AFCON Final Preview

The African Cup of Nations final is tomorrow morning and it will be between pre-tournament favourites the Ivory Coast and surprise packet Zambia. Unsurprisingly the Ivory Coast will start short priced favourites to lift the cup after looking in control right throughout the tournament.

I would expect this game to play out with the Ivory Coast dominating possession and look to build from a solid defence. Amazingly they have yet to concede a goal all tournament. Zambia will need to rely on counter attacks, but that does suit their game style and we have seen time and again how deadly they can be on the break. If they are to score I feel they will have to do it early whilst the teams are still trying to find a rhythm. Or alternatively they might be able to keep the Ivory Coast at bay until the last 20 minutes of regular time. If they can achieve this then the Ivory Coast might just start to push forward a bit more and expose themselves some more at the back. The Ivory Coast will fancy themselves as the better team so will not want this going to shootout which is more of a lottery.

The players to watch for me tomorrow will be Mayuka, Kalaba and Katongo from the Zambian point of view. All three have been a constant threat throughout and Mayuka and Katongo both have the chance to finish as the top scorer for the tournament if they can net one tomorrow.

For the Ivory Coast little happens in the final third the Yaya Toure hasn’t had some sort of say in, he is brilliant but a slight concern is that it at times looks as though he feels he has to do everything. Gosso in midfield has also looked lively and he may just slip under the guard with all the attention going to Yaya. Drogba up front is still a force at his age and will be determined to score (also a chance to finish top scorer), hopefully he is equally determined to stay on his feet rather than dive at the slightest contact. The entire Ivory Coast back four is worth a mention too, in a tournament that has seen the comical at times when it comes to defending and offside traps they have been a class above. If the four of them as a unit can produce another 90 minutes then you have to feel that the trophy is heading to West Africa.

Pretty happy with our pre-tournament play on the Ivory Coast to lift the cup so we may just ride that one out. The Zambians should be a stern test and are capable of an upset, but I see no reason to doubt the men in orange.

Cheers