The group stages finished with some surprising results, late drama and all round excitement.Yours truly hasn't been able to watch any games due (Time zone differences et al.). I have however had a chance to catch up on the goals and highlights. Here are my thoughts on the first set of matches
Disappointment Of The Round:
Senegal. The Teranga Lions have a lot of quality strikers who did not live up to expectation. With Newcastle strikers, Ba and Cisse failing to score in the competition. For one of the pre-tournament favourites this has to be a disastrous showing.
Home Comforts:
The host nations both qualified for the knockout stages wins with Gabon especially looking impressive in topping their group.
Still Favourites:
Ghana and Ivory Coast have looked good without setting the competition alight yet. The knockout stages should confirm or disprove their favourite status
Match Of The Round:
I'm picking Gabon v Morocco with the late goals that swung the tie back and forth.
Surprise Team:
Sudan. I never will have picked them to get out of the group and they've got a chance against Zambia.
Dark Horse:
Zambia. They've got a decent chance of making the semi-finals and who knows how far they could go.
