Friday July 19, 2019
The knights of Madagascar
We all love an underdog and low-ranking Madagascar was the team many neutral fans were rooting for.
The Barea (named after a local hump-backed zebu cow) went on a fairy-tale run, outplaying and beating mighty Nigeria before reaching the quarter-finals in their first Afcon appearance.
Five years ago, Madagascar were ranked 190 out of 211 in the Fifa world rankings.
To qualify for the finals in Egypt, they had to take part in the preliminary round of qualifying, against Sao Tome and Principe in early 2017.
The country does not have a professional league and most of the squad play in the French second division, while others are based in Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Algeria and Egypt.
So impressed was President Andry Rajoelina with the team's performance when they made it to the last 16 that he paid for a plane carrying 480 fans from Madagascar to watch their game against the Democratic Republic of Congo, which they won.
Their impressive run of victories came to an end against Tunisia, but it didn't dampen their achievement.
The players were national heroes; no, knights, according to President Rajoelina who gave them the rank of Knight of the Malagasy National Order, one of the highest state commendations, when they returned home. And their current ranking of 108 is set to rocket.
Fans of Desert Foxes cause French mayhem
If there's some added European interest in the tournament, then the Algeria fans have a lot to do with it.
The massive diaspora community in France has been gathering in cities across the country to cheer on their team, but their celebrations have sometimes been over the top.
On Monday, French police arrested 282 Algeria fans in three cities, including the capital, Paris, after violent celebrations broke out when Riyad Mahrez scored a late winner against Nigeria to secure the Desert Foxes a spot in the final.
Last week, 43 Algerian fans were arrested on the Champs-Elysees in the French capital after the team won their semi-final match against Ivory Coast.
AFP news agency reported that two nearby stores were looted. It also quoted a security official as saying that in the southern city of Montpellier a celebrating fan lost control of his car and ran over a family, killing a woman and seriously injuring her one-year-old baby.
French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner described the actions of the fans as "unacceptable".
Many are no doubt nervously waiting to see how things will pan out in France in the final match against Senegal's Lions of Teranga.
However, by reaching the Afcon final, the Algerian football team has brought some distraction to the ongoing political turmoil in the country.
People have been protesting every Friday for months, demanding a complete overhaul of the political system after forcing long-time leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika to step down.
Why did Nigeria lose?
According to some Nigerian fans, the colour of the jersey the Super Eagles players wore, and not Riyad Mahrez's stunning last-minute free-kick, was the real reason the team lost to Algeria.
The team was wearing the "jinxed" dark green kit, they said.
It was their second loss at the tournament with the "cursed" jersey - the other was against none other than Madagascar.
Suspicion that the jersey brought bad luck to the Super Eagles started at the 2018 World Cup when the team lost to Croatia and later to Argentina in a crucial match in which they needed just a point to progress to the knockout stages.
The pernicious influence of the shade of green has not confined itself to men's football. The Super Falcons were wearing the same jersey colour when they recently lost to Germany at the Women's World Cup in France.
However, inasmuch as fans may be quick to lay blame on the outfit, there have also been times when Nigeria won football matches donning the dark green jersey.
Maybe they just want the team to always wear the home kit, with its zigzag design that wowed fans and fashionistas alike ahead of last year's World Cup.
The army and the Pharaohs
The inquiry into how the home team, one of the tournament's favourites, was knocked out early is still ongoing.
Egypt's loss led to an immediate purge of football officials, including the coach, amid calls for an overhaul of how the game is run in the country.
Farouk Gaafar, who coached the Pharaohs in the 1990s, even suggested that the army should take over the administrative roles, saying there was a need for "discipline that will be found only in the army".
He said football management needed someone with "an iron fist".
"I haven't seen discipline like in the armed forces," said Gaafar, who once coached an Egyptian club run by the military.
The prospect of the army being in charge of running football is unlikely to appeal to many players.
Unlike Egypt, for Tanzania, Namibia, Guinea and Cameroon there is no talk of a military takeover, but they have all sacked their coaches because of their bad performance, while Uganda's French coach Sebastien Desabre left by mutual consent.
Harassment allegations
Egyptian midfielder Amr Warda was dropped for disciplinary reasons after social media conversations allegedly between him and a number of women were released following Egypt's game against Zimbabwe. There were allegations of sexual harassment.
He apologised to family, friends and team-mates in a social media video.
The allegations first emerged when Egyptian model Merhan Keller posted pictures on Instagram of inappropriate messages she says she received from Warda.
Other social media users also shared pictures of conversations and videos purporting to show Warda harassing them or other women online.
Shortly after Egypt beat the Democratic Republic of Congo to reach the final 16, Salah tweeted: "'No' means 'no'."
But added: "Many who make mistakes can change for the better and shouldn't be sent straight to the guillotine."
In a second tweet, Salah commented: "We need to believe in second chances... we need to guide and educate. Shunning is not the answer."