2012 Africa Cup of Nations

2012 Africa Cup of Nations
  • Copa Africana de Naciones 2012
  • Campeonato Africano das Nações de 2012
  • Coupe d'Afrique des Nations 2012
  • AFCON 2012
  • CAN 2012
Tournament details
Host countries Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Dates 21 January – 12 February
Teams 16 (from 5 sub-confederations)
Venue(s) 4 (in 4 host cities)
Final positions
Champions  Zambia (1st title)
Runners-up  Ivory Coast
Third place  Mali
Fourth place  Ghana
Tournament statistics
Matches played 32
Goals scored 76 (2.38 per match)
Attendance 456,332 (14,260 per match)
Top scorer(s) Angola Manucho
Ivory Coast Didier Drogba
Gabon Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Mali Cheick Diabaté
Morocco Houssine Kharja
Zambia Christopher Katongo
Zambia Emmanuel Mayuka
(3 goals each)
Best player Zambia Christopher Katongo
Fair play award  Ivory Coast

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The competition was co-hosted in two countries; it took place in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon from 21 January to 12 February 2012. The bidding process for hosting the tournament ended in September 2006, the continental football federation, CAF, selected Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The matches were played in four stadiums in four host cities around the two countries, with the final played at the newly built Stade d'Angondjé in Gabon's largest city, Libreville. Fourteen teams were selected for participation via a continental qualification tournament that began in July 2010.

The 2012 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations was one of the most politically charged sports events to take place, Libya (Libyan Civil War) and Tunisia's (Tunisian revolution) national teams qualified for the tournament despite a political backdrop which saw both country's autocratic rulers ousted from power. Players of the Libyan and Tunisian national teams had fought on the front line in their respective campaigns. The traditional footballing nations such as reigning champions Egypt (also affected by political events), Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa had failed to qualify. Players from third-placed Mali pleaded for the insurgency in the north of their country to end.

In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final. Both host nations, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, were eliminated from the competition at the quarter final stage.

In the final, unfancied Zambia, the Southern African regional body's 2009 COSAFA Cup runner-up, defeated third-time finalists Côte d'Ivoire after a dramatic penalty shootout in the final,[1] giving Zambia their first continental title, becoming the fourteenth nation to win the tournament.[2] The Zambian team dedicated their win to the members of the national team who died in a plane crash near the final's venue in Libreville in 1993.[3]

Bids shortlist

The five countries who were shortlisted to host the tournament including one joint bid:

Gabon and Equatorial Guinea won the right to host the tournament after defeating a Nigerian bid along with two other bid winning nations, Angola and Libya. Bids from Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Senegal were rejected. For the first time in CAF history, the hosts of three successive tournaments were chosen at the same time; Angola was chosen to host in 2010, Gabon/Equatorial Guinea were chosen as hosts for the 2012 cup and Libya was originally scheduled to host the 2013 edition.[4] In light of the Libyan Civil War, Libya and South Africa then traded places, with the former arranging in 2017 and the latter in 2013 instead.[5]

Qualification

The qualification process involves ten groups of four, one of which was reduced to a group of three after the withdrawal of Mauritania, and one group of five. The top team from each group goes through, as well as the second placed team from the group of five. The two best second place teams also qualify. At the end of the qualification process, fourteen teams would have qualified, as well as the two host nations. The first qualifiers were held on 1 July 2010.[6]

Qualified teams

A map of Africa showing the qualified nations, highlighted by stage reached.
Country Qualified as Qualification date Appearance in finals Previous best performance Regional body FIFA ranking1 Continental ranking1
 Angola Group J Winner 8 October 2011 6th Quarterfinals (2008, 2010) COSAFA 85 19
 Botswana Group K Winner 26 March 2011 1st none COSAFA 94 21
 Burkina Faso Group F Winner 3 September 2011 8th Fourth place (1998) WAFU 66 14
 Ivory Coast Group H Winner 5 June 2011 19th Winner (1992) WAFU 18 1
 Equatorial Guinea Co-host 29 July 2007 1st none UNIFFAC 151 41
 Gabon Co-host 29 July 2007 5th Quarterfinals (1996) UNIFFAC 91 20
 Ghana Group I Winner 8 October 2011 18th Winner (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982) WAFU 26 2
 Guinea Group B Winner 8 October 2011 10th Second place (1976) WAFU 79 17
 Libya Top Two Runner-Up 8 October 2011 3rd Second place (1982) UNAF 63 13
 Mali Group A Winner 8 October 2011 7th Second place (1972) WAFU 69 15
 Morocco Group D Winner 9 October 2011 14th Winner (1976) UNAF 61 12
 Niger Group G Winner 8 October 2011 1st none WAFU 98 22
 Senegal Group E Winner 3 September 2011 12th Second place (2002) WAFU 43 5
 Sudan Top Two Runner-Up 9 October 2011 8th Winner (1970) CECAFA 120 30
 Tunisia Group K Runner-up 8 October 2011 15th Winner (2004) UNAF 59 10
 Zambia Group C Winner 8 October 2011 15th Second place (1974, 1994) COSAFA 71 16
1 FIFA World Rankings, release of 18 January 2012.

