Soccer-Standings of the Cup of Nations

Draw against Togo has upset Ivorian plans - Coach.

Ghanaians jubilate after Cote d'Ivoire, Togo draw

Algeria, Congo draw in CAN match

South Africa looking ahead - Coach

Oliseh describes Nigerian victory a good start

Nwanko Kanu receives best African player trophy

Cameroonians still confident despite their team's draw

Accra (Greater Accra) 25 Jan 2000

Standings of the 16-country African Cup of Nations after matches played on Monday tabulated under number of matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for and goals against.

Group A P W D L F A.....Pts GD

Cameroun 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0

Cote d'Ivoire 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0

Ghana 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0

Togo 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0

Group B P W D L F A....Pts GD

South Africa 1 1 0 0 3 1 3 +2

Algeria 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Congo DR 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Gabon 1 0 0 1 1 3 0 -2

Group C P W D L F A.....Pts GD

Egypt 1 1 0 0 2 0 3 +2

Zambia 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 -2

Senegal

Burkina

Group D P W D L F A....Pts GD

Nigeria 1 1 0 0 4 2 3 +2

Tunisia 1 0 0 1 2 4 0 -2

Congo Bra

Morocco

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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 Jan 2000

The Coach of the Ivorian National team, Martin Gbonke Tia Martin described his team's 1-1 draw with the Togolese in Monday’s group A second match as a big upset against their plans for CAN 2000.

He said the team wasted a lot of scoring chances in the first half in which they gained the upper-hand, adding that if they had utilised the numerous chances, they would have won the game.

He said the Togolese were very physique and fast especially in the second half and this put fear into his boys who were not used to that type of robust play because "Ivorian soccer is very slow and possessive".

" The two Togolese players up-front Maman Sherif Toure in number 10 and Abdel Kader Coubadja in 17 gave my defence a lot of problems in the second half."

Coach Martin said the competition is not over and although everybody was expecting them to win none of the teams in the tournament came to loose.

Cyrille Domoraud, the captain of the Elephants, expressed his satisfaction with result even though they missed a lot of chances in the first half.

On the contrary, the Togolese Coach, Gottlieb Goeller said football is a game for the strong and did not agree with the assertion by his Ivorian counterpart that his boys played a robust game.

He said since they do not have superstars like Ibrahim Bakayoko of the Ivorians they have to fight hard to win.

Coach Goeller said the penalty awarded against his team was fair but was disappointed when the referee failed to award his team a penalty when the scores were 1-1, adding that perhaps "he did not want my team to win the game".

He said the injury sustained by the team's top defender Ametokodo Messan in the early part of the first half affected them badly adding that some of the players did not play the roles assigned to them.

This, he said contributed to their dismal performance in the first half. However, when those rough edges were smoothened, everything worked out well in the second half, he said.

Coach Goeller said excerpt for Nigeria, which he said was in a class of its own, the rest have equal chances in the tournament

On their next match against Ghana on Thursday, he said even though Ghanaians are tipped as favourites because of the quality of players they have, he thinks he also has the right quality of players to upset the Ghanaian side, "since in football everything is possible"

Coach Goeller who described Togo as the outsiders in the tournament, expressed the hope that they would qualify to the second stage of the tournament.

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Accra (Greater Accra) 25 Jan 2000

Hundreds of Ghanaian soccer fans, who watched the Togo-Cote d'Ivoire group A second match at the Accra Sports Stadium on Monday, poured unto the streets after the two sides had settled for a 1-1 draw.

The draw was a happy news for Ghanaians, who were not satisfied with the Black Stars' 1-1 draw against the Cameroonains in their opening match on Saturday.

The result puts the four teams on level terms with a point apiece.

The Black Stars play Togo on Thursday, a match described by many as the "decider".

"I'm very optimistic that with a little effort Ghana should be able to scale past Togo." said an excited fan after the match.

He said if the Stars are able to take their chances in the first half, and keep an eye on striker Abdel Kader, they should be able to carry the day.

The two top teams qualify to the next stage of the competition.

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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 25 Jan 2000

Algeria and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) settled for a scrappy goalless drawn game in the second group "B" match of the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Monday.

The sparse crowd sat through a boring spectacle as the two teams failed to impress.

The Congolese kicked-off but lost the ball to the Algerians, who earned the first corner-kick in the third minute but wasted it.

