AFCON of Wonders

The African Cup of Nations, AFCON 2022 nicknamed Cameroun 2021 is already full of wonders with just first round of matches which ended yesterday, Wednesday.

Firstly, the first round of matches saw very few goals (12) with nine matches recording slim wins (1-0) with only Cameroun versus Burkina-Faso with the match that saw three goals with the host winning by 2-1.

This is arguably the first time in a long time that the AFCON has recorded such scorelines as if it was planned by the organisers.

Some believe that the tournament recorded the lowest goals in the first round because there are no more minnows in African football while some believe that some players are taking their time. As it is said in the local parlance, “When jungles mature, we go know.”

And some also believe that some players want to be noticed by scouts hence they are doing everything to put up a good show while some just concluded that the players in some of the national teams are not on the same level with some big players hence they find it difficult to connect especially in front of goals.

However, many are also surprised that the big teams which are regarded as the main contenders are not living up to expectations. Countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, amongst others were seen struggling in the first matches.

The most worrisome aspect is that the big names in African football who have distinguished themselves in world football are also kept quiet by unknown players.

Some pundits claimed that it is too early to judge these players and also considering that fatique must have set in when you consider that they play week-in week-out for their various clubs.

Meanwhile, another wonder at the ongoing AFCON was the drama that took place in the match between Mali and Tunisia where the Referee, Janny Sikazwe blew the end of the match whistle twice.

First in the 85mins.13secs and when the Tunisians protested, he restarted the match and blew another end of the match whistle in the 89mins.16secs. and when there was protest again, and with the intervention of Confederation of African Football, CAF, the two teams were called upon to play the remaining six minutes but Tunisia failed to show up.

This is the first time such drama is happening in the history of football. It will be recalled that 28 fouls, 4 yellow cards, 2 penalties and 1 red card were recorded in that match.

Majority of people who spoke concerning the match jointly claimed that the referee must have been mentally derailed to have carried out such acts.

It is interesting to note that Janny Sikazwe, a Zambian, is an international football Referee. He was listed by FIFA in 2007, he officiated in the 2015 AFCON, 2016 FIFA Club World Cup Final in Japan and the 2017 AFCON finals in Gabon. He was also selected to officiate in 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, amongst others. He became the first Zambian to officiate in FIFA matches at the World Cup level. This is the first time that Sikazwe is being found wanting as a referee in his international career.