Controversies

Togo

Togo were initially banned from the 2012 and 2013 Africa Cup of Nations tournaments by CAF after they withdrew from the 2010 tournament following an attack on their team bus.[7] Togo appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with FIFA president Sepp Blatter stepping in to mediate. The ban was subsequently lifted with immediate effect on 14 May 2010, after a meeting of the CAF Executive Committee. Togo are therefore free to play in the 2012 and 2013 qualifiers.[8]

Nigeria

On 30 June 2010, after Nigeria's exit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan punished the team for a poor campaign by imposing a two-year ban from international competition.[9] This would have resulted in the Nigerians missing out on both the 2012 qualifying phase and the 2012 African Cup of Nations. However, on 5 July, the Nigerian government dropped the ban after FIFA threatened to impose harsher international sanctions as a result of the government interference.[10] Nigeria competed in qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations as scheduled but failed to qualify.

Venues

The opening match, one semi-final and the third place match were held in Equatorial Guinea while the other semi-final and the final were held in Gabon.[11]

Bata, Equatorial Guinea Libreville, Gabon
Estadio de Bata
(pictured before its expansion)		 Stade d'Angondjé
Capacity: 37,500 Capacity: 40,000
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea Franceville, Gabon
Nuevo Estadio de Malabo Stade de Franceville
Capacity: 15,250 Capacity: 35,000

Draw

The draw for the final tournament took place on 29 October 2011 at the Sipopo Conference Palace in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.[12] The draw ceremony was attended by the two presidents from the host countries, President Ali Bongo of Gabon and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea.[13] The draw saw the 16 qualified teams being pitted into four groups of four teams each. The two top teams from each group will qualify for the quarter finals with the winners progressing to the semi finals and final eventually.

The two hosts were automatically seeded into pot 1. The other 14 qualified teams were ranked based on their performances during the last three Africa Cup of Nations, i.e. the 2006, 2008 and 2010 editions.[14] For each of the last three African Cup of Nations final tournaments, the following system of points is adopted for the qualified countries:

Classification Points awarded
Winner 7
Runner-up 5
Losing semi-finalists 3
Losing quarter-finalists 2
Eliminated in 1st round 1

Moreover, a weighted coefficient on points was given to each of the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations as follows:

The teams were then divided into four pots based on the ranking. Each group contained one team from each pot.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4

 Equatorial Guinea (co-hosts; assigned to A1)
 Gabon (co-hosts; assigned to C1)
 Ghana (22 pts)
 Ivory Coast (17 pts)

 Angola (11 pts)
 Tunisia (9 pts)
 Zambia (9 pts)
 Guinea (6 pts)

 Mali (5 pts)
 Senegal (5 pts)
 Morocco (3 pts)
 Burkina Faso (3 pts)

 Sudan (2 pts)
 Libya (1 pt)
 Botswana (0 pts)
 Niger (0 pts)

Match officials

The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[15]

Referees Linesmen

Mohamed Benouza
Djamel Haimoudi
Néant Alioum
Noumandiez Doue
Gehad Grisha
Eric Otogo-Castane
Bakary Gassama
Hamada Nampiandraza
Koman Coulibaly
Ali Lemghaifry
Rajindraparsad Seechurn
Bouchaïb El Ahrach
Badara Diatta
Eddy Maillet
Daniel Bennett
Khalid Abdel Rahman
Slim Jedidi
Janny Sikazwe

Albdelhak Etchiali
Jean-Claude Birumushahu
Evarist Menkouande
Yanoussa Moussa
Richard Bouende-Malonga
Songuifolo Yeo
Angesom Ogbamariam
Theophile Vinga
Aboubacar Doumbouya
Marwa Range
Moffat Champiti
Balla Diarra
Balkrishna Bootun
Redouane Achik
David Shaanika
Peter Edibe
Felicien Kabanda
Djibril Camara
Jason Damoo
Zakhele Siwela
Bechir Hassani

Squads

Each team's squad for the tournament consisted of 23 players; only players in these squads were eligible to take part in the tournament. Each participating national association had to submit their squad by 11 January 2012 (midnight CET). Replacement of seriously injured players was permitted until 24 hours before the team in question's first match of the tournament.[16]

Group stage

Groups A and B took place in Equatorial Guinea, while Groups C and D were held in Gabon.[17] Notably, there was not a single goalless draw during the group stage.

