African Nations Champonships

[kponkpa]

INTRO
This is the maiden tournament which takes place in CotedIvoire. Its a tournament exclusively for home based players. My advise is that anyone interested to punt on this tournament should take into consideration that in Africa when it comes to the home based most countries are at par. The exceptions are the North African countries that are Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia who have the financial means to keep hold of most of their star players and also South Africa has also got that financial power to hang onto most of their star players. However the rest of the continent is saddled with the problem of player exodus and its very prominent in West Africa with Ghana, Nigeria, CotedIvoire and Cameroun being the most affected. Its no surprise that Nigeria and Cameroun couldn’t qualify because the standard of the main national team is way above that of the home based team and that applies to all the other West African teams i mentioned above. The tournament kicked off yesterday with the host Ivory Coast losing 3-0 to Zambia. This is exactly what i am talking about, because under normal circumstances Zambia wouldn’t beat Ivory Coast in Abidjan if the main teams were in action. Zambia doesn’t suffer the same fate of player exodus like Ivory Coast and most of their players who even leave the shores of Zambia find themselves playing in the South African league. The main national team of Zambia has quite a number of home based players whilst that of Ivory Coast is totally made of European based players. In the second match of the day Senegal beat Tanzania 1-0. Todays matches are as follows and i will advise all following my tips to stake only SMALL AMOUNT as I will have to watch all teams in action before coming out with concrete tips. I realised that only Sportingbet had odds for yesterday games and i haven’t been able to access their site today, but i believe they should have odds on the game. Probably bwin may offer odds in the course of the day.

Ghana vs Zimbabwe
Ghana will be seeking to revenge the painful defeat Zimbabwe handed to them at CAN2006 in Egypt which ensured Ghana couldn’t make it to the quarter finals. As i stated earlier the team that started the qualifiers for Ghana wouldn’t be the one appearing in the tournament. All the players with the exception of 2 have left to join clubs in Europe. Ghana made it to the tournament eliminating Nigeria by beating them 3-2 at home and drawing 0-0 in Nigeria. The Ghanaians are always known for their skills and passing and the main problem is scoring. They create so many chances and squander them all. Ghana have on their bench the good tactician Milovan Rajevac who used to coach Borac Cacak in Serbia. Those familiar with Serbian soccer will know of his achievements, he has proved to be very good and brought a level of tactical discipline to the Ghanaian team. He also states the problem of messing chances as his biggest headache. Zimbabwe on the other hand have most of their home based players playing for the main team and most from Dynamos who performed creditably in last seasons CAF champions league. They don’t have a lot of foreign based players so the problem that other countries have shouldn’t bother them. They made it to the tournament beating South Africa 2-0 at home and beating them again 1-0 away. This tells me they are a good side. Its going to be a very good game and it can go any way. I am Ghanaian but my tip is not based because of my nationality, i just feel though the Ghanaians are limited they have a slight quality advantage over the Zimbabweans, so i will go for a GHANA WIN, as i said SMALL STAKES only.

DR Congo vs Libya
DR Congo is a very stubborn side on the African terrain and a good one as well. They have a good chunk of their players in their local league and their performance in the World cup qualifiers is there for all to see. They qualified beating Cameroun home and away by 1-0 and 2-0 respectively. Though the Camerounians also have the entire main national team based in Europe, they also have quite a good local team as one of their teams played in the CAF Champions league final losing to Al Ahly of Egypt. The Libyan team will be the main team as all their players are home based. They were in the same group with Ghana in the world cup qualifiers. They are solid at home but poor away. They made it beating Morocco 3-0 at home and losing 1-3 away in Morocco. I rate DR Congo above the Libyans with their rigid and physical approach
DR congo win for me and still with small stakes.

I will update you when the bookies bring up the odds

[Napoleon Solo]

It's been a while.

I was actually looking for odds for this yesterday, so well done on finsing them kponkpa!

