Unappealing

The Africa Cup of Nations kicked off last week but with the absence of past giants, including Egypt, are we at all interested? Abeer Anwar and Ahmed Morsy find few supporters

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Hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations began without defending champions Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria, meaning that the trophy will witness a new winner for the first time in 20 years -- unless Tunisia win it.

But is such a prospect tempting enough to watch the tournament, at least from the Egyptian perspective? Seven-time African champions Egypt -- which has won Africa's top football tournament three times in a row --failed to qualify for the first time in 33 years. So, as the competition's round of eight begins on Saturday, how do Egyptians feel about the event in the absence of the Pharaohs?

Tarek Galal, an engineer who is a fanatic football fan, says this year's ACN is not of any use. "I am not interested in watching or even following the news of the event because of the absence of big names, not only Egypt but South Africa and Cameroon. I think that it won't be as interesting as previous competitions."

Alaa Mahmoud, a journalist who has always been interested in sports in general and football in particular, is not watching this year's event simply because it is not being broadcast on national TV channels due to the absence of Egypt. "Why should I leave my house in such cold weather and go to a café to watch the matches. I like it better when I sit at home with my sons and cheer together. I'm not even interested in its news."

Ihab Islam cannot afford to pay to sit in a café and watch teams "that we are not interested in. It's better to save the money to feed my kids as the economic situation in the country is getting worse. I also think people are more interested in news on the revolution rather than in football."

The youths who participated in the 25 January Revolution and are constantly taking part in political events believe watching the ACN matches is nonsense. "The revolution did not end and the martyrs are not lying in their graves peacefully. All Egyptian youths have to concentrate on the completion of their revolution's demands and not to diverge from this," said one youngster who preferred anonymity.

It seems football, the country's No 1 sport and past time, has lost out to the revolution whose news is broadcast 24 hours a day on almost all channels. Youth have become more aware of their political situation and have put football and other interests aside.

Of course, there are those who are watching the CAN unfold. Hassan Ali, an undergraduate, believes watching the championship is of special interest. "As friends we meet at our favourite café, smoke shisha and have fun. It is also interesting to watch the new African talents and the newly evolving stars of the future."

Teenagers like Hossam Mohamed and Mohamed Rifaat think it is an event worth watching. "We have to watch other Arab teams participating in the event and cheer them on since we are all Arabs and we have to back each other up," Rifaat said.

Egyptian football fans were not the only ones paying little attention to the 28th edition of the continental flagship football tournament; the Egyptian media also paid little heed. Mustafa Younis, a former defence star and a current TV presenter, believes that the media should be blamed for not bringing us the event.

"Owing to Egypt's absence, the tournament became unattractive to football fans locally," Younis told Al-Ahram Weekly.

"Nevertheless, there is no reason for the Egyptian media to close their eyes to the tournament. The media should be blamed for ignoring it," he added.

"The Egyptian Football Association (EFA), Egyptian football players acoaches ought to be aware of the current performance of the African teams by monitoring the competition.

"We always lack future planning which is one of the aspects of having a successful national team. W always look no farther than our feet.

"We can't blame Egyptian state television for not broadcasting the competition due to the domestic economic crunch which Egypt is currently suffering from but at least there should be news in the press," Younis said.

In the group stage, Senegal ended their 2012 Africa Cup of Nations campaign bottom of Group A after a 2-1 loss at the hands of Libya in Bata on Sunday night. Despite the victory, it was not enough to earn Libya a place in the quarter-finals after Zambia beat Equatorial Guinea to claim top spot in the pool in the same group. Hence, Zambia and Equatorial Guinea were the first two teams to book their places in the knock-out stage after ending up with seven and six point respectively.

In Group B, Ivory Coast ensured they finished Group B with a perfect record as they beat a disjointed Angola 2-0 in Malabo.

The Angolans' first group defeat means they miss the quarter-finals after Sudan beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Bata. The Desert Hawks reached the knockout stage for the first time since 1970.

Angola gifted an Ivorian reserve side the lead as Emmanuel Eboue pounced from close range in the first half, before Wilfried Bony tapped into an empty net.

Ivory Coast will play Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-finals, while Sudan will face Zambia in Bata on 4 February.

In Group C, Gabon and Tunisia also qualified with six points each with a game in hand, against each other, scheduled to have been played yesterday. Niger and Morocco lost their hope of qualifying with zero points from two games in the same group.

Meanwhile, qualifications for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations is close to starting. The first round is to be played from 29 February to 15ê"17 June 2012. The second round is to be played 7ê"9 September and 12ê"14 October 2012.

Egypt is taking on the Central African Republic home and away on 29 February and 16 June.

South Africa have automatically qualified as the host country.

The championship is normally held once every two years but is being played this year and next so that afterwards it will be staged in odd number years to avoid it and the World Cup being played the same year