Africa Cup of Nations
 Afcon 2015 Logo | |
| Founded | 1957 |
|---|---|
| Number of teams | 56 |
| Website | cafonline |
The Africa Cup Of Nations in a football tournament that brings footballing nations from all over Africa to compete for the ultimate cup. The tournament is held after every two years. Countries from all over the continent with the necessary infrastructure such as accredited stadia, good road networks among other services submit bids to the Confederation of African Football. The host nation is then chosen from the nation that would be the most equipped to host the football gala.
For streaming of the 2015 edition of the football tournament please click here
Background
The tournament has been hosted since its inception in 1975 in Sudan.[1] South Africa had been booted out of the inaugural tournament due to its racist tendencies which only left three teams competing for honours, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Top Goal Scorers
Ben Acheampong and Osei Kofi 1965.
Mubarak Wakaso
Laurent Pokou
George Alhassan in 1982[2]
Benni McCarthy[3]
Previous Winner of the Cup
- 1957 - Egypt
- 1959 - Egypt
- 1962 - Ethiopia
- 1963 - Ghana
- 1965 - Ghana
- 1968 - DR Congo (Zaire)
- 1970 - Sudan
- 1972 - Congo
- 1974 - DR Congo
- 1976 - Morocco
- 1978 - Ghana
- 1980 - Nigeria
- 1982 - Ghana
- 1984 - Cameroon
- 1986 - Egypt
- 1988 - Cameroon
- 1990 - Algeria
- 1992 - Ivory Coast
- 1994 - Nigeria
- 1996 - South Africa
- 1998 - Egypt
- 2000 - Cameroon
- 2002 - Cameroon
- 2004 - Tunisia
- 2006 - Egypt
- 2008 - Egypt
- 2010 - Egypt
- 2012 - Zambia[4]
Top Goal Scorers of All Time
- Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon)[5]
The 2004 and 2006 Editions
The two aforementioned editions of the tournament are of great significance from a Zimbabwean perspective in that the 2004 edition was the first ever moment that Zimbabwe qualified for the tournament under the guidance of Sunday Chidzambwa. Although the team bowed out of the competition in the group stages of the competition, they put up a respectable performance and even scored the goal of the tournament through former Sundowns defender, Esrom Nyandoro It is alo in the same edition of the tournament that the warriors managed to score three goals in an eight goal thriller that they lost 5-3 to the then defending champions, Cameroon[6] After the 2006 edition, the warriors managed to qualify for the following tournament held in 2006 in which they also crashed out of the tournament without having progressed past the group stage. The team however managed to put on a good performance in which they defeated Ghana.
The Defeat to Nigeria
Videos
<shtml version="2" hash="757586a7f85840fca7bd0dd51fa462be4615444867597186caa1ef84f9264f10"><iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="//www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/x8r3w6" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8r3w6_nigeria-vs-zimbabwe-2006-african-cu_sport" target="_blank">Nigeria vs Zimbabwe 2006 African Cup Of Nations...</a> by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/2drama" target="_blank">2drama</a></shtml>
Picture Galley
Warriors celebrating a goal against Algeria
Benjani dribbles past an opponent
Peter Ndlovu
Nigeria lifting the cup in 2013
Zimbabwe's Failure to Qualify for the Tournament in Recent Years
The national team has since 2006 made it a habit not to qualify for the football tournament leaving the local supporters with no option but to watch other teams. The reasons for failure to qualify appear to be varied ranging from poor preparations and general maladministration of the game by ZIFA. This has seen football standards in the country plummeting, once ranked in the top ten in Africa, the current situation is a far cry from yesteryear exploits. In almost predictable fashion, the national side also failed to make it for the 2015 edition of the tournament where countries considered as minors in the game such as Cape Verde managed to qualify convincingly.
References
- ↑ Africa Nations Cup, Ghana Wed, Published: Date Not Given, Retrieved: January 27, 2015
- ↑ Afcon 2015, Goal.com Published: Retrieved: January 29, 2015
- ↑ Rami Ayari Goal.com's Africa team picks the top ten Afcon moments since the tournament began in 1957, Goal.com, Published: January 20, 2012, Retrieved: January 29, 2015
- ↑ Afcon: Past Winners, Supersport, Published: Retrieved: January 27, 2015
- ↑ Samuel Eto'o becomes all-time Afcon top scorer, Goal.com, Published: January 13, 2013, Retrieved: January 27, 2015
- ↑ Clockwatch: Cameroon 5-3 Zimbabwe, BBC News, Published: Date Not Given, Retrieved: January 27, 2015
