Cameroon defender Bikey who suffered a now-famous brain snap and was sent off for pushing a medico will miss the African Cup of Nations final.

The BBC speculated today Bikey's motivation for the moment of madness was unhappiness at how quickly his captain Rigobert Song was being loaded onto a stretcher.

In coaching circles Henri Michel's time at Morocco is, as expected, over, after he was given his marching orders yesterday.

While nothing has been officially declared on the future of Nigeria coach Berti Vogts the quality of applicants might have him out the door, with fellow German national Lothar Matthaus throwing his hat in the ring.

Over the next four posts we look at the prospects of the eight teams now departed from the African Cup of Nations after falling at the group stage.

Group A

Morocco

The Moroccans went home with its pride crushed after defeat to Guinea and a limp performance against hosts Ghana in the deciding game.

The good fortune that found the net twice for Morocco in the Guinea defeat completely disappeared against Ghana as the Lions of Atlas were kept at bay.

Youssouf Hadji failed to provide an attacking spark while Marouane Chamakh’s aerial presence was completely under-utilised.

Despite scoring a hat-trick in the opening game against Namibia, Soufiane Alloudi was barely sighted again.

At the back Michael Basser was regularly exposed, while goalkeeper Khalid Fouhami was left embarrassingly flat-footed by a set-piece both against Guinea and Ghana.

A positive was the mobility of tall forward Tarik Sekitoui, but his running and work on the ball exacerbated the lack of contribution from his midfield.

World Cup qualification prospects:

Morocco should stroll through to the final group stage with Ethiopia, Rwanda and Mauritania in its first group.

However the final group stage could be a rude wake-up call much like this Cup of Nations if concentration doesn’t return to the defence.

If the final groups are sorted by geography it’s hard to see Morocco getting past Tunisia. If the groups drawn randomly then there is a decent chance that the Lions of Atlas can turn around this poor tournament and get back on the world stage for the first time since 1998.

Namibia

After the death of coach Ben Bamfuchile in the lead up to the tournament Namibia showed great resilience and character to perform the way it did in two of the Cup of Nations games.

Forget the 5-1 against Morocco, it was the marked improvement in the 1-0 defeat to Ghana and 1-1 draw with Guinea that offered Namibia hope.

Brian Brendell scored his team’s only two goals of the tournament but also torched a host of chances against Ghana.

If teams do not take Namibia seriously and press forward they do leave themselves open to the counter attack.

But without an end product, the slick passing moves Namibia exposed Ghana with a number of times will be useless in future games.

Should Arie Schans stay in charge, the Namibians stand a chance of returning to Angola in 2010 a more competitive team.

World Cup qualification prospects:

The reason Namibia stands a chance of returning to the Cup of Nations is its mid-strength World Cup qualifying group featuring Guinea, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

This group may well be a close one and while that leaves top spot up for grabs, it also reduces the chances of second place being one of the best eight runners-up.

The start is key to Namibia; beat Kenya at home and Zimbabwe away to open the group and it takes all the momentum into back-to-back matches against Guinea.

Veteran Morocco defender Abdeslam Ouaddou has blamed set-piece defending for his team's premature exit from the African Cup of Nations.

Despite starting the tournament with a 5-1 win over Namibia, Morocco was eliminated with defeats to Guinea and Ghana in its next two  matches.

Ouaddou said his focus was squarely on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and laughed off any suggestion of retirement from international football.

"We feel a lot of disappointment because we wanted to go through this competition to the second round," the former Fulham defender said.

"Where we lost it was against Guinea, now we have to think about the mistakes we made to go forward."

"I thought many things were wrong in this competition and we have to change it for the future."

"There were too many mistakes in free kicks and conceding goals too easily."

Two glaring errors from the Lions of Atlas backline came in the Guinea and Ghana games.

Pascal Feindouno swung in a free-kick from the right flank without the defence or goalkeeper blinking in the Guinea game, while a clever chipped free kick saw Michael Essien steal in for Ghana's opener tonight.

"We didn't have the strength to react after [Ghana's] goals," Ouaddou said.

"But we have to say they were better than us and that's it.

"They were more aggressive on the ball and quicker than us with all their decisions

"Now we have to be stronger in our qualification for the World Cup."

At 29, Ouaddou suggested his commitment to the Moroccan national team would be a long one.

"Teddy Sheringham played top football until he was 38," he said.

"I am not retiring, you have to be joking suggesting I would."

Host Ghana is through to the quarter final of the African Cup of Nations after a 2-0 win over Morocco gave it top spot in Group A.

Goals from midfield powerhouse Michael Essien and Sulley Ali Muntari sealed victory for the Black Stars.  

