The favorites will start to ask questions. If Ivory Coast and Senegal lived up to their status with convincing victories, the other nations aspiring to win the African Cup of Nations had a complicated start during this group stage. Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, even Ghana. Everyone was surprised by teams, a priori, within their reach. Let Mali and Tunisia, in the running this Tuesday, be wary.
The fact of the day: attendance at half mast
The African Cup of Nations is a party, but there is little partying in the Ivorian stadiums. Even the inaugural match between the Elephants and Guinea-Bissau was not full in the superb Allasane-Ouattara stadium, which can accommodate 60,000 spectators. Only 37,000 people were present to watch the meeting, which was announced to be a sellout.
CAN organizers announced Monday that they were taking several measures to fill the stadiums more. The Ivorian Prime Minister, Robert Beugré Mambé, also assured to take “the problem in hand”. “You will see the results within forty-eight hours,” he added, recalling that ticketing was however “the business of the African Football Confederation”.
Match of the day: Tunisia finally wants to shine
How far away it seems, the time when Tunisia dominated the continent. It was twenty years ago, when the Carthage Eagles won their first African Cup of Nations, against neighboring Morocco. Since then, the heirs of Selim Benachour and Ali Boumnijel have struggled to return to the top, despite a semi-final in 2019. Without Wahbi Khazri, who retired internationally, Tunisia will always be able to count on the irremovable Youssef Msakni (33 years old) , who should celebrate his 100th selection against Namibia this Tuesday (6 p.m.).
“We have a promise, which in some way constitutes our duty. We want and will do everything in our power to bring joy to the Tunisian people and make them proud, explained coach Jalel Kadri during the pre-match press conference. Ten or twelve years ago, the group stage matches in CAN were already played before the match even started. Today, all levels are very competitive, and nothing is guaranteed. » There is one who saw the Cameroon and Egypt matches.
Player of the day: Kamory Doumbia
France really got to know Kamory Doumbia, during a modest Brest-Lorient at the end of December, during which the attacking midfielder scored a quadruple in the first half. A first since 2016 in Ligue 1, where the Uruguayan Edinson Cavani achieved such a feat against Caen. Trained at Jean-Marc Guillou’s Academy, Kamory Doumbia joined Stade de Reims in 2021, who loaned him this season to Brest.
At 20 years old, Kamory Doumbia will play his first African Cup of Nations, after a first selection with Mali in May 2022. In eight matches with the Eagles, he has already scored five goals.
Supporters of the day