Just a quick wrapup of the two exciting games from yesterday.

Nigeria vs Cote d'Ivoire was obviously the neutral's choice fixture of the group stages (and possibly the whole tournament), and even though there was just a single goal, it was a very entertaining game. The goal itself was a wonder goal by Salomon Kalou, beating 4 Nigerian defenders before drilling the ball past Ejide in goal. Taye Taiwo came very close early on with a thumping long-range free-kick that ricocheted off the bar. Yaya Toure was outstanding for the Elephants, and it's amazing how much he's improved since the World Cup in 2006, becoming a regular for Barcelona along the way. Nigeria have 8 strikers in the squad, and started with 4 (Kanu, Martins, Yakubu and Utaka), but as ever they are prone to disorganisation. Previously they had Jay-Jay Okocha as the playmaker that brought them together, but at the moment Seyi Olofinjana is not good enough, and John Obi Mikel is still too much of a holding player.

The Elephants had Drogba battling away up front all game, but it was Kalou who really added the spark up front. Meite and Gohouri were shaky at the back, especially against Martins' pace, but Kolo Toure was immense as always, and Arthur Boka was quite nifty. There were great individual skills on show, lots of power, lots of pace, and more than a few good chances, but profligacy and lack of composure meant that the goals count was minimal.

As for Benin vs Mali? Well Benin were highly unfancied, and they lost as expected, although they did give Mali a very tough game. Fredi Kanoute was quite disappointing for the Malians, as was Mahamadou Diarra (although he was solid), but when Mamady Sidibe was fouled in the box, it was Kanoute who calmly and efficiently despatched the penalty.

Benin really upped the tempo when they went a goal down, and were it not for a combination of some last-ditch interceptions and wasteful passing in the final third, they could easily have had 4 or 5 clear chances on goal. Stephane Sessignon was a classy presence for Benin, but it was Razak Omotoyossi who really stood out as the most exciting Beninese player in the second half, taking the game almost single-handedly to the Malians. It was a tight game overall, and Benin had set out with a 4-5-1, seeking to capitalise on any mistakes. Unfortunately the penalty threw their plans into disarray, but they really made a go of it, and that will give them confidence to perhaps be more attacking for the rest of their matches. 

A late stunner from Sulley Muntari gave hosts (and some might say favourites) Ghana a 2-1 win over Guinea in opening game of the 2008 African Cup of Nations in Accra.

The opener for the 26th edition of this tournament was watched by John Kuffour, the Ghanaian president, and a stone-faced Sepp Blatter, the "king" of FIFA (and football - he would like to think). The pitch was absolutely dire for this game - despite being nice and green, the grass was almost an inch too long, and the ball just would not run properly a lot of the time. Blatter keeps talking about all the things he's done to improve world football, well perhaps he should send down some pitch technicians to Accra.

Anyhow, back to the football.

Although it was a match that Ghana dominated, they had more half-chances than clear cut ones, and the finishing was quite dire at times, although they did hit the woodwork thrice.

Ghana had the first clear cut chance through Asamoah Gyan, who screwed a shot wide after being put through by Muntari. Gyan would be wasteful again when the Guinean 'keeper Kemoko kicked the ball straight at him, only to mishit his shot. Kemoko was shaky all game, and really the Guinea squad were well below Ghana's standard.

However their star player, winger Pascal Feindouno managed to create the first chance, finding defender Kalabane with a free-kick, but the big man put his header high and wide.

One of the curiosities with this Ghana squad is the presence of Junior Agogo, who is essentially a crap and English League One striker - basically built like a boxer, without much skill. Not quite sure why Ghana would need a player like him when they have a nation of such talented footballers, but in any case, he came closest to giving them the lead, heading a Quincy cross against the right post, and then watching the ball rebound across the line and roll out to safety at the opposite post. Frustrating stuff, and it continued, with Michael Essien hitting the upright with a header from Laryea Kingston's corner.

Gyan then finally scored with about 10 minutes left in the half, but the goal was ruled out (rightly) for a foul. Muntari then hit the post with a typical thumping left-footed drive from a narrow angle by the left touchline, and then Agogo fluffed an easy-chance in the six-yard area.

However, he made amends 10 minutes into the second half, winning a penalty when put through on goal. It looked like a bit of a dive to me to be honest, but the defender hadn't helped with his clumsiness. Gyan duly thumped the penalty home to send the Ghanaian fans into celebration.

Guinea however managed to snatch an equaliser 9 minutes later. Once again it was Feindouno with the free-kick, and once again it was Kalabane with the header, but this time the defender made no mistakes. 1-1.

The game sort of went into disarray because of that. Ghana had dominated, and thought they were well on the way to victory until Guinea equalised, and it completely disrupted their flow. Guinea in turn had looked to be out of the game, and they seemed quite anxious to try and not let things get out of hand. Passing moves broke down, errors seeped in, and both teams tried silly long range efforts.

However Gyan made a great chance in the 78th minute, taking on the fullback down the right-flank, and delivering a low cross across the box that was met by teenager and alleged Arsenal target, Andrew Ayew. With the goal at his mercy though, the son of (Abedi) Pele managed to somehow contort his body and send the ball exactly the wrong way, missing an easy-tap in and instead screwing an angled shot back across goal and straight at the 'keeper. It was a great chance to win the game, but it was a big moment for a probably nervous 18 year old, and the awful grass wouldn't have helped much with his being able to judge the cross.

In the end though Muntari seemed almost effortless in his deciding of the match. He was about 25 yards out, on the left-side of the penalty box, and he just unleashed a shot that flew high and true into the far opposite corner of the net. No chance for the 'keeper, or for the defence, and a good win for Ghana.

That's the first match done in what should be a very exciting tournament then.

You can keep following it on OleOle at our ACN2008 site, and also at our blogger Teo's blog - he is going to be reporting LIVE on location from Ghana.

First half highlights:

Second-half highlights:

Ghanaian youngster Andrew Ayew is in Ghana for the Nations Cup, and will be looking to make a big impact.

The French-born left-winger/striker is said to be wildly talented, and is the son of Ghanaian, African and Marseille legend Abedi Pele. The youngster also plays for Marseille, and he has received rave reviews for some of his performances this season (although he hasn't made too many).

He is definitely one to watch in this tournament, and it's rumoured that Arsenal are close to tying up a £5 million deal for him.

Who do you think will be the best new talent of this tournament? Leave your opinions in the comments! 

Taking a look at the various squads, it seems that Côte d'Ivoire have the strongest squad in the tournament. Their stars include:

Kolo Toure (Arsenal)
Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)
Yaya Toure (Barcelona)
Didier Zokora (Tottenham)
Arouna Koné (Sevilla)

Those are some exceptionally talented players, from some exceptionally big teams, and the attacking talent in that group is world class, and the defenders pretty strong too.

There are a lot of other teams with a few good players, but not with that many big names in the same side.

Nigeria run a close second with Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Obafemi Martins, Stephen Makinwa, John Utaka, John Obi Mikel, and Taye Taiwo, but their defence is very suspect. 

Cameroon have a squad with great overall strength, although they lack players in midfield to pull the strings, and their talisman Samuel Eto'o is still not yet fit after his long layoff from injury.

Despite all of these comparisons though, the competition is still going to be fierce. African teams at the World Cup is one story, African teams playing other African teams is another. Upsets take place galore, and the style of football, while perhaps being tactically/defensively suspect, provides a whole-hearted commitment to attacking and flamboyance that shoud make for some fantastic viewing.

Rumours had been brewing over the last few months that Chelsea were interested in signing France forward Nicolas Anelka from Bolton. These were logical of course, because Anelka has been excellent this season, and has buckled down and worked on his game and temperament in the last few years. Chelsea were not the only interested party, and both Arsenal and Manchester United were rumoured to be interested, along with several continental clubs. The fees mentioned were anywhere between £8 and 12 million, and you can't say that Anelka isn't worth that.

Today however, official confirmation was received that Bolton rejected a bid from Chelsea. The amount of the bid is unclear but it is believed to be around £11 million, and it looks like Chelsea will have to shell out a lot of money, despite their slightly hilarious protestations of late that they are "not a spending club" and looking to "tighten the strings" and so on.

Apart from the fact that Chelsea have unlimited finances, and pay virtually 40-60% extra for all of their transfers because other clubs don't want to let them off lightly, there are several others reasons why Anelka will cost them a lot more:

1. Bolton are in quite a strong position. Anelka signed a 4 year deal at the start of the season. If he goes now, they can use the money to bring someone in, if he stays, then his class will be invaluable to them, and he can still be sold in the summer when Bolton can start a bidding war. Anelka has for a change not thrown his toys out of the pram and said that although he'd like to be playing Champions League football, he'd be happy to stay at Bolton as well.

2. Along with Dimitar Berbatov, Anelka is the best striker in the Premier League that isn't cup-tied for Europe. There are other strikers available in Europe (a few), but because of the way the Premiership is, it takes time for players coming from abroad to adapt, and with only 5 months left of the season, January signings generally need to come from within the league to have an impact. Anelka and Berbatov are not just two of the best in England, they are probably two of the best in Europe, and with Spurs reportedly wanting £35 million for Berbatov, Anelka is definitely the better option.

