Africa Cup of Nations 2012 Group B: Sudan 0 Ivory Coast 1

[January 22, 2012] Over the Sunday afternoon’s match between Sudan and Ivory Coast was the third match in succession where one of the goalkeeper’s had sported a kit in a horrific shade of purple, making goalkeeper’s look like blueberries and in need of an Oompa Loompa escort to Willie Wonka’s juicing room. It was a lacklustre performance from the [...]

Over the Sunday afternoon’s match between Sudan and Ivory Coast was the third match in succession where one of the goalkeeper’s had sported a kit in a horrific shade of purple, making goalkeeper’s look like blueberries and in need of an Oompa Loompa escort to Willie Wonka’s juicing room. It was a lacklustre performance from the Ivory Coast. Many were expecting the Elephants to steamroller Sudan but the well drilled and efficient Sudanese held the Ivorians relatively comfortably for long periods of the tie.

Sudan may have even snatched a point (or more) had Mudathir El-Tahir’s shot not been acrobatically tipped onto the crossbar by purple-bedecked Boudacir Barry’s flying fingertips. [Kit officianados who spend the long winter evenings reading FIFA documentation regarding kit regulations will be interested to see both Sudan and Ivory Coast wearing predominantly white socks (a flash of orange on white being the only difference between the sides). The Mauritian referee could well be dragged before a shadowy committee sometime after the end of the Africa Cup of Nations]

A question often asked about players is whether they can take their club form onto the international arena. Well, in the case of Gervinho that’s entirely true. The Arsenal forward showed that he can also be frustratingly inconsistent and profligate whilst wearing the colours of his international side Ivory Coast. Ultimately it was his strike partner Didier Drogba who headed in from a Solomon Kalou cross that handed the spoils to the west Africans over east Africa’s only representative at this Cup of Nations. Whilst the Ivorians won’t be pleased with the performance they’ll take some solace from the result, especially after seeing the Senegalese come unstuck against Zambia on Saturday.

The Elephants appeared to suffer from a similar disability to Senegal. Whilst you can see the undoubted talent of the players they appear not to be able to add tempo to their quality. If a team is well organised and drilled like Sudan they can often deal with accurate passing, it’s when this passing is executed in addition to a fast tempo that team’s often struggle to cope. This slow tempo led to my mind wandering from time to time, I began to quietly sing “His name was Lolo, he was a full-back” about the Ivorian right-back Igor Lolo (who’s currently keeping Arsenal favourite Emmanuel Eboue out of the side) and wondering whether Equatorial Guinea keeper Danilo could be convinced to sing this song at the end of tournament party, should this sort of event even exist.

I can only put this odd and embarrassing episode down to the fact that the Equatorial Guinean authorities have seen fit to place the camera for the Malabo stadium on top of the main stand and the pictures from Gabon are from such a height that they can give the casual viewer a form of vertigo. I’m not sure that the Ivorian players can make the same excuse.