2010 Africa Cup of Nations

Host selection

Bids:

• Angola (selected as hosts for 2010)
• Gabon / Equatorial Guinea (selected as hosts for 2012)
• Libya (selected as hosts for 2013)
• Nigeria (selected as reserve hosts for 2010, 2012 & 2013 tournaments)

Rejected Bids :

• Benin / Central African Republic
• Botswana
• Mozambique
• Namibia
• Senegal
• Zimbabwe

On 4 September 2006, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) approved a compromise between rival countries to host the Africa Cup of Nations after it ruled out Nigeria. CAF agreed to award the next three editions from 2010 to Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya respectively. They assigned Angola in 2010, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which submitted a joint bid in 2012, and Libya for 2014.

This edition was awarded to Angola to encourage the country to move towards peace after the Angolan Civil War.

Two-time former host Nigeria was the reserve host for the 2010, 2012 and 2014 tournaments, in the event that any of the host countries failed to meet the requirements established by CAF, although this ended up being unnecessary.

The 2014 tournament was pushed forward to 2013 and subsequently held in odd-numbered years to avoid year-clash with the FIFA World Cup.

Qualification

Main article: 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

The Confederation of African Football announced that the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification would also be the qualification for this tournament. Despite the fact Angola were the host of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, they also needed to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. South Africa suffered the same situation, being the hosts for the World Cup but still needing to compete in qualification in order to qualify for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

Qualified teams

• (hosts)
• (withdrew)

Venues

Draw

The draw for the final tournament took place on 20 November 2009 at the Talatona Convention Centre in Luanda, Angola. The 16 teams were split into four pots, with Pot 1 containing the top four seeded nations. Angola were seeded as hosts and Egypt as reigning holders. The remaining 14 teams were ranked based on their records in the three last editions of the competition. Cameroon and Ivory Coast had the two strongest records and so completed the top seeded Pot 1. The four seeded teams were placed into their groups in advance of the final draw.

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.

Squads

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations squads

Group stage

Tie-breaking criteria

If two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:

1. points earned in the matches between the teams concerned;
2. goal difference in the matches between the teams concerned;
3. number of goals scored in the matches between the teams concerned;
4. goal difference in all group matches;
5. number of goals scored in all group matches;
6. fair play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards;
7. drawing of lots by the organising committee.

All times given as local time (UTC+1)

Group A

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Group A

Group B

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Group B

Group C

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Group C

Group D

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Group D

Knockout stage

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations knockout stage

In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out were used to decide the winners if necessary.

Bracket

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place play-off

Final

Main article: 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Final

Awards

• Best player of the competition: EGY Ahmed Hassan
• Fair Play player of the competition: EGY Ahmed Fathy
• Discovery Player of the Tournament: EGY Gedo
• Goalkeeper of the competition: EGY Essam El Hadary
• Top scorer: EGY Gedo

Best XI

The following players were selected as the best in their respective positions, based on their performances throughout the tournament. Their performances were analysed by the tournament's Technical Study Group (TSG), who picked the team.

;Substitutes

• GHA Richard Kingson
• EGY Gedo
• ZAM Emmanuel Mbola
• ALG Karim Ziani
• CMR Achille Emaná
• GHA Kwadwo Asamoah
• MLI Seydou Keita
• GHA André Ayew
• GAB Éric Mouloungui
• NGR Chinedu Obasi
• CIV Salomon Kalou
• ZAM Jacob Mulenga

Goalscorers

;5 goals

• EGY Gedo

;3 goals

• ANG Flávio
• EGY Ahmed Hassan
• GHA Asamoah Gyan
• MLI Seydou Keita

;2 goals

• ANG Manucho
• CMR Samuel Eto'o
• EGY Emad Moteab
• MWI Russel Mwafulirwa
• MLI Frédéric Kanouté
• NGA Peter Odemwingie
• ZAM Jacob Mulenga

