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Gyan: Ghana made mistakes
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HANA CAPTAIN Asamoah Gyan expects his side to learn from their mistakes against DR Congo on Sunday, having squandered a two-goal cushion to finish 2-2. The Black Stars powered their way into the lead through goals from Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and
•Gyan
Kwadwo Asamoah in the opening Group B clash of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON). But the Leopards hit back courtesy of Tresor Mputu and Cedric Makiadi to secure a share of the spoils at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium for Claude Le Roy's men. Gyan, arguably Ghana's weakest player on the weekend, believes the four-time AFCON winners have it all to do before their next encounter, against group leaders Mali, on Thursday. "What we have to do is to go home and correct our mistakes and make sure that any time we are ahead, we do our best to win the game," Gyan told the Ghanaian football association's website. "It's a big lesson to us. Talking about this game, we were up by two goals to nil and the Congolese equalised. "We made a couple of mistakes and they came back strongly. They showed great character. "Although it was a balanced game, we will make sure we go home and correct our mistakes and come back for the second game.”
Adebayor eyeing revenge over Drogba
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OTTENHAM HOTSPUR striker Emmanuel Adebayor will try to settle a score with former Chelsea frontman Didier Drogba when Togo face Ivory Coast at the African Nations Cup today. Two of Africa's most successful players have been rivals for years and Adebayor (right) is hoping his Togo side will put Drogba's Ivory Coast to the sword in their opening Group D match and go some way to making him feel better about last season. First Chelsea crushed Spurs 5-1 in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley, subsequently going on to win the final against Liverpool as Drogba became the first man to score in four FA Cup finals. Then in May, Drogba ended his hugely successful career at Chelsea by scoring a late equaliser against Bayern Munich in the Champions League final before converting the winning penalty in the shootout and simultaneously depriving Adebayor's Spurs a place in this season's competiti on.
meaning that Spurs were heading for the Champions League as long as Chelsea did not win the final. "It was very tough to take," Adebayor said. "It was like a very b a d defeat even though w e d i d not play i n the mat ch itsel f . But thi ngs chan ge quickl y i n football a n d there is always
•Adebayor Spurs had finished fourth in the a chance to turn a failure, or a Premier League and Chelsea sixth, perceived failure into a success.”
Lacen ready for Tunisia clash
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NATIONSPORT TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013
LGERIA CAPTAIN Medhi Lacen believes his side are ready for the crucial opening match of the 2013 African Cup of Nations against neighbours Tunisia. The two sides will meet at the Royal Bafokeng stadium tonight in search of maximum points as they look to progress from Group D which includes Ivory Coast and Togo. ''We are looking forward to the start of the competition and the atmosphere within the group is good,” Lacen told reporters at a press conference.
''We are ready; now this is the true beginning of the competition.” When the two sides last met in a friendly match in 2011 it was Algeria who edged Tunisia 1-0 courtesy of a strike from Ryan Boudebouz, but Lacen says that result is in the past. “We do not have a psychological edge over Tunisia,” he said. “Since our last meeting their team has changed and it will be a different game. “I do not think this game will be a decider. If we lose we will be forced to win the next two games.”
Joan: Angola must peak at the right time
AFCON WINNER
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takes $1.5m •Taraabt
Club over country for Taraabt
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HE winner of the 2013 African Cup of Nations tournament will bag $1.5million as well as bragging rights until the 2015 tournament. The Confederation of African Football will spend $10million on prize money as the runners-up will
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OROCCO's Adel Taraabt has explained why he chose his club over representing his country at the 2013 African Cup of Nations. The midfielder has been accused of disrespecting coach Rachid Taoussi, which led to him being axed from the squad and subsequently asked by the Moroccan FA to apologise for his actions. The QPR man, though, feels his services are more desperately required at the struggling Premier League club than on the African stage. "My team is at the bottom of the league, and I can't leave them to play at AFCON. I talked with my family and close friends and they supported me in this decision," he said. "The team gives me a lot of good things and I can't leave them. I know that my decision makes many Moroccan fans angry with me but I want to help my team," he added. "Morocco has many good players and even without me they will do well at AFCON." Morocco drew 0-0 with Angola in their opening AFCON 2013 fixture on Saturday evening.