3. The African Nations Cup will deprive Chelsea of their two best attackers Drogba and Kalour. Pizzarro hasn't been much good, and Shevchenko's overall floppery is quite well known. They will be in serious need of attacking threat for a month or so, and so a striker buy is crucial.

4. Nevermind going missing for the ANC, but Drogba has once again come out and said that he wants to leave Chelsea, so they are also in the market for a top striker for next season, and Drogba's comments might seem him drop out of favour by the end of this one. The Ivorian had this to say - "The problem is that I say that I want to leave since two or three years. Mourinho's departure didn't help, to the contrary it made my desire to leave even bigger". Chelsea's main striker wants out, they're short of two for the next month and a half, their other strikers are poo, and they need someone who's good, not cup-tied, and able to spearhead them for at least a few years.

Bolton really hold all the cards on this one, although a lot depends on Anelka maintaining his good temperament and decent behaviour. If he decides to throw a strop and hands in a transfer request or something, then Chelsea will be able to bring the price down. But Anelka knows that he can get his move at the end of the season as well, so there shouldn't be any massive urgency. Peter Kenyon is also quite a poor negotiator, so Bolton should be able to get at least about £16-18 million for Anelka, if not more.

You might have noticed some players doing a silly celebration of late, making a sort of Village-People-ey "M" over their heads, but with their index fingers crossing. It's not just one player, there have been several, but due to the idiotic cows that some footballers tend to be, no one has really taken notice.

After all it's standard practise for some footballer to make up some weird celebration and then for the others to start copying it, they aren't the most inventive bunch in the world.

Well, I came across this article today from the Evening Standard, and it turns out that this new-fangled attempt to be cool by footballers is actually something a bit better than that.

What they are in fact attempting to do, is form an "A" over their heads, in support of a program called the "A Star Scheme" which aims to get young people off the street and help them to "be inspired by role models who do not glamourise crime, guns or drugs". Let's hope Rio Ferdinand doesn't lend his support then.

The A-Star website has full details about the projet, whose motto is "if you dream it, you can achieve it". It's co-founded by Wigan centre-half (One Size) Fitz Hall, who says that "This is a great chance for professional footballers to truly give something back". Other footballers involved in the project are Andy Johnson, Marcus Bent, Micah Richards and Emile Heskey

OK then. I leave with you Andrew Johnson looking silly.

Well, here's a surprise. Peter "Prudent Financial Genius" Ridsdale is at the head of a club that is facing administration and battles with creditors. Sound familiar? Of course it does... because our friend Peter is responsible for the fall (and to be fair, the meteoric rise before that) of Leeds United Football Club. I'll never really be too harsh on him, because I hated Leeds, but really... who hires an administrative head who spends £250,000 a year on tropical fish, £11m on Robbie Fowler, and gives Seth Johnson a first and final contract offer of £50,000 a week.

Well, Cardiff City did.

I'm not sure what exactly they had in mind when appointing Ridsdale as Chairman, but it certainly wasn't common sense. Ridsdale was initially appointed in 2006 as Vice-Chairman to help with Cardiff's project for a new stadium (this is the man who borrowed £60m against future gate receipts at Leeds, and lost the stadium in the process), but was made Chairman when Sam Hammam stepped down. Quite what struggling Cardiff expected, i'm not sure, but they also seemed to have ignored the fact that in between these two forays, he was responsible for buying Barnsley and almost sending them into liquidation.

Ridsdale has now warned Cardiff fans that the club could go into administration if they lose their legal battle against Swiss firm Langston, who are their biggest creditors. Cardiff owe them £30m, and the Bluebirds are insisting that they don't have to pay the money back until 2016, whereas Langston want it NOWWWW.

Said P.Riddy - "If we were to lose we would go straight into administration - it's a straightforward situation, the club's Championship status would be determined by the amount of points we collect come the end of the season, minus 10." Recently relegated Leeds and Luton have both suffered the 10 point administration penalty, and it's no joke for a struggling side.

Amusingly enough, the Stadium project which he was brought in for over a year ago is still unfinished. The Cardiff City council had granted them unconditional funding for the project, which involved a new stadium and accompanying athletics facility to replace the ruinous Leckwith Athletics site in the city. However, this is severely in doubt now, and if the club went into administration, the council would most certainly rethink its decision for unconditional funding.

Said P.Riddy again - "In terms of the stadium it would depend who buys the football club, whether they prove to be an acceptable partner for the council and whether they have enough money to finish the stadium, which would probably be about £20m."

Excellent stuff Peter! Cardiff now have to find approximately £50m pounds to complete the stadium AND satisfy their creditors (assuming the case is lost).

Feliz Navidad a hinchas del Inter!

Saludos,
Dida Claus