Angola 2010 preview: The Pharaohs going for their bi-annual hunt in the African Jungle!!

January 8th, 2010 | by: Tamim | Comments(35)

It is that that time of the year when the Pharaoh of Egypt goes for his hunt in the African jungle in a quest for glory, his people has bid him farewell with hopes that they would receive him at the same place one month later when he returns with his spoils bringing them joy and pride just as he did for the past four years.

This year the yield looks promising, the African jungle is full of untamed monsters: The Eagles, The Super Eagles, The Carthage Eagles, The Elephants, The Black Antelopes, The Indomitable Lions, The Squirrels, The Mambas (snakes), The Desert Foxes and there are the Black Stars, The Flames and The Copper Bullets; all ready to bring the Pharaoh down from his throne.

The old man is injured, following a battle with the Desert Foxes down the Nile valley, he is missing some of his main trustful generals who were the key behind his successes lately; however, he made a call up for new recruits through all the kingdom and he wasn’t disappointed as reinforcement came from Thebes, Heliopolis, Memphis and Edfu; he chose to rely on new talents with the help of some of his old troops to bring him victories this year and for years to come.

The group

I didn’t get the chance to write a preview of the group so I am going to do a brief one now.

Nigeria

Our main group contender and a strong candidate for the title; the Super Eagles has their strong character on the field; their mix of talented and physically strong foreign based players will prove difficult to batter.

While we fought our battles with Cameroon and Cote D’ivoire for continental supremacy during the past four years, they have been absent from the scene since World Cup 2002 and were struggling to reform but they seem to be coming back after snatching the world cup ticket from Tunisia.

Names like John Obi Mikel of Chelsea, Taye Taiwo of Marseille, Yakubu of Everton and Nwankwo Kanu of Portsmouth are capable of shaking any team given that they are focused and, most importantly, want victory; however, they will be missing Jay-Jay Okosha, the talented play maker.

Their coach Shaibu Amodu, was about to be replaced by Claude Le Roi, although he was the one who led Nigeria to the world cup so one can predict that he will be under immense pressure to win this title if he wants to keep his post at the head of the Super Eagles’ technical staff.

The last time they won this title was 14 years ago so they are hungry for trophies and definitely they are a team to fear.

Mozambique

Now this team is going to be the real trick of the group; Nigeria is strong and we know it but this team is unpredictable and they proved that they can cause upsets.

I saw them play against Tunisia; they are a very good team who can keep ball possession and have very talented players with very high dribbling skills and most importantly they can play as a group, unlike many African national teams.

Tico-Tico is their star; however, he isn’t the only one, Dário and Mexer are key players as well; as I said they play as a team and their physical strength isn’t that high so they don’t rely on it much; mainly they are a counter attack team who can hold back in defense until they sting just like they did with Tunisia.

Good thing that they are our second opponent, as I believe this game will say a lot about the eventual winners of the group.

Benin

Supposedly, the weakest team in the group but as we know, our flops come against inferior teams so it shouldn’t be an easy game as well.

I haven’t seen them lately but by a quick look at their team roster, I didn’t find a powerful name that we should be wary of; however, usually, these teams play compact football and although they may not beat you, they can cause trouble by grabbing a point.

They are our last group opponent so we shall know what we need from the game by then; all I hope is that we take them seriously.

The Knock-out stage (if we are to participate in it)

As you can see, if we are to proceed as first or second in our group, our quarter-final opponents will be most likely Tunisia or Cameroon; a difficult encounter whoever it will be.

And if we are to proceed to the semi-final, our opponents are most likely to be one of Angola, Ghana, Cote D’ivoire or Algeria, a decisive and very difficult clash; especially, if it is going to be against hosts, Angola, or a rematch against Algeria.

The Tactics

Traditionally, we are famous for our 3-5-2 formation; but Hassan Shehata seems to have other plans for the team this time. During both friendlies against Mali and Malawi he adopted a 4-4-2 formation; mainly because of the bad form Hani Said is suffering from and backed with the fact that most of his players are used to it at their clubs since most local clubs are now sifting toward eliminating sweepers and relying on two center-backs and wingers doing their defensive role.

However, in both friendlies we sucked in defense and free kicks and crosses continued to be a nightmare because of terrible man marking; also counter attacks proved lethal against us due to speed differences between our players and African ones; conventionally, the sweeper made up for this by serving as a late defender but now unless we have better efficiency from Gomaa and Fathallah (El Saqqa) we are going to have some serious problems out there.

In Midfield, Shehata will most probably rely on Ahmed Hassan, Hosni, Ghaly and Fathi; while Hassan will perform the play maker role leaning toward the right side in times when Mohammadi is in attack, Fathi will stay behind as an advanced defender and cover for Moawad.

The first half’s formation against Mali is most probably, the one he will field in the tournament.