get a cool $1million, while the the semi-finalists bag $750,000 each. Below is the list of prize money and how much will be paid to each of the participants, depending on where they finish. Winner: $1.500.000 Losing finalist: $1.000.000
Semi-finalist: $750.000 Semi-finalist: $750.000 Quarter-finalist: $600.000 Quarter-finalist: $600.000 Quarter-finalist: $600.000 Quarter-finalist: $600.000 Third-place in group: $500.000 each
YAYA TOURE: Group D is the most difficult I
VORY COAST midfielder a Toure says his side are ready to challenge for the 2013 Africa
Yay
Cup of Nations despite the s t r o n g opposition that they w i l l
Vaclke: Africa has much to offer
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EROME VACLKE, Secretary-General of FIFA, said on Monday that Africa had great potential to offer something valuable to world football. Vaclke made the remark in an interview with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) official website on the sidelines of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations tournament in South Africa. He described the Nations Cup as a major tournament that had earned global recognition, stressing that FIFA was working closely with CAF toward ensuring a good development structure. "A lot of work is being done in the continent. Africa is not just a place where you have great footballers playing for some top clubs around the world. Africa has a lot of potential and Africa has a lot to offer to football. "We are working closely with CAF to ensure that Africa has more professional leagues; that Africa has good development structures,” he said. Vaclke said his expectation on the ongoing tournament was high, saying the tournament would be a remarkable success. He said winners of the tournament would represent Africa when the FIFA Confederation Cup kicks off in June in Brazil. "This is the biggest competition on African soil and it is watched globally. It is a key tournament; it brings all countries in Africa together. We expect this AFCON to be a great tournament. The winner will be in Brazil in June for the FIFA Confederations Cup where they will face other continental champions,” Vaclke said. The secretary-general said the infrastructure of the Nations Cup was largely as a result of the successful hosting of South Africa 2010. "Five of the venues that are being used for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations were built before the World Cup. These facilities have benefitted South Africa and Africa. You have to look at the infrastructure here in Johannesburg; the roads and transportation. "That is the beauty of the World Cup; I think it gave South Africa the capacity to host major events without any problems,” he said. He said the participation of AFCON debutant, Cape Verde, was an indication that FIFA’s development programmes were yielding positive results.
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•Yaya Toure
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e. The Elephants go into the tournament as one of the top favourites, and the Manchester City star says they are prepared mentally and physically. “We have prepared in very good conditions in the United Arab Emirates and also here in South Africa,” Toure told Le Buteur.
“We are working group is well Nations.” S a b r i campaign against Stadium this the match will his side. “It will be a are,”
in a good atmosphere. I think the prepared for the African Cup of Lamouchi’s side will start their Togo at the Royal Bafokeng afternoon, and Toure believes not be a walk in the park for difficult game as all matches he said. “Togo remains a very good team that has produced some positive results. “For us it is very important to win the first match for our morale and to continue the rest of the tournament with full
confidence. “Group D, which includes Ivory Coast, Togo, Algeria and Tunisia is the most difficult and things will not be easy for the four teams. “Each wants to qualify, but in the end only two teams will qualify to the quarter-finals and the other two will be eliminated. “Everything will be decided on the field, but in my opinion, the matches from this group will be the hardest and most beautiful to watch for the fans.”
Mali set for Ghana test
ALI COACH Patrice Carteron says they are ready for Ghana after a morale-boosting win against Niger in their first group match of the 2013 African Cup of Mali, along with the Black Stars, are favoured to top this Nations. group - and the two clash on Thursday. The Eagles earned the first victory of this year's finals as all "It was a difficult game against a very defensive team like the teams in Group A drew their matches on Saturday while Niger," Carteron told BBC. in Group B Ghana threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with the "But I'm happy for the players because they have worked Democratic Republic of Congo. hard and this win will boost confidence for the next match It was none other than Mali captain and veteran midfielder against Ghana." Seydou Keita who scored the only goal in the 84th minute, and Meanwhile, Niger coach Gernot Rohr was pleased with his
side's performance, despite the result, saying: "We tried our best against a top team like Mali. "My players have great fighting spirit and big hearts, so you can be happy even when they lose." Port Elizabeth soccer fans will be in for a treat this Thursday as Ghana takes on Mali at 5pm before the DR Congo faces Niger at 8pm, with both games scheduled be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
10-man Ethiopia hold Zambia A •Ethiopia's Minyahile Teshome,(l) is challenged by Zamia's Davies Nkausu, (r) during their African Cup of Nations Group
NATION SPORT
FTER being reduced to ten men in the first half, Ethiopia came from a goal down to force the defending champions Zambia to a score draw at the Mbombela stadium on Monday. Goals from Zambia’s Collins Mbesuma in the first half and a second half equalizer from Ethiopia's Adane Gima made sure both sides shared points in the keenly contested encoumter. 2012 African Cup of nations defending Champions Zambia came off from sloppy start to take a 1-0 half time lead against a ten-man Ethiopia in a Group 'C' opener that kicked off at
1800hrs from the Mbombela Stadium on Monday 21 January 2013. The substitute Addis Hintsa played a penetrative ball forward, his first touch, to find Saladin Seid on the edge of the box. He controlled it and pushed it into the area for the onrushing Adane Girma, who crunched his shot past Mweene at the near post. As with the Zambia goal, the defending wasn't great – Saladin had too much space on the edge of the area and Adane was allowed to run – but Ethiopia will legitimately feel it was well conceived.