;1 goal

• ALG Hamer Bouazza
• ALG Madjid Bougherra
• ALG Rafik Halliche
• ALG Karim Matmour
• ANG Gilberto ;1 goal
• BEN Razak Omotoyossi
• CMR Achille Emaná
• CMR Geremi
• CMR Mohammadou Idrissou
• CMR Landry N'Guémo
• CIV Didier Drogba
• CIV Gervinho
• CIV Salomon Kalou
• CIV Kader Keïta
• CIV Siaka Tiéné
• EGY Mohamed Abdel-Shafy
• EGY Hosny Abd Rabo
• EGY Ahmed Elmohamady
• EGY Mohamed Zidan
• GAB Daniel Cousin
• GAB Fabrice Do Marcolino
• GHA André Ayew
• MWI Davi Banda
• MWI Elvis Kafoteka
• MLI Mamadou Bagayoko
• MLI Mustapha Yatabaré ;1 goal
• MOZ Fumo
• MOZ Miro
• NGA Obafemi Martins
• NGA Chinedu Obasi
• NGA Victor Obinna
• NGA Yakubu
• TUN Amine Chermiti
• TUN Zouheir Dhaouadi
• ZAM James Chamanga
• ZAM Rainford Kalaba
• ZAM Christopher Katongo

;Own goals ;2 goals

• MOZ Dario Khan (playing against Benin and Egypt) ;1 goal
• CMR Aurélien Chedjou (playing against Tunisia)

Tournament rankings

Statistics

• Total number of goals scored: 71
• Average goals per match: 2.45
• Most goals scored by a team in the first round: 7 – and
• Most goals conceded by a team: 10 –
• Most goals conceded by a team in the first round: 7 –
• Fewest goals conceded by a team in the first round: 1 – and *** and ***
• Fewest goals conceded by a team continuing on to the second round: 2 –
• Fastest goal in a match: 36th second: Kanouté for (against )
• Latest goal scored in a match: 104th minute: Ahmed Hassan for (against )
• Most goals scored in a match: 8 – 4–4
• Fewest goals scored in a match: 0 – vs. , – vs. , – vs. – vs.
• Most goals scored by a losing team: 2 – **** (against ); and **** (against )
• Most goals scored in a draw: 8 – 4–4
• Most goals scored by a winning team: 4 – **** (4–0 vs. )

*** indicates the team played only two matches in the group stage, due to the withdrawal of Togo from the tournament.

Mascot

The Mascot for the Tournament is Palanquinha, which was inspired by the Giant Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger variani), a national symbol and a treasured animal in Angola. In Angola, this animal is found only in the Cangandala National Park in Malange Province.

Match ball

The official match ball for the tournament is the Adidas Jabulani Angola, a modified version of the Adidas Jabulani to be used at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the colours of the flag of Angola.

Marketing

Tournament had seven sponsors, Doritos, MTN Group, NASUBA, Orange, Pepsi, Samsung and only African corporate sponsor Standard Bank.

Attack on the Togo national team

Main article: Togo national football team attack

On 8 January 2010, the team bus of the Togo national football team was attacked by gunmen in Cabinda, Angola as it travelled to the tournament. A spokesman for the Togolese football federation said assistant coach Améleté Abalo and press officer Stanislaud Ocloo had died as well as the driver. The separatist group Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Military Position claimed responsibility for the attack. The Togolese team withdrew from the competition the following day. The players initially decided to compete as a way to commemorate the victims, but were immediately ordered to return by the Togolese government.

Following their departure from Angola, Togo were formally disqualified from the tournament after failing to fulfil their opening Group B game against Ghana on 11 January.

On 30 January 2010, CAF banned Togo from participating in the next two Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and fined the team $50,000 due to "government involvement in the withdrawal from the tournament". The ban would have meant that Togo would be unable to compete until the 2015 tournament, but that ban was lifted on 14 May 2010 by a ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

References

References

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2. (20 February 2009). "Camino a la Copa Africana de Naciones Angola 2010". Fox Sport.
3. (31 January 2010). "Ghana 0–1 Egypt". BBC Sport.
4. (16 May 2010). "Africa Cup of Nations Cup to move to odd-numbered years". BBC Sport.
5. "Angola 2010 – Fixture, stadiums and list of champions". Periodismo de fútbol internacional.
6. "Regulations of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations Angola 2010, art. 72, p. 29".
7. (31 January 2010). "Orange CAN 2010 awards". [[Confederation of African Football]].
8. (31 January 2010). "CAF Releases top 11 of Orange CAN". [[Confederation of African Football]].
9. "AFC Competition Operations Manual (Edition 2023)". Asian Football Confederation.
10. (10 January 2010). "Togo head home as Africa Cup of Nations gets under way". BBC Sport.
11. (30 January 2010). "Togo handed two-tournament Nations Cup suspension". ESPN Soccernet.
12. (14 May 2010). "Togo's African Cup ban is lifted". BBC.