Franceville

Ghana became the last nation to win through to the Semi-Finals of the 2012 African Cup of Nations, after an extra-time win against 2004 winners Tunisia in Franceville (Gabon).

The match, which surprisingly saw a majority of the 8,000 crowd get in on free tickets offered by tournament organisers (in a bid to create more widespread interest), saw 2010 runners-up Ghana take the initiative, as captain John Mensah headed in for his second goal of the tournament (10′). Before half-time, though, Tunisia were level, as Saber Khalifa scored with a header of his own (42′). There would be no further goals until extra-time, when a mistake by Aymen Mathlouthi in handling a cross allowed Andre Ayew (who was playing as captain following the substitution of Mensah) to poke the ball in for the winner (101′). To add more drama to a heated fixture, Aymen Abdennor was sent off in the second half of extra-time, leaving the Tunisians to complete their defeat with 10 men.

Tunisia coach Sami Trabelsi said of his side’s eventually futile efforts: “I think it’s a great disappointment. I can’t blame my players for anything. We did not deserve to lose this game but that is the law of football. We dominated our opponent but couldn’t make it. We deserved to go further.”

The win means that Ghana now progress to a Semi-Final with Zambia in Bata (Equatorial Guinea) on Wednesday afternoon, with the latter having seen off Sudan 3-0 in the same city on Saturday. The second Semi-Final will be contested by Ivory Coast (who beat Equatorial Guinea 3-0 (with Didier Drogba scoring twice after missing a first-half penalty)), and Mali (who drew 1-1 with Gabon before winning on penalties). With both co-hosts now out of the picture and a guaranteed English and French-speaking representation on each nation in the final, how will the final 4 pan out in the 2012 African Cup of Nations?

This Bolivian league match between Nacional Potosi and The Strongest was the setting for this goal, which has since become a YouTube sensation. Not every day do you see a scorpion kick from outside the box find the back of the net…

Brussels

A recent vote in European Parliament has made the suggestion that national teams in Europe should show pride in their continent as well as nation by featuring the EU (European Union) flag on their kits.

The motion, directed in particular towards EU members (and to a lesser extent nations within Europe), was part of a report entitled European Dimension In Sport, and was voted in favour 533-106 by MEP’s.

The move is not legally-binding or compulsory (as planned in a very controversial first draft which has since been ‘watered down’), but will encourage all major and international (and possibly also local) sporting events on EU (and possibly European) territory to fly the flag (which is widely accepted throughout the world as the most prominent symbol of the continent), as well as encouraging national sports teams (including football) to include the EU flag on their kit.

While the first one seems to be a more reasonable request, the latter [which would be an option to consider for at least 30 FIFA-registered national football teams with national ties to the EU] has sent many opposing the plans into furore.

Conservative MEP [East Midlands] Emma McClarkin, representing the party in the field of sport, said of the proposals: “Sport has a special place in my country [England], and our national teams [with national flags] form a key part of our identities and heritage. The EU cannot impose an artificial European identity on us by forcing our athletes to wear its emblem.”

The report also reviews matters such as match-fixing, agents, and crowd hooliganism across all sports, as well as moves to further support the area of sports in Europe (which MEP Liam Aylward (Ireland) claims should not be disregarded based on other factors), but it is the flag-waving, and in particular shirt representation, that is in the spotlight at the moment.

Most people will agree that European identity should not interfere much with national identity (other than perhaps identifying a ‘host continent’ as well as nation), so perhaps that idea can be shelved for some time when a European continental team plays against ‘all-star’ teams from rival continents?

Libreville

Mali snapped up one of the final places in the 2012 African Cup of Nations’ Quarter-Finals, after coming from behind to beat (and eliminate) Botswana in Libreville (Gabon).

It would have been a tall order regardless for ‘The Zebras’, who needed a 9-goal win to have any hope of progression, and while they eventually got off on the right note through Mogakolodi Ngele (50′), an equaliser from Garra Dembele (56′) and a winner provided by Seydou Keita’s controlled strike (75′) gave Mali a win, and with main Group D rivals Guinea only managing a 1-1 draw against Ghana (who also secured progression), Mali are now set up for a Quarter-Final date with co-hosts Gabon in Libreville on 5 February.

For Botswana, it is a disappointing end to their first participation in the tournament, following three arguably unlucky defeats, against Ghana (1-0), Guinea (6-1), and Mali (2-1). With only 1 round of Qualification (over 2 legs) to play for the 2013 edition, though (through their status as 2012 qualifiers, combined with a unique intermediate format for 2013), will Botswana manage to have a second bite at the cherry in South Africa next year?

For the 8 nations remaining in the 2012 edition, though, the focus is most certainly on the here and now. The Knockout Stages line-up can be seen below:

2012 Africa Cup of Nations – Knockout Stages Fixtures:

Quarter-Finals:
ZAM v SUD, Bata, 4 Feb, 16:00
CIV v EQG, Malabo, 4 Feb, 19:00
GAB v MLI, Libreville, 5 Feb, 16:00
GHA v TUN, Franceville, 5 Feb, 19:00

Semi-Finals:
QF1 v QF4, Bata, 8 Feb, 16:00
QF3 v QF2, Libreville, 8 Feb, 19:00

3rd-Place Play-Off:
LS1 v LS2, Malabo, 11 Feb, 19:00

Final:
SF1 v SF2, Libreville, 12 Feb, 19:00

Split

Croatia have made their mark on the 2012 UEFA European Futsal Championship which they are hosting, as they took a 2-1 win over Romania in Split last night in Group A.