The hosts lived up to the expectations of the Accra crowd with two first-half goals giving it an unassailable lead.

Ghana came into the game needing just a draw to progress while Guinea's 1-1 draw with Namibia has eliminated Morocco.

In the 27th minute a clever chip free-kick from John Pantsil caught the Morocco defence flat-footed and Michael Essien slid in to score.

With the pressure squarely on the Moroccans to make the play Essien exploited the defence a second time in as many minutes as his weaving run and shot hit the side netting.

With a draw good enough for Ghana the game was sealed on the stroke of half-time with Muntari's goal.

This time it was Essien who provided, his forward run and dinking pass into the path of Muntari giving his fellow midfielder the time and space to poke home for 2-0.

In the second half Morocco failed to penetrate a solid Ghana backline with John Mensah and Eric Addo dominant.

Ghana's best chance for a goal after the break came in the 74th minute when a bursting run from Junior Agogo down the right touchline gave him the space to cross to Asamoah Gyan.

But the beleaguered striker found a way to head into the desperate hands of Morocco goalkeeper Nadir Lamyaghri from close range and the ball was scrambled away.

In the night's other game Guinea secured progression in Sekondi with a 1-1 draw against Namibia.

Both goals came in the second half with Soulemayne Youla scoring for Guinea and Brian Brendell for Namibia.  

Teo Pellizzeri, Accra Stadium

Kamil Rami is as much a veteran of the African Nations Cup as any player.

From Casablanca, Kamil, 34, is at his fourth Cup of Nations tournament.

With a cluster of friends all decked out in red and green, Kamil spoke to OleOle.com before his team's game against Guinea yesterday.

TP: So what's different about this cup here in Ghana?

KR: There are a lot more people than the other African cups. The quality of the football is very good and it means everybody is enjoying it.

TP: What were your hopes for Morocco before the tournament started?

KR: I believed we could make it to the semi-finals or final.

TP: What or who is going to make the difference for Morocco when they play against a tournament favourite? (starting with Ghana in its final group game)

KR: Youssouf Hadji. He has the experience and like his brother he is the key to the team.

After a see-sawing game between Guinea and Morocco fed the appetite of the Accra crowd tonight one could only feel disappointed with the offering of the home team.

Instead of cheering in goals against Namibia, it was a subdued second half from the home fans – at least in context with the explosion of noise that was the second half of the Guinea game and the first half of the main event.

But that was not to take away from the electric atmosphere in which the game started as the crowd roared as one.

A lone hand in the crowd thrust a lighter to the sky and shot a flame into the Accra night, literally an ignition of the passion on show.

The stadium was set up with an interesting contrast as the organized fan groups sat at one end and the crazier and more individual fans – our man with the lighter included – sat at the other.

The Guinea-Morocco game whetted the appetite for the home team, with the building crowd willing to offer its support to Guinea.

But at 3-1 and the game looking reasonably safe a Mexican wave soon took over.

Ghana afforded Namibia space in its match but it was by no means an open game.

As the humidity descended on the pitch the game slowed considerably.

It was far cry from the firm ground and hectic opening half of Guinea and Morocco.

But by the end of the night victory is what mattered to the fans.

Sent home happy enough that its national heroes need just a draw against Morocco to guarantee progression to the knock-out stages of the competition.

Guinea is a win over whipping-boy Namibia away from qualifying for the knockout stages of the African Cup of Nations after a thrilling 3-2 victory over Morocco.

But inspirational captain and difference-maker in tonight's match Pascal Feindouno looks set to miss at least one match after being sent off for a behind the play clash with Elamin Erbate.

Feindouno opened the scoring from a free-kick that left the Morocco backline flat-footed in the 11th minute before assisting Ismail Bangoura for 2-0 early in the second half and scoring a penalty soon after.

But despite his brilliant work as Guinea's creative attacking force it was his landing on Erbate in the 67th minute as the two came down from an aerial clash that ended his match prematurely.

With a man advantage Morocco far from layed seige to the Guinea goal but did almost steal a draw to keep itself in the box seat to qualify.

From kick-off after going 2-0 down substitute Hicham Aboucherouane curled in a perfectly placed shot to keep Morocco in the game.

But just another minute later it was Soulemayne Youla deceiving Michael Basser on the edge of the Moroccan penalty area to win his side a spot kick. 

Feindouno duly converted, beating Naby Diarso mid-way up the right side of the goal after the Morocco keeper guessed the right way.

Abdeslam Ouaddou pulled back a late goal with an unmarked header on 90 minutes for Morocco but three minutes of stoppage time was not enough and a jubilant Guinea team flooded the field on the final whistle.

Stay turned to OleOle for pictures and video from the match.

Teo Pellizzeri, Accra Stadium