21 janvier 2008
2008 African Cup: Battle of Titans (Côte d’Ivoire 1 – Nigeria 0) on 2nd Day
The battle of Titans pitting Côte d’Ivoire (Elephants) against Nigeria (Super Eagles) ended today with a 1- 0 score for Nigeria. Both teams belong to Group B, dubbed “Group of Death” (Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, and Benin). As noted earlier, I was able to follow the African Cup courtesy of the Nigerian Television Authority, though the images were somewhat fuzzy. The single Ivorian goal at the 65th minute was single-handedly scored by Chelsea forward striker Salomon Kalou (photo)after what was dubbed by one of MTN television commentators as “a dribble from heaven” of 4 
Nigerian defenders. The Ivorian Didier Drogba was effectively firewalled by the Nigerian defense, especially as this other Chelsea superstar is fresh from rehab from a knee surgery.
The first match of the day saw the rout of Namibia by Morocco (1 – 5), the Moroccans almost reenacting the goal score record of the African Cup since its inception in 1957 (6 – 1). It’s a shame the DRC “Leopards”---two-time winner of the African Cup (1973 and 1974)---was ousted from this year’s competition by a team such as Namibia with whom the Moroccans picnicked today (with the Moroccan forward Soulfiane Alloudi scoring 3 goals).
The last match, Mali – Benin (1 – 0) was marred by broadcast glitches and by the interruption by Nigerian Television Authority for its evening information segment. An outrage! For this last match of the day, I had to switch to live audio broadcast by “Radio France Internationale” (RFI). The Malian goal was a penalty, kicked by Frédéric Kanoute at the 48th minute. A victory without glory, according to one of the commentators of RFI. Mali was below its performance, given the quality of international soccer superstars in its ranks. A blow by blow live blog stream is also provided on the website of the French sports newspaper “L’Equipe.”
Viewing African Cup live in the U.S.
Subscribers of Comast in the U.S. in the DC area can watch the 2008 African Cup in Ghana on the Nigerian channel---NTA (Nigerian Television Authority)---on the 194 dial, wrongly identified as “MacTV: Taiwan Macroview TV.” “Africa Channel” on 678 dial is a joke: it’s showing South-African soap operas! Today’s treats: Morocco – Namibia (5-1) (10 am EST); Nigeria – Côte d’Ivoire (still playing at the moment with nil score) (12 pm EST); and Mali – Benin (upcoming at 2:30 pm EST). “TV5Monde” on dial 688 will start live broadcasts on February 3, the round of finals.
(Posted at around 12:30 pm EST)