Having had a goalless fist half in the tournament’s 2nd match, Croatia took their first goal through Dario Marinovic (23′). Romania would level shortly after, though, as Csoma Alpar scored (30′). However, it would be the more efficient hosts that took 3 points away from the match after Jakov Grcic scored a winner (35′) with just under 6 minutes remaining.

Croatia captain Ivo Jukic said that home support (with a crowd of over 8,000 in attendance) was a major factor in the win, stating: Goalkeeper Ivo Jukic, pressed into service several times in the first half, said: “I told the media before the match that nobody can come to Split in front of our crowd and be favourites against us. That was proven tonight. The crowd gave us a boost just when we needed it, in the last few minutes when we were defending our advantage five against four [Romania deploying a flying goalkeeper].”

Unlike many football-related tournaments nowadays, host nation were not the side to open the tournament, as holders Spain saw off Slovenia 4-2 in a Group B fixture in Zagreb, the first of 20 matches that will be played in the 12-team tournament over the next week-and-a-half.

With two Quarter-Final slots available in each of the 4 groups, Romania will be hoping to keep their hopes alive by picking up points against the Czech Republic in two day’s time, while the hosts themselves take on the Czechs two days after that. Will they be able to preserve a widespread home interest in their tournament?

Bata

Sudan, a nation which up until last night had not won a single match in the Africa Cup of Nations since winning the tournament in 1970, have sneaked into the Quarter-Finals of the 2012 edition, with the 120th-ranked national team in the world defeating already-eliminated Burkina Faso to edge out Angola into 2nd Place in Group B.

In front of an astonishingly low crowd for an international fixture (132), Mudather El Tahir was the hero of the night with both goals, running through for a first-half finish, and converting from a route-1 assist (33′, 80′). Issiaka Ouedraogo did pull one back for Burkina Faso with a looping header late on (90+6′), but the final whistle, along with news that Angola were beaten 2-0 by Ivory Coast in the match in Malabo, was enough to see Sudan progress with one goal on goal difference, a good achievement considering their lengthy wait for taking anything away from the finals.

Their next challenge will be back in Bata on 4 February, as they take on Group A winners Zambia, while favourites Ivory Coast play co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in Malabo on the same day. Of the 4 remaining Quarter-Final slots, 2 nations have already booked their passage (Gabon and Tunisia in Group C), but the order in which they will be in is undecided. How will the knock-out stages line-up look by Thursday, and who will be a step closer to their dream of African continental glory?

Stoke City will naturally be hoping to match or go one better than their position as beaten finalists in 2010-11′s FA Cup, but standing in their way of a Quarter-Final berth this year are Crawley Town, the side that came close to upsetting Manchester United away at the same stage last year.

That tie will be played in Crawley’s Broadfield Stadium, a 5,000-capacity venue that will not be too used to top-tier opposition, especially in competitive fixtures.

The League Two club’s chief executive Alan Williams said of the result: “This is the first time we have faced Premier League opposition at the Broadfield Stadium in a competitive fixture and I’m sure the ground will be packed. It’s another wonderful occasion for the club, the players and the fans and we look forward to welcoming Tony Pulis and his side here next month.”

A stadium that could make a similar claim (and name) to the Broadfield is Stevenage’s Broadhall Way, as they get set to take on Tottenham Hotspur, who will be wary that the last time the ground hosted a big-name side, Newcastle United were the victims of a 3rd Round giant-killing, occurring just last season. Other fixtures in the 5th Round of this season’s FA Cup include Liverpool hosting Brighton, and Norwich taking on Leicester. The draw in full can be seen below:

2011-12 FA Cup 5th Round Draw:
Games played on weekend of 18 Feb

Liverpool v Brighton & Hove Albion
Everton v Blackpool / Sheffield Wednesday
Chelsea v Birmingham City
Crawley Town v Stoke City
Stevenage v Tottenham Hotspur
Norwich City v Leicester City
Sunderland / Middlesbrough v Arsenal
Millwall / Southampton v Bolton Wanderers

Following on from their efforts at providing a power-charged tweak to football, the team at TV2 (Norway) show Golden Goal have another one, reportedly part of a number of ideas tested on the sporting magazine show. This one seems to permit a lot more aggressive play, in that the participants are all encased in a protective inflatable bubble for their whole upper body.

The fact that they were on more of an exhibition-style match on a TV show did not stop professional football players from Fredrikstad FK and Sarpsborg 08 from going gung-ho in ‘Boblefotball’. Who was the brains behind this version of the game, then…

The game’s line producer Sid Misra had said of the game when it was first announced: “This is a reboot of the FIFA Street franchise, so what you know of FIFA Street 1, 2 and 3, you can forget about it. What we really wanted to do is come out with the first truly great street football experience. There hasn’t been one yet.”

The title, which shares its name with the first game of the series from 2005, will include a number of authentic factors such as players, venues, and teams, while the ‘moves’ will be entertaining but not ‘overly arcade’. For users looking for a little bit more of a realistic experience, there is said to even be an official ‘futsal’ game mode to try, while the cover will try and entice undecided buyers in with none other than Lionel Messi. The official announcement trailer for FIFA Street can be seen below: