pitch - fiercely competitive and unhappy with sloppy play.

Nigeria v Mali, B, 19:30 Expect this match to be a bit tighter, and Nigeria may play this one tense. They need to win or go home, and going home isn't an option to them right now. Mali is playing fairly inspired ball so far. Having an obscure music festival in their western desert doesn't hurt either.