2008 Africa Cup of Nations

The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated with the Confederation 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, beating Cameroon 1–0 in the final. As winners, they qualified for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup as the CAF representatives.

Host selection

Bids:

• Ghana (selected as hosts)
• Libya
• South Africa (withdrew)

The organization of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations was awarded to Ghana on 8 July 2004 by the CAF Executive Committee members which are 12 in Cairo, 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 in 2004, and Egypt in 2006).

South Africa, also a candidate at the start, eventually withdrew in May 2004 after being nominated for the organization of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

This was the fourth time that Ghana hosted the African Cup after 1963, 1978 and 2000 (jointly with Nigeria).

Qualification

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.

Teams

• 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)

Venues

Tournament ball

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: the Adidas Roteiro in 2004, or the Adidas Teamgeist in 2006. However, for the 2008 tournament, Adidas made a special ball, clearly different from the Adidas Europass going to be used five months later for UEFA Euro 2008. The ball was named Wawa 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 the Akan culture originating from Western Africa, one of the Adinkra symbols named Wawa Aba is a symbol of hardiness, toughness, and perseverance. People there particularly believe in the strength and team spirit of a community. The Wawa Aba literally means "seed(s) of Wawa tree (Triplochiton scleroxylon)”, one of the strongest and most processible woods of Africa and whose seeds are very hard. For the population, the Wawa 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 the Wawa Aba.

Match officials

16 referees and 16 assistant referees were selected for the tournament, including two from Japan and one from South Korea.

Squads

Draw

The draw for the tournament took place on 19 October 2007 in Accra. 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. 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.

Group stage

Tie-breaking criteria

Where 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 group matches between the teams concerned;
4. goal difference in all group matches;
5. number of goals scored in all group matches;
6. drawing of lots by the organizing committee.

All times given as local time (UTC+0)

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Third place match

Final

Awards

Best Goalkeeper

• Egypt Essam El Hadary

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

• Ghana Richard Kingson
• Egypt Hany Said
• Egypt Ahmed Fathy
• Tunisia Saber Ben Frej
• Cameroon Stéphane Mbia
• Cameroon Samuel Eto'o
• Ivory Coast Didier Drogba
• Ivory Coast Kader Keïta

Goalscorers

There were 99 goals scored in 32 matches, for an average of 3.09 goals per match.

5 goals

• Cameroon Samuel Eto'o

4 goals

• Angola Manucho
• Egypt Hosny Abd Rabo
• Egypt Mohamed Aboutrika
• Egypt Amr Zaki

3 goals

• Ivory Coast Didier Drogba
• Ivory Coast Salomon Kalou
• Ivory Coast Kader Keïta
• Ivory Coast Boubacar Sanogo
• Ghana Junior Agogo
• Ghana Sulley Muntari
• Morocco Soufiane Alloudi

2 goals

• Cameroon Geremi
• Cameroon Joseph-Désiré Job
• Cameroon Stéphane Mbia
• Egypt Mohamed Zidan
• Ghana Michael Essien
• Guinea Pascal Feindouno
• Namibia Brian Brendell
• Nigeria Yakubu
• South Africa Elrio van Heerden
• Tunisia Chaouki Ben Saada
• Tunisia Francileudo dos Santos
• Zambia Chris Katongo

1 goal

• Angola Flávio
• Benin Razak Omotoyossi
• Cameroon Achille Emana
• Cameroon Alain N'Kong
• Ivory Coast Aruna Dindane
• Ivory Coast Bakari Koné
• Ivory Coast Yaya Touré
• Ivory Coast Marco Zoro
• Egypt Ahmed Fathy
• Ghana Haminu Dramani
• Ghana Asamoah Gyan
• Ghana Quincy Owusu-Abeyie
• Guinea Ismaël Bangoura
• Guinea Oumar Kalabane
• Guinea Souleymane Youla
• Mali Frédéric Kanouté
• Morocco Hicham Aboucherouane
• Morocco Abdeslam Ouaddou
• Morocco Tarik Sektioui
• Morocco Monsef Zerka
• Nigeria Mikel John Obi
• Senegal Moustapha Bayal Sall
• Senegal Henri Camara
• Senegal Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye
• Senegal Diomansy Kamara
• South Africa Katlego Mphela
• Tunisia Yassine Chikhaoui
• Tunisia Issam Jemâa
• Tunisia Mejdi Traoui
• Zambia James Chamanga
• Zambia Felix Katongo
• Zambia Jacob Mulenga

1 own goal

• Sudan Mohammed Ali El Khider (against Cameroon)

Tournament rankings

External links

Media related to 2008 Africa Cup of Nations at Wikimedia Commons