Hi there. We got pulled out to sea by the day-job undertow on Monday, and yesterday our hosting site was down every time we checked. It remains a bit buggy today (this post, for instance, got prematurely published with a blank space where the text was meant to go; hope you didn’t catch that).
But enough about us. The Africa Cup of Nations semifinals are set for today, with Zambia taking on Ghana at 11:00 ET, and Mali meeting Ivory Coast at 2:00. The winners will meet in the final on Sunday at 2:00.
To whet your appetite, check out this slick goal from Ghana’s Emmanuel Agyemang–Badu in his team’s 1-1 draw with Guinea during the group stage:
That celebration was on point. It’s not this, no, but sometimes spontaneity is better than choreography.
There were two players with MLS connections in the Africa Cup of Nations: Botswana’s Dipsy Selolwane played for the Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake from 2002 to 2005, and Senegal’s goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul played for Colorado (2005-08) and New York (2009-11). He is currently unattached but may yet re-sign with the U.S. league.
Despite fielding Newcastle stars Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse, Senegal went three-and-out in this tournament.
Botswana also made a hasty exit, but not before Selolwane made history in his team’s 6-1 loss to Guinea in the group stage. He buried a penalty kick to briefly tie the match at 1, and produce Botswana’s first ever goal at a major international tournament.
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