Afcon 2012

The group stages are done and the quarter finalists are decided! with Senegal and Morocco out only three sides seem to have the quality to win. Of course the star studded Ivory Coast and Ghanaian sides are in with a chance but co-hosts Gabon seem to be thriving off the home advantage and have secured themselves knockout games in their back yard. Tunisia have a strong team but a lack of attacking strength makes them a long odds dark horse and who knows what the giant killing equatorial guinea side can produce. I think for the sake of neutral football lovers like myself the prospect of an Ivorian, Ghanaian final is mouth watering, but who doesn't love an underdog story and Zambia might just have enough to pull off a couple of upsets. Once we get down to knockout football, history means nothing because you have to win 3 games to lift the trophy and so all that matters is the performance on the day. Having said that my head says its the big players who win those games, the men who can handle the pressure and slot the important chances because so often you only get 1. So then we look to Drogba,  Gyan, Chansa and Kieta to see who will make the difference for their teams. This is the biggest prize in African football and even if some of the giants of Africa are missing it is still a difficult competition to win.