Tie-breaking criteria

If two or more teams end the group stage with the same number of points, their ranking is determined by the following criteria:[16]

  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 matches between the teams concerned;
  4. goal difference in all group matches;
  5. number of goals scored in all group matches;
  6. fair play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards;
  7. drawing of lots by the organising committee.
Key to colours in group tables
Top two placed teams advanced to the quarterfinals

All times are West Africa Time (UTC+1).

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Zambia 321053+27
 Equatorial Guinea 320132+16
 Libya 31114404
 Senegal 300336−30
21 January 2012
Equatorial Guinea  1–0  Libya Estadio de Bata, Bata
Senegal  1–2  Zambia Estadio de Bata, Bata
25 January 2012
Libya  2–2  Zambia Estadio de Bata, Bata
Equatorial Guinea  2–1  Senegal Estadio de Bata, Bata
29 January 2012
Equatorial Guinea  0–1  Zambia Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Libya  2–1  Senegal Estadio de Bata, Bata

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Ivory Coast 330050+59
 Sudan 31114404
 Angola 311145−14
 Burkina Faso 300326−40
22 January 2012
Ivory Coast  1–0  Sudan Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Burkina Faso  1–2  Angola Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
26 January 2012
Sudan  2–2  Angola Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Ivory Coast  2–0  Burkina Faso Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
30 January 2012
Sudan  2–1  Burkina Faso Estadio de Bata, Bata
Ivory Coast  2–0  Angola Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Gabon 330062+49
 Tunisia 320143+16
 Morocco 310245−13
 Niger 300315−40
23 January 2012
Gabon  2–0  Niger Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
Morocco  1–2  Tunisia Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
27 January 2012
Niger  1–2  Tunisia Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
Gabon  3–2  Morocco Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
31 January 2012
Gabon  1–0  Tunisia Stade de Franceville, Franceville
Niger  0–1  Morocco Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Ghana 321041+37
 Mali 32013306
 Guinea 311173+44
 Botswana 300329−70
24 January 2012
Ghana  1–0  Botswana Stade de Franceville, Franceville
Mali  1–0  Guinea Stade de Franceville, Franceville
28 January 2012
Botswana  1–6  Guinea Stade de Franceville, Franceville
Ghana  2–0  Mali Stade de Franceville, Franceville
1 February 2012
Botswana  1–2  Mali Stade d'Angondjé, Libreville
Ghana  1–1  Guinea Stade de Franceville, Franceville

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                   
4 February – Bata        
  Zambia  3
8 February – Bata
  Sudan  0  
  Zambia  1
5 February – Franceville
    Ghana  0  
  Ghana (aet)  2
12 February – Libreville
  Tunisia  1  
  Zambia (p)  0 (8)
5 February – Libreville
    Ivory Coast  0 (7)
  Gabon  1 (4)
8 February – Libreville
  Mali (p)  1 (5)  
  Mali  0 Third place
4 February – Malabo
    Ivory Coast  1  
  Ivory Coast  3   Ghana  0
  Equatorial Guinea  0     Mali  2
11 February – Malabo

Quarterfinals

4 February 2012
17:00
Zambia  3–0  Sudan
Sunzu  15'
C. Katongo  66'
Chamanga  86' 		Report
Estadio de Bata, Bata
Attendance: 200[18]
Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

5 February 2012
20:00
Ghana  2–1 (a.e.t.)  Tunisia
John Mensah  9'
A. Ayew  100' 		Report Khelifa  41'

Semifinals

8 February 2012
17:00
Zambia  1–0  Ghana
Mayuka  78' Report
Estadio de Bata, Bata
Attendance: 12,000[18]
Referee: Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)

