2012 African Cup of Nations - Final Prediction

As a fantastic tournament comes to an end we can look back on some fantastic teams and fantastic players that were on display. There were many big names missing from this tournament but never the less it has been filled with thrills, shocks and excitement. This will be Zambia’s third final appearance, their last one being in 1994. If they do go on to win the tournament though it will be the first time they are crowned the kings of Africa. Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) have won the African cup of nations before back in 1992 but it has been a long time coming for their second winners medal and will be favourites going into the final. They are ranked 18^th in the world by FIFA and are currently the highest ranking African team with Zambia being ranked 71^st.

Zambia announced their arrival to the tournament with a shock result over Senegal where they found themselves 2-1 victors with goals from Emmanuel Mayuka and Rainford Kalaba. Their second game was a lot more of a struggle and after going behind twice to Libya they managed to drag themselves back both times and finished the game 2-2. They went into their third group match knowing that a win over the tournament hosts would put them through top of the group. It was a tight affair which could have seen the game go either way but a single goal from Christopher Katongo who plays his club football for Chinese Super League side Henan Construction was enough to seal their place in the Quarter Finals.

In the Quarters they came up against a lacklustre Sudan side and drew one of the poorest attendances in the Tournament but this didn’t deter them as they blew away their opposition 3-0 on the day. The Semi-Final draw saw Zambia pitted against Ghana who had recently reached the Quarter finals of the 2010 World Cup. Most people would of Predicted a loss for Zambia but they saw it another way. Ghana did have their chances throughout the 90 minutes but it was Emmanuel Mayuka who popped up to score the only goal of the game and getting them one step closer to winning the African Cup of Nations.

Run to the Final

Group Stage

Senegal 1 - 2 Zambia

Libya 2 - 2 Zambia

Equatorial Guinea 0 - 1 Zambia

Quarter Final

Zambia 3 - 0 Sudan

Semi Final

Zambia 1 - 0 Ghana

Key Player

Emmanuel Mayuka

Cote D’Ivoire came in to the tournament as favourites and as we saw many big countries fall away in qualifying and Senegal falling at the first hurdle in qualifying there was intensified pressure for Les Elephants. Their first group game was against Sudan and up stepped Didier Drogba to score was would be the only goal of them game and Cote D’Ivoire first 3 points on the board. They then took on Burkina Faso and it was another Chelsea man who scored on the day, Solomon Kalou and an own goal gave them a 2-0 win in what was a very comfortable result. They went into the final game knowing that win would see them top the group with a maximum 9 points from the three group games. Angola was their opponent and they were no match for Les Elephants and another 2-0 win was the result which left them top of the group.

In the Quarter Final they faced off against the co-hosts of the tournament Equatorial Guinea. It was two premier league footballers that were in with the goals as we saw Didier Drogba miss a penalty then go on to score two and Yaya Toure of Man City added a third late on for a comfortable 3-0 win. The Semi Final match up against Mali was to prove to be a much harder test. Mali seemed to match everything the favourites were doing and both sides had chances to go in front early on. It was Arsenal winger Gervinho who scores the only goal of the game on the 45^th minute mark. This sent Cote D’Ivoire into the final where they will be favourites against a plucky Zambia size.

Run To the Final

Group Stage

Cote D’Ivoire 1 - 0 Sudan

Cote D’Ivoire 2 - 0 Burkina Faso

Cote D’Ivoire 2 - 0 Angola

Quarter Final

Cote D’Ivoire 3 - 0 Equatorial Guinea

Semi Final

Mali 0 - 1 Cote D’Ivoire

Key Player

Didier Drogba

Zambia will throw 110% at Cote D’Ivoire when they meet on the 12^th February 2012 but I can only see the one winner in this game and that is Cote D’Ivoire. It will be tightly contested but I feel that Les Elephants will have too much on the day for Zambia.

Final

Zambia 0 - 2 Cote D’Ivoire