African Cup
I love tournaments and there is a good one on right now. Egypt will always be considered one of the top favorites along with Ghana now.
The final 8 consists of South Africa the host, Mali Cote d Ivory, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana and Cape Verde.
The knockout stage
The host South Africa will face new comer Mail. South Africa has put a good team together for this tournament and do not want to disappoint the home fans. Mail was the nation that you could scoop gold out of the river with a pan. Now radical Muslims took over a huge portion of the barren land in the north. The French militaryh as been doing a sweep of the area to cleanse the area of these radicals. I will give the edge to South Africa in this match.
Cote d Ivory will take on Nigeria. I can still remember Nigeria in the World Cup USA making the knockout round. Nigeria has made the finals 6 times losing 4 and winning only 2. They seem to be snake bitten in the finals. The Cote d Ivory always has a great team. This is the clash of the perennial powers. I think that Cote d Ivory will advance. They reached the finals last years and lost in the shootout to Zambia.
New comer Burkina Faso will take on Togo. Burkina Faso was in a group consisting of 3 other past Champions. Zambia was the current champion. Nigeria is a perennial power and Ethiopia last won in 1957. They placed first in this group. I see them advancing here.
Ghana vs Cape Verde Ghana has an easy first round opponent. I see them advancing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Africa_Cup_of_Nations
Nations Titles Years won
This site is about CONCACAF soccer with an American view. Concentration on the tournaments like the Gold Cup, World Cup qualification, U-20, U-18 and Olympic qualifications. Also a look at the New Nations League and Champions League and a little MLS as it competes in international tournaments.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
New CONCACAF members?
“Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin and French Guyana
reiterate their intention to become full Member Associations”
I think
this will be good for CONCACAF to add these territories as full members. They
would rise the bar in the Caribbean in international competition. The 2013 Gold
Cup will be the 13th Gold Cup played. Martinique and Guadeloupe each
have participated 3 times. This will mark the 4th time for
Martinique. These 2 French territories have proven to provide steady and well
organized teams during the Gold Cup. CONCACAF need more quality teams and these
islands would greatly add to the World Cup qualifying tournament, Caribbean Cup
games and as mentioned the Gold Cup.
If I
were ranking the Caribbean both Martinique and Guadeloupe would be placed high.
1.
Jamaica
2.
Haiti
3.
Trinidad & Tobago
4.
Cuba
5.
Martinique
6.
Guadeloupe
7.
Antigua & Barbuda
8.
Dominican Republic
9.
Guyana
10.
Suriname
11.
Puerto Rico
Saint Martin and French Guyana (South
America) would not place quality teams in CONCACAF. Saint Martin has under
40,000 inhabitants on their island. The island reminds me of Hispaniola. Hispaniola
is split between Haiti and Dominican Republic. Saint Martin is split with the
Dutch territory Sint Maarten. Maybe this population (island) could join
Guadeloupe or Martinique as a joint addition. It just does not have the
population or a quality team to field.
French Guyana is located in South
America. This is another tiny French territory that has a population under
250,000. Over time they could produce a quality team to compete in the
Caribbean but in CONCACAF is another idea.
All in all I believe we would get 2
good nations and two bad ones in terms of quality soccer teams. I believe we
will still get either Martinique or Guadeloupe in the Gold Cup. Once the Gold
cup expands to 16 we may see both nations.
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