Achraf Hakimi of Morocco reacts in disappointment after missing a penalty during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Last 16 match between Morocco and South Africa at Laurent Pokou Stadium , San Pedro, Cote dIvoire There are so many talking points from Afcon 2023 after three weeks of drama, intrigue and heaps of twists across the board. Seen here: Achraf Hakimi of Morocco reacts in disappointment after missing a penalty during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations Last 16 match against South Africa.Picture: BackpagePix
There are so many talking points from this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations after three weeks of drama, intrigue and heaps of twists across the board.
There have been thrills throughout since the start in mid-January and after so many upsets this Afcon has turned out to be one of the most unpredictable editions of the tournament.
Afcon was expanded from a 16-tournament to a 24-team event in 2019. This is the third edition to have 24 teams participating. At the time of the expansion, it was feared that the extra teams would weaken the competition and that could result in lop-sided matches.
However, after the group and Round of 16 stages, Afcon 2023 has turned out to be one of the most exciting tournaments in its history.
The guardians of the African game Caf (Confederation of African Football) may have taken their cue from Fifa who expanded the World Cup to 32 teams a few years ago, allowing more teams from Africa, Asia and North America to take part.
The results at Afcon 2023 have made the form book look like a comic strip, and teams with fewer overseas-based players are among the best-performing sides.
The gap between Africa's traditional heavyweights and minnows is closing rapidly, as was shown when world No. 17 Morocco was defeated 2-0 by South Africa, 66th on the Fifa rankings.
This result and many others at Afcon 2023 have shown that the 24 teams are evenly matched, despite their ranking. In sports generally, numbers have always been a factor so the countries with the biggest population fare the best, simply because they have more players to choose from.
However, smaller countries like Cape Verde (population of just under 600 000) have posted wins over Ghana (33 million) and Mozambique (32). And they held seven-time winners Egypt (109) to a draw. Egypt needed an injury-time penalty to rescue the match.
Due to the upset results, some coaches have been shown the exit door after some highly rated teams finished at the bottom of the groups.
Since March 2021, businessman Patrice Motsepe has been tasked with leading African football to calmer waters, and since then he has made a success of the Caf presidency.
There has been far more transparency during his term of office, and he has attracted a host of new sponsors who have faith in his leadership. There has been an increase in television and commercial revenues. Also, prize money in all Caf's competitions has improved significantly, especially for the women's events.
He has also overseen a big improvement in Caf's relationship with Fifa, and that has yielded several benefits for African football.
South Africa's coach Hugo Broos has had to deal with a few setbacks while preparing for Afcon 2023, but has shown a steely resolve and his underdogs have reached the quarter-final round.
His two best strikers were unavailable, and he had insufficient time to prepare adequately. He was forced to settle for a pre-tournament friendly that he thought was of little consequence because the opposition was rank weak in his opinion.
The former 2017 Afcon winning coach (with Cameroon) is campaigning with a team that has the least number of overseas-based players there. That is considered to be a major disadvantage.
However, he has defied the odds by defeating Africa's highest-ranked team Morocco to reach the quarter-final.
AFP