I'm on Zimbabwe at the 4.50 available at Bet365. As stated above, the Ghana squad is a shadow of their usual squad, with most of their main players plying their trade overseas, therefore ineligible for this tournament. Zimbabwe don't suffer the same fate as the majority of their regular squad are home-based players.

Just a small bet to get started, but at very decent odds under the circumstances.

Zimbabwe to beat Ghana @ 4.50 - 2 points (Bet365)

[HastGill1]

Cheers kponkpa, hopefully there will be a few games to win a few quid on..I will probably avoid the first round of matches but will look forward to your previews..

[MickeyPaul]

Good stuff chaps. I'll have a wee punt on Zimbabwe +1 @ 2.00 bet365

Is it streaming anywhere?

Just spotted Zimbabwe @ 5.25 bwin and 2.14 double chance

[MickeyPaul]

Goooooal. Zimbabwe 0-1 up in 5 mins. Blow the whistle!

[MickeyPaul]

Just on bet365 and Zimbabwe @ evs +0.5,+1.00 Asian handicap - I've had a wee bit more on. Gulp.

[MickeyPaul]

Gooooooal. 0-2 Zimbabwe. And now we pray. I should have mentioned in my previous post that the Asian handicap live in-play doesn't take account of goals already scored so I was really needing the score to stay the same or Zimbabwe to score another. I think. Nipped for a pee and they duly obliged anyway. Balls, Ghana just pulled one back on the stoke of HT. Always has to be exciting. *THUD*

2-2 now - 68th min Ghana goal. I've been sitting staring at the in-play waiting for it too. Come on Zimbabwe....

[kponkpa]

As i stated this tourney is going to full of surprises due to its nature and its turning out as expected. I must admit Ghana were lucky to get a 2-2 draw. DR Congo won 2-0, so not all that bad for me. I hope things turn better in subsequent matches. I have watched all games so far and i now have a very good idea about the teams,however, in football nothing is certain as a team can play badly today and totally improve the next game, so we will have to appproach each game with cautious optimism. The 2nd group games will be on tomorrow and i will post my tips later. I am looking forward to your tips as well Mickey and Napoloen.

[MickeyPaul]

If I'd managed to find streams for the games I'd certainly be willing to share my views. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything (if anyone knows give me a shout) so have no idea how any of the sides performed. Worth noting though that Ghana had a player red carded in the 85th min.

[kponkpa]

The compettion reaches the semi finals today. I havent presented as much tips on this compettion because of the nature and how results have turned out. The first game today involves Ghana and Senegal whilst DR Congo play Zambia in the second semi final later in the day.
Ghana - Senegal
This is going to be a tough encounter between two West African sides. The Senegalese rely mostly on their phsique and long balls whereas the Ghanaians rely on their flair, pace and skills. The Senegalese started by beating Tanzania 1-0 and drawing their final 2 group games 0-0 to place second in their group. They have the best defensive record in the competition scoring 1 goal in 3 matches and conceeding none. Ghana placed first in its group drawing the first two games 2-2 and 1-1 with Zimbabwe and Libya respectively. In both games they came from behind to draw that is from 2-0 down to 2-2 and 1-0 to 1-1. In the final group game against one of the favourites and best teams in the tourney DR Congo, Ghana showed their real quality and battered the Congolese to a 3-0 defeat. Ghana has gradually warmed itself into the tournament and if they continue with such performance then it wouldnt be a surprise to see the team lift the tourney, but before then they have to face the senegalese. its the best defence in the competiton up against the best attack in the competition and only one will prevail. Judging from games i have seen from the two sides, the Ghanaians start slightly above the Senegalese and i expect them to carry the day.
Ghana win @ 2.20 Bwin 4/10
Bet365 and Sportinbet both have their odds pegged at 2.10
The second game involving Zambia and DR Congo is a game which could go either way. I will be staying away from betting on it but if pushed then i think the game will end level at the end of 90 minutes with the winner being settled after extra time or penalties

[SuperImps]

anyone know when it starts or when odds are out?

[SuperImps]

just seen on bbc site, looks like a missed it to have a bet on the games,