| MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 | |
|---|---|
 Africa Cup of Nations 2008 official logo | |
| Tournament details | |
| Host country | Ghana |
| Dates | 20 January – 10 February |
| Teams | 16 |
| Venue | 4 (in 4 host cities) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Egypt (6th title) |
| Runners-up |  Cameroon |
| Third place |  Ghana |
| Fourth place |  Ivory Coast |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 32 |
| Goals scored | 99 (3.09 per match) |
| Attendance | 714,000 (22,313 per match) |
| Top scorer | Samuel Eto'o (5 goals) |
| Best player | Hosny Abd Rabo |
| Bestgoalkeeper | Essam El-Hadary |
←2006 2010 → | |
The2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as theMTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship byMTN, was the 26th edition of theAfrica Cup of Nations, the biennialfootball tournament for nations affiliated with theConfederation of African Football (CAF). The tournament was staged at four venues around Ghana between 20 January and 10 February 2008. This was the last Africa Cup of Nations to use the old CAF logo.
Egypt won the tournament, beatingCameroon 1–0 in the final. As winners, they qualified for the2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as the CAF representatives.
Bids:
The organization of the 2008Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Ghana on 8 July 2004 by theCAF Executive Committee members which are 12 inCairo, Egypt. Voters had a choice between Ghana and Libya which was disadvantaged by the fact that two countries in the North Africa region had already hosted the last two editions (Tunisia in2004, and Egypt in2006).
South Africa, also a candidate at the start, eventually withdrew in May 2004 after being nominated for the organization of the2010 FIFA World Cup.
This was the fourth time that Ghana hosted the African Cup after1963,1978 and2000 (jointly with Nigeria).
| Results | |
|---|---|
| Nation | Votes |
| Ghana | 9 |
 Libya | 3 |
 South Africa | Withdrew |
| Total votes | 12 |
The entrants were divided into 12 groups. All group winners and the best three runners-up from groups with four teams (groups 2-11) qualified for the finals. Host Ghana qualified automatically. Qualifying took place between 2 September 2006 and 13 October 2007.
Ghana – Host, 16th appearance (4 titles) Ivory Coast – Group 1 winner, 17th appearance (1 title) Egypt – Group 2 winner, 21st appearance (5 titles)
Nigeria – Group 3 winner, 15th appearance (2 titles)
Sudan – Group 4 winner, 7th appearance (1 title) Cameroon – Group 5 winner, 15th appearance (4 titles)
Angola – Group 6 winner, 4th appearance
Senegal – Group 7 winner, 11th appearance
Guinea – Group 8 winner, 9th appearance
Mali – Group 9 winner, 5th appearance
Namibia – Group 10 winner, 2nd appearance
Zambia – Group 11 winner, 13th appearance
Morocco – Group 12 winner, 14th appearance (1 title)
Tunisia – Group 4 runner-up, 13th appearance (1 title)
Benin – Group 9 runner-up, 2nd appearance South Africa – Group 11 runner-up, 7th appearance (1 title)| Accra | Kumasi | |
|---|---|---|
| Ohene Djan Stadium | Baba Yara Stadium | |
| Capacity:40,000[1] | Capacity:40,528 | |
 |  | |
| Tamale | Sekondi-Takoradi | |
| Tamale Stadium | Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium | |
| Capacity:21,017 | Capacity:20,088 | |
 |  |
 |  |
During the previous editions of the Africa Cup of Nations, the ball used was not a ball especially made for the tournament. As the tournament was held on even years, the same years big tournaments such as the UEFA European Championships or the FIFA World Cup were held, the official ball for the tournament held this year was used for the African Cup of Nations: theAdidas Roteiro in 2004, or theAdidas Teamgeist in 2006. However, for the 2008 tournament, Adidas made a special ball, clearly different from theAdidas Europass going to be used five months later forUEFA Euro 2008. The ball was namedWawa Aba and was designed to include host nation Ghana's red, yellow and green. The ball was later used for the other African competitions.
For theAkan culture originating from Western Africa, one of theAdinkra symbols namedWawa Aba is a symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance.[2] People there particularly believe in the strength and team spirit of a community. TheWawa Aba literally means "seed(s) of Wawa tree (Triplochiton scleroxylon)”,[3] one of the strongest and most processible woods of Africa and whose seeds are very hard. For the population, theWawa Aba mainly has mystical significance. These are people who don't let failure discourage them, who seize all opportunities successfully and who are thus just as strong and adaptable as theWawa Aba.