8 February 2012
20:00
Mali  0–1  Ivory Coast
Report Gervinho  45'

Third place match

11 February 2012
20:00
Ghana  0–2  Mali
Report Diabaté  23', 80'

Final

Winners

 2012 Africa Cup of Nations Champions 

Zambia
First title

Awards

Team of the tournament

Goalkeeper
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards
Substitutes

Scorers

3 goals

2 goals

1 goal

Own goal

Team statistics

Pos. Team Pld W D L Pts GF GA GD
1  Zambia 6 5 1 0 16 9 3 +6
2  Ivory Coast 6 5 0 1 15 9 0 +9
3  Mali 6 3 1 2 10 6 5 +1
4  Ghana 6 3 1 2 10 6 5 +1
Eliminated in the quarterfinals
5  Gabon 4 3 1 0 10 7 3 +4
6  Tunisia 4 2 0 2 6 5 5 0
7  Equatorial Guinea 4 2 0 2 6 3 5 -2
8  Sudan 4 1 1 2 4 4 7 -3
Eliminated in the group stage
9  Guinea 3 1 1 1 4 7 3 +4
10  Libya 3 1 1 1 4 4 4 0
11  Angola 3 1 1 1 4 4 5 -1
12  Morocco 3 1 0 2 3 4 5 -1
13  Senegal 3 0 0 3 0 3 6 -3
14  Burkina Faso 3 0 0 3 0 2 6 -4
15  Niger 3 0 0 3 0 1 5 -4
16  Botswana 3 0 0 3 0 2 9 -7
Total 32(1) 27 5(2) 27 91 76 76 0

Updated to games played on 12 February 2012. Team(s) rendered in italics represent(s) the host nation(s).
(1) – Total games lost not counted in total games played (total games lost = total games won)
(2) – Total number of games drawn (tied) for all teams = Total number of games drawn (tied) ÷ 2 (both teams involved)
(3) – As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

By sub-region

Sub-region T Pld W D L Pts APts Pts/T
Central Africa28512162.008.00
East Africa1411241.004.00
North Africa310415131.304.33
Southern Africa312534181.506.00
West Africa73012414401.335.71
Total 16 32(1) 27 5(2) 27 91 1.42 5.69

Updated to games played on 12 February 2012. Host nation(s) are situated in the region(s) rendered in italics.
(1) – Total games lost not counted in total games played (total games lost = total games won)
(2) – Total number of games drawn (tied) for all teams = Total number of games drawn (tied) ÷ 2 (both teams involved)
(3) – As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Mascot

The mascot for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations was unveiled on 16 September 2011 at a ceremony in Libreville, Gabon. The mascot, named Gaguie, is a gorilla sporting the national team colors of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.[22]

Match ball

The official match ball for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations, manufactured by Adidas, is named the Comoequa. The name is inspired from the Komo River which runs through the host nations, and the Equator which runs throughout Africa and unites the host nations.[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ Original kick-off at 20:00 but CAF announced on 9 February 2012 that the final would be delayed by half an hour due to "technical and logistical reasons".[19]

References

  1. ↑ "Zambia win dramatic shoot-out". BBC Sport. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  2. ↑ "Zambia Takes a Modest and Emotional Path to Victory". New York Times. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Destiny! Renard dedicates Zambia glory to 1993 squad who perished in plane crash". Daily Mail. 13 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  4. ↑ "Caf take Afcon away from Libya". Super Sport. 13 June 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "South Africa 'replace' Libya as 2013 Nations Cup hosts". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 25 August 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  6. ↑ "African International Competitions". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  7. ↑ "Togo officially disqualified from Africa Cup of Nations". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 11 January 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  8. ↑ "Togo's African Cup ban is lifted". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 May 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2010.
  9. ↑ "Nigeria's President Suspends Soccer Team". CBC Sports (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). 30 June 2010. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Nigeria backs down on soccer ban". ESPN Soccernet. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
  11. ↑ "Gabon : Libreville et Malabo s'accordent pour la CAN 2012" [Gabon: Libreville and Malabo agree for the 2012 ACN]. Gaboneco (in French). 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2010.
  12. ↑ "Official Draw for the Orange CAN 2012 fixed for October 29, 2011". CAF Online (Confederation of African Football). 26 June 2011.
  13. ↑ "2012 Africa Cup of Nations draw conducted". CAF Online (Confederation of African Football). 29 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "Orange CAN 2012 Official Draw 29 Oct 2011 – Procedures" (PDF). CAF Online (Confederation of African Football). 12 October 2011.
  15. ↑ "Referees". CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Regulations of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations Gabon-Equatorial Guinea 2012" (PDF). CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "Fixtures of the 28th Orange -Africa Cup of Nations, CAN 2012 Equatorial Guinea –Gabon" (PDF). CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. 29 October 2011.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "2012 African Nations Cup Fixtures and Results". ESPN Soccernet. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Africa Cup of Nations final kick-off delayed". BBC.com. 9 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Orange CAN 2012 Awards Orange CAN 2012 Awards". cafonline.com. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  21. ↑ "Orange CAN 2012 Best XI". cafonline.com. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
  22. ↑ "Orange CAN 2012 mascot Gaguie unveiled". CAF Online (Confederation of African Football). 16 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  23. ↑ "CAF and Adidas present the official match ball for the African Cup of Nations". CAF Online (Confederation of African Football). 3 January 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2011.

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