Quarter Finals of the Africa Cup of Nations

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations has been a fantastic tournament so far, African soccer at its most compelling, muddy and entertaining. The biggest surprise of the first round has to be co-host nation Equatorial Guinea's spectacular start. Who said lightning doesn't strike twice? The Nzalang Nacional (National Lightning) beat a shocked Libyan side 1-0 and, then went on to crush Senegal 2-1. You can credit a home crowd advantage, and even the million dollar payout by the President's son. But whatever the reason, the lowest ranking team in the tournament outplayed their opponents to make it through to the quarter final on Saturday (Feb, 4 2012), where they will face the Ivory Coast. This will be a tough match for the home team, since the Ivory Coast's Elephants easily won their first round matches (albeit against weak teams).

Gabon, the Cup's fellow co-hosts have also made it through to the quarter finals, another nice surprise for the home fans. Young Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, their key striker who is following in his father's footsteps, has been wonderful to watch. He'll be a key player if they are to defeat Mali in their match up on Sunday. Mali has lots of big stars, if they can gel together they could win. But Gabon will have the entire stadium blowing their vuvuzelas in support, and that's a powerful force if you've ever experienced an African international match yourself.

Ghana's Black Stars made it through the first round and will face Tunisia in their quarter final match up on Sunday. This should be a great game to tune into, they are both strong teams. Tunisia's young star Youssef Msakni has been very impressive, he'll be up against Ghana's veteran players like Kevin-Prince Boateng and the moral support of injured star Michael Essien.

Zambia's Chipolopolos (Copper Bullets) have shone brightly in the tournament so far. A cracking first game against Senegal (2-1) set the tone and they were only team to get over the noise of the home crowd and beat Equatorial Guinea (1-0). The Copper Bullets face Sudan in their quarter final. The Sudanese team is also a surprise winner in the first round, folks in Khartoum had a lot to cheer about last week. I was curious whether they would get support from South Sudan, but in this case it appears politics and football do mix, some South Sudanese will be cheering for Zambia (see full story).

The Lions and Zebras Bow Out...
This 28th Cup of Nations may well go down in history as one of the most entertaining tournaments, but there have been heartbreaks for some of the big teams. Morocco's Atlas Lions are on their way home after a disappointing start, losing to Tunisia and Gabon (a thrilling 2-3 match) in the first round. Senegal's Teranga Lions have also checked out of their digs in Equatorial Guinea, and are on a plane home. Other teams who will be watching the rest of the games on TV include the disappointed Libyans, Guineans, Angolans, Motswanas (Botswana), Nigeriens (Niger), and Burkinabes (Burkina Faso).

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