Africa Cup of Nations: unpredictable 1/8th finals

By Guillaume Mahot

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations 1/8^th finals are starting today with Morocco-Benin and Uganda-Senegal. One will say Morocco and Senegal have nothing to worry about, but surprises are not over in this tournament where Madagascar overtook Nigeria in the group phase whereas they had never participated in a Cup of Nations before 2019.

Morocco, nine points out of nine in the group phase, is one of the teams in this competition that made the best impression. Hervé Renard’s group has certitudes that will need to be confirmed against an honorable adversary but technically less strong than the Lions of Atlas. Still, as players always claim, an Africa Cup of Nations is something special and being a favorite or an outsider does not really mean anything. Benin of Mickaël Poté (two goals) has strengths to exploit, the first one being offensive midfielder Stéphane Sessègnon, former PSG player between 2008 and 2011. The 35-year-old player may be ageing but he remains a key element for the Squirrels.

Uganda, one of the nice surprises of this tournament, will face up to Senegal three hours after the first opposition between the Moroccans and the Beninese. The duty will be tough against a squad considered as the most prestigious one by many observers. With their myriad players evolving in Europe (Napoli, Liverpool, Everton, Rennes, Inter Milan, Bordeaux, Schalke 04…), the Lions have a lot of pressure to bring the trophy to Dakar, where head coach Aliou Cissé is expected to come back victorious. Failing to pass against Uganda would be a terrible disappointment that would surely seal Cissé’s fate.

The remaining 1/8^th finals are planned from Saturday to Monday. Nigeria-Cameroon, Egypt-South Africa, Madagascar-RD Congo, Algeria-Guinea, Mali-Ivory Coast and Ghana-Tunisia. All the expected teams are here for a battle that should be tight and hopefully exciting.

Africa Global News Publication