7 games, 22 goals, 3.14 average per game, compared to yesterday, the goals may have dried up, but still bucketloads.


The first game, saw Gabon meet Cameroon. As if meeting in twice in the last 5 months was not enough, they meet again in this edition of the tournament. Cameroon lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, Eto'o and Emana playing behind Webo, Gabon in their compact 4-5-1 with Cousin the point man.


The match started as usual, fast paced, Gabon had their first effort on goal within the first minute, after Song-Billong gave the ball away at the edge of his box with a lazy pass. From then on, Gabon were on the back foot, Geremi making big strides down the right with his trickery put Gabon under serious pressure. Emana linked up well with Geremi, and could have scored the goal of the tournament after dragging the ball between two players with his instep and smashing the post. However after that, Gabon sucker punched Cameroon, again Song-Billong caught on the ball, and charging between Song and N'koulou, Cousin guided his shot past Kameni, 1-0.


After that, it is safe to say, for the rest of the half, and game, Cameroon were kept at arms length by the hard working Gabon side who sat deep and broke quickly. Cameroon controlled a lot of the ball, but couldn't find the final pass. There is a lot to criticise Cameroon for, but first, we must praise Gabon, and for me, it is not a surprise they won this game.


In World Cup Qualification, Gabon were leading the table until Round 4, and had they played Cameroon in June 2009 where they had a 4 point lead, they would have been in the World Cup. However due to the death of long time president Bongo, which led to many days of mourning, the match wasn't played, Cameroon got their act together, and Gabon had lost focus. Gabon are a side on the rise, players like Cousin and Moulongi are driving this small nation forward, and guided by French legend Alain Girese from 'Magic Square' fame with Platini-Tigana-Fernandez, he has made this team dangerous on the break,and disciplined at the back. the goal keeper Ovono put in a clinic in how to keep a clean sheet, he saved his team and led from the back.

Cameroon, well they had squabbles at the start with the Spurs duo of Bassong and Ekotto disrupting preparations for their omissions from the squad of the former. Then they changed training camp from Rwanda to Kenya, and then only arriving 3 days before their first game, led to them not being in rhythm for the game. The choice of Rigobert Song at the back is a disaster waiting to happen, he is still an inspiration, but speedy forwards will enjoy facing  him. In midfield, N'Guemo wasn't as dynamic as Mbia could have been, and Song-Billong played way too deep than he normally does for Cameroon. He needs to be much closer to the strikers to find the passes, instead N'Guemo and Makoun were scuttling around and not adding much to attack. Also Eto'o was played wide too much, maybe for 15-20 mins to work the flank, but defenders worldwide fear Eto'o, this is a man who is deadly and doesn't need many chances to score, playing him wide is a waste. There is hard work ahead for Le Guen.


I never saw the second game, but a 1-1 draw again shows the minnows don't care about reputations and names, they come out to play and win and defend their nations colours, lets hope it continues.