Sorry for not posting earlier, but I had internet problems so couldn't post.


Group A is still very much open, Algeria recovered after their bashing by Malawi to beat Mali. A set piece header defeated Mali, in a match where they never got going at all. Trainer Keshi has yet to explain why he never started Kanoute and only gave him 20mins to try save the game. What must be hard to swallow is that Mali were very very very poor in midfield, they had for the first time under Keshi, the trio of Seydou Keita, Mohamadou Diarra and Mohammed Sisokko all starting, and they couldn't string more than 3 passes together, and even worse, Algeria were able to slice through them easily time and time again. Algeria took advantage of lack of organization in the Mali set piece marking scheme, and although not a big improvement over the Malawi thumping, they can build on this.


Angola on the otherhand took full advantage of the organization weakness of Malawi. Backed by a packed home stadium, they roared ahead with another Flavio goal just after half time, his 3rd of the tournament and he should be favourite now to get the golden boot. The second by Manucho after he robbed the Malawi skipper and lofted home led to the party tricks coming out as is custom in African football. Angola were tighter and passed very well. Malawi to their credit came out to attack and were very vibrant, and could have scored. If Malawi are supposed to be one of the worst teams in the tournament, then Africa has 16 solid teams. I'm sure one or two of this team will make moves to low-mid level European leagues very soon.


Group B already has a team qualified, Cote d' Ivoire were looking into the abyss, now they have left Ghana looking towards early elimination. Ghana had many players not present, either through being omitted for disciplinary reasons (Muntari) or injured (Appiah-Mensah) or semi present like Essien. Either way, they lined up with a very inexperienced team, captain Essien on the bench along with stellar players like Draman and Sarpei. What was immediately apparent, normally Ghana are very well built, this team was very small and overpowered physically by the Ivorians who had better passing and better structure.


The Ivorians opened the scoring with a swift counter attack, Toure Yaya slipping a pass behind the high Ghana defence, Kalou got a perfect touch and set up Gervinho to tap into an empty net, 1-0. The second was a hard strike by left back Tiene who hit a freekick from a tight angle, although the goal keeper Kingson was poorly positioned, 2-0. This led to a red card for Eboue for a two legged challenge, while not dangerous, very very reckless, and he could have no complaints. The third arrived after some neat trickery by Keita on the left who left defender Inkoom on his backside before lofting an inviting cross for Drogba to head home with power, 3-0. Ghana earned a very soft penalty scored by Gyan, 3-1.

Ghana may have been saving their best players for the clash with Burkina Faso, but it is a very dangerous ploy, a win or draw today would have set them up, now the game with the Burkinable is a pressure game. They were very lightweight, and never passed the ball well enough. Ivory Coast were in top gear, the midfield and attack linked well, although at the back they do look a bit suspect, and Ghana never really tested Barry in goal. They will expect at the very least to get to the semi's, however with Eboué who is important for them at right back in the next match could lead to teams exploiting them on the flanks.