"Sometimes a tournament's greatest strength can be its greatest weakness. In part because of the excellent playing conditions, this has been an Africa Cup of Nations devoid of shocks. The better teams keep winning. There has been a lot of good football, but not a huge amount of memorable football. And the consequence is that, in the final, we have the two best teams, or certainly the best team in north Africa against the best team in sub-Saharan Africa:"
"The problem was the last 16, in which half the games were essentially box-ticking exercises, and more especially a group stage in which the 16 qualifiers were known with six games still remaining. Having two-thirds of the third-placed sides going through destroys jeopardy, particularly when combined with separating teams level on points not by goal difference but by head-to-head. The World Cup will suffer from the same flaws."
Excellent playing conditions produced a tournament largely devoid of shocks, with higher-ranked teams consistently advancing. Much good football was played, but little proved truly memorable. The final pairs Morocco, the hosts and World Cup semi-finalists, with Senegal, who have reached three of the past four Afcon finals. The competition delivered 44 games that led to quarter-finals containing the eight highest-ranked teams from the draw. Two quarter-finals offered genuine quality; the semi-finals were tense but broadly sterile. The last 16 included many box-ticking games, and a group stage that revealed 16 qualifiers with six games remaining undermined jeopardy. Allowing two-thirds of third-placed sides through and using head-to-head tiebreakers further diminished suspense. For only the second time this century, neither finalist manager is foreign.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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