King Julien goes to the Pyramids - African Nations Cup 2019

[danielmak]

There are some games where it feels like there must be 14 men per side on the pitch; this was one of them for me. It seemed as if there was no room for anyone to move. I don't know if I'm as down on Algeria as others; they seemed to play in the first half and then Senegal were ready to play in the second half. But 12 shots to 1 doesn't lie. In general, it's hard to find exciting finals in this tournament (at least in the past decade) but it's a tournament I always really enjoy. I think there was enough action in this one that I'm good with it.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah, Algeria played the Dark Arts to the hilt, but Senegal's finishing was putrid, they had every chance to win this

[Wouter D]

Raïs M'Bolhi, the goalkeeper, gets man of the match, which seems fair.

[Wouter D]

They haven't trailed a game in the whole tournament. I don't like the theatrics much, but can't begrudge them the title.

[Wouter D]

Best defense in the tournament by a country mile.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Fuck it.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Wow, I mean, wow. Come the fuck on, Senegal.

[Wouter D]

(I meant the foul, but the free kick was criminally bad too)

[Wouter D]

Why the hell is that not a sending off?

[Toby Gymshorts]

Innit.

[Wouter D]

It doesn't help if Senegal waste a free kick in such a position by shooting it twice as high as the goal is.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Algeria could teach Luis Suarez several things about both shithousery and time wasting.

They're going to win this through sheer unpleasantness.

[Wouter D]

Senegal are picking up cards now that are justifiable. These fouls make it easier for Algeria to drag the lead over the line.

[Wouter D]

Shots: 9-1
Goals: 0-1

[Sporting]

Shouldn't really be a pen. And it isn't. Justice done.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Algeria's shithousery is quite something to behold.

[danielmak]

Nigeria win 0-1 in the third place match. It was a deserving win in a match that wasn't the most exciting. I wouldn't be disappointed if the bronze match in the Olympics was the only third place match to survive. Tunisia gave up another sloppy goal very early in the match and then seemed to want to repeat the tactics used against Senegal, relying on a lot of fouls to slow down Nigeria.

Nigeria is undefeated in third place matches (7-0 if I heard the stat correctly).

[danielmak]

does the ref not have a responsibility to stop anything that might affect players safety?a guy lying behind the wall is a danger to other players and they,with their studs,are a danger to him.id also say that if any opposition player tripped over him once play restarted it would surely be a penalty as hed wilfully put himself there as a hazard to everyone

On one hand, I could see how this move of lying down could be seen as unsafe since the defender was facing the goal and wouldn't see a teammate who could step on the defender on the ground. With that said, the insane expansion of handball calls (most notably when attacking players seem to try to kick the ball at the defender's arm rather than go to goal), it makes sense to have one's arms facing the goal rather than the free kick taker. On the other hand, the wall is either going to jump or stay low. If they jump, the balls goes under. Having someone there makes sense.

[Wouter D]

does the ref not have a responsibility to stop anything that might affect players safety?a guy lying behind the wall is a danger to other players and they,with their studs,are a danger to him.id also say that if any opposition player tripped over him once play restarted it would surely be a penalty as hed wilfully put himself there as a hazard to everyone

By that reasoning, every tackle would be illegal.

[steviecowden]

BTW, the Nigerian who was dropping down behind the wall was chastised by the ref when he dropped down before the wall was set. I've seen other referees follow a similar pattern in other games, which seems ridiculous to me. If the move is illegal then issue a yellow card. If the move is not in violation of the laws of the game then the ref needs to leave it be..

does the ref not have a responsibility to stop anything that might affect players safety?a guy lying behind the wall is a danger to other players and they,with their studs,are a danger to him.id also say that if any opposition player tripped over him once play restarted it would surely be a penalty as hed wilfully put himself there as a hazard to everyone

[danielmak]

This is generally one of my favorite national team tournaments but unfortunately, I missed almost all group games because I was traveling and then watched backwards before BeIN USA started deleting from on demand,. I say all of that because I have no clear sense of the group stage, but have watched all knock-out games. I'd say that this is the final that makes the most sense. Both teams deserve to be here and Algeria have looked the best of the bunch. I think we should have a good final because Algeria will attack and I don't see them pulling the hatchet job on Senegal that Tunisia used. So we should have two attacking sides playing football. I don't think Senegal has been as tactically sophisticated. They seem to choose a wing to attack and then keep that going. It would be nice to have a new champion to mix things up. But Senegal better start practicing the penalties; they've been horrible on this front.

I'll see if I can watch more group games before this final happens to have a better sense of the tournament as a whole.

BTW, the Nigerian who was dropping down behind the wall was chastised by the ref when he dropped down before the wall was set. I've seen other referees follow a similar pattern in other games, which seems ridiculous to me. If the move is illegal then issue a yellow card. If the move is not in violation of the laws of the game then the ref needs to leave it be. And finally on the ref topic, I think the refereeing has been good in the knockout round, but my pet peeve featured again: why does every penalty need to come with a yellow card. There is no way the Algerian defender deserved a yellow card even if I generally agreed with the penalty call. Harsh, but still a penalty.

[Wouter D]

Glorious FK by Mahrez to beat Nigeria in the last minute of stoppage time. That's how cup matches are supposed to end.

Bonus points for the Nigerian who dropped himself like a felled tree behind the wall while Mahrez did his run-up. If he'd have tried something under the wall, that guy would've blocked it.

So the final will be a re-run of a group game. I'd say that Algeria deserve to win this; they've beaten Senegal in the group too, and while Tunisia were no mugs, Senegal's road to the final was much easier than Algeria's. On the other hand, Senegal have only conceded a single goal in the entire tournament, and I quite like the cut of Aliou Cissé's jib.

[steviecowden]

cracking free kick to win the semi in dramatic circumstances

[Amor de Cosmos]

Glorious FK by Mahrez to beat Nigeria in the last minute of stoppage time. That's how cup matches are supposed to end.

[Wouter D]

Not many better things in football than a penalty with a stop-start runup being saved. Massive twatball points for our Tunisian friend here; game with Senegal still scoreless.