NGOLA’s goalkeeper, Luis Mamona Joan, said on Monday that they needed to peak at the right time at the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa. Angola will meet hosts, South Africa, at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium in a key match that might shed some light on the destination of Group A. Angola had on Saturday in their opening match drew goalless with Morocco, while South Africa also drew goalless with debutants Cape Verde Islands in the tournament’s opening match. The Petro Luanda goalkeeper who is better known as ``Lama” said on the AFCON 2013 official website that he was optimistic that they could mount a strong challenge in their group. "We started this tournament with a draw against Morocco on Saturday. We need to prepare our minds for the next game against South Africa. For us, it is important that we peak at the right time in this event,” he said. The goalkeeper was instrumental to Angola’s goalless draw against Morocco as he pulled a number of stunning saves that kept his side in the game. The draw might have been a fair reflection of the game, but it neither helped Morocco nor Angola as Group A is likely to be a tightly-contested sprint. South Africa, Angola’s next opponents, may not have played a great game against Cape Verde, but by their admission, it was not
a productive day for Bafana Bafana. He added that South Africa would be potent in front of the home crowd, in what is expected to be a sold out match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. "South Africa is a good team. I did not watch their game against Cape Verde, but I know they are a quality side. They have done well in Africa before, they have experience. For us, we have to play well and execute our chances. We need to win this game,” Lama said. All the teams in Group A: Angola, Cape Verde, Morocco and South Africa, are levelled at one point, with two games left for each side. All the sides will be in action on Wednesday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, with South Africa playing Angola, while Cape Verde take on Morocco.
•Luis Mamona
Bafana accepts herbalist’s help A
S SOUTH Africa coach Gordon Igesund seeks to reinvigorate his team after a dismal African Cup of Nations curtain-raiser, he has received an offer of help from an unlikely source – a herbalist, and even more surprising is that the South African Football Association (SAFA) has welcomed the offer. Reuben Matewu, from the Eastern Cape province, is confident he can come to the rescue of Bafana Bafana (The Boys) after Saturday's lacklustre goalless draw against Cape Verde in Soweto. That has left the 2013 hosts facing a stiff task to extricate themselves from Group A with matches against Angola and former champions Morocco coming up. "I can help Bafana Bafana for free if they want and I will do that for the first three matches," Matewu told a regional radio station, The
Star newspaper reported Monday. "I'm not like those people who use bad muti (traditional medicine), I will only use herbs which are easily available here in South Africa." Matewu says he will start charging for his services only "when" South Africa qualify for the knockout stages. "Thereafter, I will charge them as they would have started winning," he explained confidently. His offer is being taken seriously by misfiring South Africa. "Let the man speak to me and we'll see what we can do after that," Mwelo Nonkonyana, vicepresident of SAFA, told The Star. "We always welcome whatever help we can get to ensure Bafana Bafana do well," he added. Matewu's approach is in welcome contrast to another healer's threat to use his expertise to prevent the national side from winning. Sibonelo Madela, a traditional healer from Ulundi in kwaZuluNatal province, claims he is owed 90 000 rand ($10 128/7 613 euros) by SAFA for helping the team during the 2010 World Cup. According to the paper, Madela says the team's 2-1 win first round win over France was down to him. South Africa face Angola Wednesday and Morocco Sunday, both games being played in Durban.