16 referees and 16 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, including two from Japan and one from South Korea.[4]
The draw for the tournament took place on 19 October 2007 inAccra. The sixteen teams were divided into four pots according to their performances in past Cup of Nations tournaments. Ghana, as hosts, were automatically seeded as the top team in Group A. Egypt, the defending champions, were seeded as the top team in Group C.[5] Tunisia and Nigeria had the two strongest records and so completed the top seeded Pot 1. Each group consists of four teams, one drawn from each of the pots.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghana(hosts) Egypt(title holders) Tunisia Nigeria | Ivory Coast Cameroon Morocco Senegal | South Africa Guinea Mali Zambia | Angola Benin Namibia Sudan |
Where two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:[6]
All times given as local time (UTC+0)
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ghana(H) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Guinea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |
| 3 | Morocco | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 3 | |
| 4 | Namibia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 1 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivory Coast | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 9 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Nigeria | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Mali | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Benin | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 |
| Nigeria | 0–1 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Kalou 66' |
| Ivory Coast | 4–1 | Benin |
|---|---|---|
| Drogba 40' Y. Touré 44'Keïta 53'Dindane 63' | Report | Omotoyossi 90' |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 7 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Cameroon | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 6 | |
| 3 | Zambia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Sudan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | −9 | 0 |
| Sudan | 0–3 | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Chamanga 2' J. Mulenga 50'F. Katongo 59' |
| Egypt | 1–1 | Zambia |
|---|---|---|
| Zaki 15' | Report | C. Katongo 88' |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunisia | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 5 | Advance toknockout stage |
| 2 | Angola | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 5 | |
| 3 | Senegal | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | South Africa | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 2 |
| South Africa | 1–1 | Angola |
|---|---|---|
| Van Heerden 87' | Report | Manucho 29' |
| Senegal | 1–1 | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| H. Camara 36' | Report | Van Heerden 14' |
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 3 February –Accra | ||||||||||
| Ghana | 2 | |||||||||
| 7 February –Accra | ||||||||||
| Nigeria | 1 | |||||||||
| Ghana | 0 | |||||||||
| 4 February –Tamale | ||||||||||
| Cameroon | 1 | |||||||||
| Tunisia | 2 | |||||||||
| 10 February –Accra | ||||||||||
| Cameroon (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||||||
| Cameroon | 0 | |||||||||
| 3 February –Sekondi | ||||||||||
| Egypt | 1 | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 5 | |||||||||
| 7 February –Kumasi | ||||||||||
| Guinea | 0 | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 1 | |||||||||
| 4 February –Kumasi | ||||||||||
| Egypt | 4 | Third place | ||||||||
| Egypt | 2 | |||||||||
| 9 February –Kumasi | ||||||||||
| Angola | 1 | |||||||||
| Ghana | 4 | |||||||||
| Ivory Coast | 2 | |||||||||
| Ghana | 4–2 | Ivory Coast |
|---|---|---|
| Muntari 10' Owusu-Abeyie 70'Agogo 80'Draman 84' | Report | Sanogo 24',32' |
| Cameroon | 0–1 | Egypt |
|---|---|---|
| [citation needed] | Aboutrika 76' |
Player of the tournament[edit] | Top scorer[edit]
|
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.[9]
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
|
FlávioRazak OmotoyossiAchille EmanaAlain N'KongAruna DindaneBakari KonéYaya TouréMarco ZoroAhmed FathyHaminu DramaniAsamoah GyanQuincy Owusu-AbeyieIsmaël BangouraOumar KalabaneSouleymane YoulaFrédéric KanoutéHicham AboucherouaneAbdeslam OuaddouTarik SektiouiMonsef ZerkaMikel John ObiMoustapha Bayal SallHenri CamaraAbdoulaye Diagne-FayeDiomansy KamaraKatlego MphelaYassine ChikhaouiIssam JemâaMejdi TraouiJames ChamangaFelix KatongoJacob MulengaMohammed Ali El Khider (playing against Cameroon)| Ranking criteria |
|---|
For teams eliminated in the same knockout round, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:
For teams eliminated in the group stage, the following criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the final rankings:[10]
|
| Pos. | Team | G | Pld | W | D | L | Pts | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egypt | D | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 15 | 5 | +10 |
| 2 | Cameroon | B | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 8 | +6 |
| 3 | Ghana | A | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 5 | +6 |
| 4 | Ivory Coast | C | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 9 | +7 |
| Eliminated in the quarter-finals | ||||||||||
| 5 | Tunisia | B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | +1 |
| 6 | Angola | C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | +1 |
| 7 | Nigeria | A | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Guinea | D | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 10 | −5 |
| Eliminated in the group stage | ||||||||||
| 9 | Zambia | A | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | −1 |
| 10 | Mali | D | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | −2 |
| 11 | Morocco | B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 |
| 12 | Senegal | C | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 |
| 13 | South Africa | D | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 |
| 14 | Namibia | B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | −5 |
| 15 | Benin | A | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | −6 |
| 16 | Sudan | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | −9 |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Media related to2008 Africa Cup of Nations at Wikimedia Commons
| Editions |
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|---|---|
| Qualification | |
| Finals | |
| Bids | |
| Squads | |
| Statistics | |
| Miscellaneous | |
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