First State Kopites

AFCON - best international tournament ever? S5 Bonus


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It’s February 11th - welcome to the latest edition of the pod, after the Reds get past Burnley to go back to the top of the league and now have a week before Brentford. I’m Paul and I am joined by Lingerr, Haitham and  We’ll talk about the Reds before we are done but after a great tournament we need to talk more about AFCON.

Part One - reflections on the tournament:

  • Context, your AFCON experience over the years - growing up, watching from afar here in the US?

  • As an outsider, this one was a great spectacle, it seemed about the teams and the football, and almost no Gianni Infantino or Alexsander Ceferin is an absolute bonus.

  • Seems like a series of upsets from an outside perspective. Lots of last minute goals and spot kick drama. Super exciting for someone not fully invested in any of the teams - must have been tough to watch if you were.

  • Overall a more open tournament - 116 goals - 2.4 per game. Goals dried up a bit in the knock out games.

  • What about the favorites - Senegal, Egypt, Morocco? Was that it for Mo and a chance to win AFCON?

  • North African teams generally:(

  • I enjoyed Cape Verde, Angola, DR Congo - how much did they exceed expectations?

  • What about South Africa? Where did they come from?

    • Did it help having everyone be familiar with each other?

    • The state of club football - Morocco 84th in the world 

    • Number of players born outside Africa - perspectives?

    • Part two - the Final and wider:

      • The Final - Côte D’Ivoire vs Nigeria

        • The game itself

        • Was it destined to be them?

          • ‘The dead goat does not fear the night’

          • Nigeria played up to its reputation finally didn’t they? But really didn’t look as good in the final

            • Wait Alex Iwobi is Jay Jay Okocha’s nephew!

            • All those strikers - Osihmen, Chukweze (and Boniface who was injured)

              • Does this mean anything for the 2026 World Cup?

              • Could CIV host a World Cup?

              • Wrap up - Liverpool - 14 wins to a deserved 20th title?

                We will be back with a review of the Burnley game. Thanks to Lingerr and Haitham. And thank you dear listener for joining us.

                If you enjoyed the pod, please share it with a friend. Follow us @FirstStateKopites on Twitter  – we only tweet and retweet from sources we think are credible. Music is courtesy of Hypenotic – they are a Welsh electro-pop band – https://hyperfollow.com/hypenotic

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