ACoN

I will freely admit I have not watched any of the African Cup of Nations matches. And I will also admit I am what you might call a hater and/or doubter when it comes to African football (as far as clubs and national teams go, I recognize that some of the best players in the world at elite clubs come from Africa). But seeing the highlights from the quarter final matches really left me in shock. The one that was particularly egregious was the match between World Cup bound Cameroon and 2 time defending champion Egypt. The game ended 3-1 in Egypt's favor and save the final goal scored (or more accurately not scored since it never crossed the line) on a freekick every goal involved at least one hackle raising mistake that would get a second division player sent to the bench. Like really eye-popping stuff. When I see play that sloppy in such an important game, my belief that African football is not ready for primetime is reinforced. Prove me wrong.

On a more serious note Pitch Itchy wishes a speedy and full recovery to Salvador Cabanas. He was shot in the head in a Mexico City nightclub early this morning. There seems to be a lot of tragedies around football these last few months. Sad and senseless, I hope he is able to pull through.