CAN 2010: Review

The curtains have fallen on the latest installment of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. It was a tournament where sadly the attack on the Togo national team that left 2 dead has overshadowed the football. Frankly the caliber of football on display throughout CAN 2010 left a lot to be desired. However one team did fit the bill, Egypt. The Pharaohs constantly entertained throughout their successful title defending campaign. Egypt managed to finish off with a host of records and achievements.

a) It was a 3rd successive win for Egypt, a feat that was never achieved in the history of the Africa Cup of Nations.

b) This was a 7th Cup win for the Pharaohs, three clear of their nearest rivals Cameroon and Ghana

c) Egypt have stretch their undefeated record in the competition to 19 games spanning from 2004 ( a 0-0 draw with Cameroon in Tunisia) till the 1-0 defeat of Ghana in Angola 2010

d) Egypt have the joint record (with Ghana) of participating in the Final game of the competition. Both Nations have played 8 finals.

e) Egypt hold the record for most Africa Cup of Nations appearances.

f) Egypt have scored more goals in the CAN than any other nations

g) Egypt have scored the most goals in Angola 2010, 15 goals. Tying their previous record in Ghana 2008

Individually Egypt had a lot to show for as well:

a) Best Player of the Tournament was awarded to Egypt Captain Ahmed Hassan

b) Goal Keeper of the Tournament was awarded to Egypt Shot Stopper Essam Al Hadary

c) Top Scorer of Angola 2010 was Mohamed Naggy "Geddo" with 5 goals to his name.

d) Hassan Shehata became the first ever coach to win 3 successive Cup of Nations.

e) Geddo became the first ever tournament top scorer to win the award off the bench, failing to start a single game in the competition.

f) Ahmed Hassan became the most capped player in Egypt's history surpassing the legendary Hossam Hassan with 172 Caps.

g) Ahmed Hassan became the most capped player in the history of the African Continent with 172 Caps.

The previous list of achievements are facts. To keep things a bit more interesting I decided to make my own awards depending solely on my opinion

Best Goal:

Winner:Abdel Kader Kieta, Cote D'Ivoire vs Algeria.

Coming across the pitch from the right hand side dribbling past players he unleashed a screamer in the top corner worthy of winning any match, it didn't though.

Runner Up:Mohamed Zidan, Egypt vs Algeria.

The striker dribbled to the edge of the penalty area and proceeded to twist and turn Algeria's Belhadj several times showing incredible skill and ball control and then unleashed a left footed strike into the top corner, magical.

Best Team: Egypt, Isn't it obvious?

Black Horse: Zambia, The Copper Bullets looked dead and buried after an agonizing defeat to Cameroon. They came back to beat Gabon and top their group only to lose to Nigeria on penalties in the Quarter Final. Well done.

Best Surprise: Ghana, Missing star players like Muntari, Appiah, Panstil, Mensah and with Essien just recovering from injury their coach was forced to field a lot of youngsters, it did not look good for the black stars. A destructive defeat in their first game against Cote D'Ivoire added to their woes and no on gave them a chance. They reached the final and lost a very close game to Egypt.

Surprise Result: Malawi 3 Algeria 0, No one in world football expected this result. Malawi were virtual new comers on the African scene and Algeria were world cup qualifiers. Malawi dominated and was aided with some goal keeping howlers and deserved their win. Sadly they could not capitalize on the win and crashed out from the first round. Algeria picked themselves up and reached the Semi Final.

Most Thrilling Match: Angola 4 Mali 4, The hosts came on strong with goals from Flavio, Gilberto and Manucho and took a commanding 4-0 lead with 15minutes to go. The Angolans were celebrating until Mali constructed one of the most miraculous of footballing comebacks scoring 4 goals in succession. The last two of which came in injury time. No one could believe their eyes!

Most Enjoyable Match: Egypt 4 Algeria 0, This game was very enjoyable to me. The African Champions proceeded to dismantle the Algerian team with calm, cool and lethal display of football. Revenge was sweet.

Best Player: Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), The Egyptian skipper lead his team to a third successive Cup win and a personal fourth. His energetic and experienced displays were a joy to behold. He was critical to Egypt's campaign in both attack and defense. You would never guess that he was turning 35 years old.

Break Out Star: Mohamed Geddo (Egypt), The striker was a virtual unknown quantity to Egyptians and Africans alike. Shehata gambled on him by including him ahead of the likes of Mido and Zaki and he repaid him in spades. Having a soft touch and a clinical eye for goal, Geddo proceeded to score some breath taking goals, coming off the bench in every single game. His master piece was a peach in the final to win Egypt the tournament. He finished off as top scorer and this will always be remembered as the tournament of Geddo.

Best Keeper:

Winner: Essam Al Hadary (Egypt)

Runner Up: Richard Kingson (Ghana)

In a competition which was shaped by goal keeping mistakes these two keepers are the only ones in the tournament that looked at ease between the posts. Both of them were not fantastic but their consistent displays helped their teams to the Final.

Best Coach:

Winner: Hassan Shehata (Egypt),The veteran achieved the unthinkable with the Pharaohs, winning a third successive Cup of Nations. He was criticized severely after failing to reach the World Cup but has gone along way in redeeming himself. Thought to be the greatest ever African and Egyptian Coach.

Runner Up: Milovan Rajevac (Ghana), With a depleted side and forced to start many youngsters from the world champion under 20 side he managed to forge a formidable team. The players were very disciplined and extremely fit and physical. The injured veterans will have a hard time breaking into the squad. Watch out for Ghana in the World Cup.

Honorable Mention: Arnaud Sika (Benin), He is an excellent player and was Benin's best performer. He is also possibly the smallest ever professional footballer at 155cm (5ft 1in).

Worst Player: Rigobert Song (Cameroon), He had previously not missed a single minute in the Cup Of Nations for his country. An appalling display against Zambia, where he was responsible for the 2 goals Cameroon conceded forced his coach to bench him for the rest of the tournament. He looked lazy and unfit. He was a great player and should respect his history and retire after the world cup.

Worst Coach: Fawzy El Benzarty (Tunisia), Having inherited a demoralized team after failing to qualify to the world cup, El Benzarty can be excused for not reaching the next round. However in my opinion the failure to qualify was his fault. He seemed clueless and unaware of what is going on in both the match and the post match interviews. Tunisia deserve better.