Led by Ngonge Michel, the Congolese dazzled the Algerians with defence splitting moves in the 15th minute but advancing Emeka Esanga, who had outpaced the defence shot off target virtually unchallenged.

The Algerians counter-attacked four minutes later as the Congolese failed to stop a move but Krouche Masreddine's sizzling shot missed the upright to set the tone for a spate of near misses that was to follow.

The Algerians made two changes in the second half when Mezonat Brahim and Abdelhafid replaced Fawzi and Rafik while Congo brought in Yamweri Ngidi for Nsilulu Makaya but these did not alter the trend of the game.

The Congolese showed signs of tiredness in the latter stages of the game as their opponents went all out to break the deadlock but goalkeeper Mayala Nkueni brought off brilliant saves.

In a curtain raiser, Kumasi Asante Kotoko beat Brong-Ahafo United 3-1. Awudu Adama, Kambou Clovis and Samuel Bakai scored for Kotoko while Godfried Yeboah scored for United.

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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 25 Jan. 2000

South Africa's coach, Trot Moloto, said his team's 3-1 victory over Gabon in last night's group B match was just the beginning.

Speaking at a post-match conference at the Kumasi Sports Stadium on Monday, Coach Moloto said even though they won, the competition still has a long way to go.

Coach Moloto said with this at the back of his mind, he did not want to fatigue his players, he said, adding that that was why they allowed the Gabonese to do most of the running.

He said even though the performance of his boys was not very good, he was quite happy with the result.

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Lagos (Nigeria) 25 Jan 2000

Nigerian skipper Sunday Oliseh has described Super Eagles' 4-2 victory over Tunisia in their Group D match as a good start in the 16-team African Nations Cup championship being co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana.

"It was not an easy match," said Oliseh, who stars for Juventus of Italy, at a post-match briefing.

But he denied his team was caught flat-footed, allowing the Tunisians to score a cheap last minute goal.

"We held them for the greater part of the game," Oliseh said, adding that the Eagles would get better as the tournament progressed.

Nigerian deputy team coach and ex-international Stephen Keshi, echoed Oliseh's sentiments, urging the restive Nigerian soccer fans to show more understanding towards the team.

He said the Super Eagles, who had only been together for about one month, played "to tactics and we won," adding that they had a slight edge over the Tunisians.

Against CAF rule, neither the Tunisian coaching crew, nor the players were ready to give the mandatory post-match media briefing.

Paul Bassey, an official of the Local Organising committee said it was CAF's duty to get officials and players to the mixed zone for post-match conferences.

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Lagos (Nigeria) 25 Jan 2000

Africa's best football player of the year, Nwanko Kanu received his trophy Sunday from the newly re-elected president of the Confederation of African Football, Issa Hayatou.

The hand-over before the kick-off of the Nigeria- Tunisia Group D match in Lagos, was witnessed by Sepp Blatter, the FIFA president who is attending the 22nd African Cup of Nations being co-hosted by Nigeria and Ghana.

This is the second time that Kanu, who plays for the London Club of Arsenal, has been voted African best player of the year. He was awarded the same trophy in 1996 after leading the "Super Eagles" to an Olympic Gold at the Atlanta Olympic Games in the US.

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Yaounde (Cameroon) 25 Jan 2000

Cameroonians say they are hopeful that their national squad would lift the trophy in spite of the 1-1 draw with the Black Stars of Ghana during the opening match of the 22nd edition of the CAN 2000 played Saturday in Accra.

Some fans even said after the match that the coach made a mistake when he replaced Joseph-Desire Job, while the optimists maintained that Cameroon dominated the match.

However, others said they consider the draw as a loss.

The chairman of the Cameroonian Athletics Association and current chairman of the National Olympic Committee, Col. Kalkaba Malboum, who watched the game on television, observed that Cameroon "was not mentally strong to defend their one goal lead."

He also expressed regret over the lack of cohesion in the team but said nothing is lost for the country once mistakes are corrected during the rest of the competition.

That view is shared by the secretary general of the CEP/FECAFOOT, Jean Pierre Atangana Mballa, who said: "We should not forget that it was an opening match in front of a crowd backing their team, which is one of the favourites in the competition. A draw in these conditions is a good result.

Cameroon has a complete and strong team. Our chances of qualification remain high."

Cameroon will play Cote d'Ivoire on 28 January in Accra.

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