The prospects

Shikabala: he is still unknown to African fans and this might be his chance to let them know him and even remember his name very well as possible Abu Treika’s successor; he will most likely be a second half substitute and If he can do his magic, he might be receiving offers higher than Napoli’s (25 million EP); however, it all depends on how serious he is taking the chance and how focused and willing he is.

Geddo: Shehata proved once more that he has a good eye when it comes to choosing new players; he was attacked for favoring Alexandria’s top scorer over Mido but he was proven right when Geddo scored the winner against Mali. He is a good striker with good physical ability and his finishing skills are excellent; if given the chance, I don’t think he will waste it.

On the other hand, this might be the last tournament for El Hadary, Wael Gomaa, El Saqqa, Sayed Mowad and Ahmed Hassan.

Our chances

No other team has one this cup three times in a row, even when only 4 or 5 weak teams participated so how difficult can it be now when all teams are good and all teams are formed of professional players and no game can be considered easy; especially when you are the champion and everybody is eager to beat you.

It isn’t only the intense competition that makes me lower my expectations, but our team also doesn’t look good and we are missing two key players, Abu Treika and Amr Zaki, and many players are out of form like Hosni Abd Raboh and Hani Said forcing Shehata to change tactics; new players were called to make up for the above mentioned players but for many of them, Angola 2010 will be the first international event to take part in so we shouldn’t put pressure on them, let’s just hope they surprise us.

Furthermore, the morals of both fans and players are low following the world cup qualification’s flop, the fans aren’t as enthusiastic which is reflected on the very low, almost nonexistent, travelling fans who will cheer for the team in Angola; Shehata’s selection of players only made matters worse after leaving out Homos, Shawky, Mido and Hazem Emam as many fans turned on him and many lost interest in the team and the tournament saying that it would be meaningless to keep on winning the African title while failing to qualify for the World Cup.

I am not being pessimistic; I am very excited about this tournament but I am only talking about public opinion which might change 180 degrees if we achieve a score against Nigeria; if that happens, everything will be different.

Expectations are low for the team to achieve the title; however, a semi-final would be a great result given that we win a new group of players who can carry on with the team in 2014’s World Cup qualifications.

The optimism/pessimism factor

Having said that, I should mention that we always excelled under this kind of atmosphere and history backs me up on this.

In 1998, El Gohary said we will finish 13th and everyone excluded us from the race on the title; however, a heroic team lead by Hossam Hassan returned home with the cup.

In 2006, the team looked miserable and results in friendlies were very bad; also, Shehata was new and was expected to be given his farewell early after the tournament; however, we managed to win it.

In 2008, we looked horrible during qualifications (we qualified with a last minute goal against Botswana) and all other teams seemed more powerful and ready than we are; however, a stunning performance and score against Cameroon saw our chances turned upside down and we won our 6th continental title.

All I am saying is that the atmosphere under which we enter this tournament gives me a glimpse of hope that we can impress….who knows!!!

The place

We will play our games in Benguela, a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name and has a population of 513,000 people. Benguela is Angola’s second most famous city and self-appointed cultural capital. It is a charming muddle of low-rise apartment blocks and sputtering motorcycles that weave deftly between Benguela’s famous crimson acacia trees.

This is our stadium

The Ombaka National Stadium was inaugurated last Monday; it has the capacity of 35,000 seats

The Jerseys

The schedule

Egypt – Nigeria 12/1/2010
Egypt – Mozambique 16/1/2010
Egypt – Benin 20/1/2010

Where to watch?

Well, Al Jazeera sports can go have fun with its exclusive bullshit because we can watch all games for free on French channel TV5, although commentary will be in French.

The “honored” channel is practicing monopoly and blackmailed local televisions of Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria asking for one million Egyptian pound for each game and 200 million for the tournament; unfortunately for them, they don’t know that we Egyptian by hook or by crook will watch the games and on Al Jazeera without paying a single piaster…if you know what I mean!!!

They obviously don’t know who they are dealing with 

Anyway, if you aren’t in the Middle East region and Nile Sat won’t be available for you here are some online streams where you can watch the tournament:
3. www.africa.jumptv.com
4. www2.jumptv.com
5. www.livewtv.com/arabic_tv.htm
6. www.us.zaptiger.com/soccer/
7. www.oleolefootball.com
8. www.123webtv.com/shows/africacupofnations
9. www.watchfootballnow.com
10. www.seneweb.com/sport/football/can2008.php
11. www.livefooty.doctor-serv.com
12. www.wsn.com/football
13. www.rojadirecta.com
14. www.vshare.tv/live/47735/freespor1/1
15. www.justin.tv
16. www.live-streaming.tvgoals.net
17. www.videos.sapo.pt
18. www.livesoccertv.com

(Thanks to Sscouser from Malawi’s blog for providing us with them)

Also keep in touch with the blog throughout for more working streams game by game.

That’s it for now.

One last thing, if you have a Facebook account, you are most welcome to join our page there

See you against Nigeria