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.

Ghana’s Gyan brothers Baffour and Asamoah had threatened a walk-out on the African Cup of Nations after Asamoah was booed from the field and widely criticised in the media.

When substituted for his brother on Thursday night in Ghana’s 1-0 win over Namibia, Asamoah was widely booed by Accra crowd, while some instead cheered his removal.

According to the BBC the brothers had packed their bags and were set to leave the team hotel on Saturday after stinging criticism on radio following the Namibia match.

Asamoah had faced the media on Friday to promise to lift his work rate and prove to the fans that he was worthy of his place in the Black Stars team.

But the threat has been withdrawn and the pair will be available for Ghana’s crunch game against Morocco tomorrow.

Another Group A team Namibia is claiming it was approached to fix its final match against Guinea in Sekondi on Tuesday.

Namibia Football Association president John Muinjo said players were offered up to 30,000 to lose the game.

While the incident has been reported to the Confederation of African Football, the investigation into another match-fixing claim coming from Benin coach Reinhard Fabisch is yet to progress.

Fabisch claimed he was approached by a businessman purporting to represent a Singapore-based company.

The Benin coach did not solicit the businessman’s approach but after going public with the revelation was given a deadline of Midday Saturday to sign an affidavit confirming the allegation.

But as yet the Confederation of African Football has not updated its progress on the probe into the matter.

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.

Ghana has edged Namibia 1-0 in Accra tonight after the visiting side failed to capitalise on its opportunities.

Junior Agogo's bundled back-heel five minutes before half time was the difference for Ghana, who maintains its 100% record to be six points from six.  

But Namibia could not have caught the Black Stars on a better night to cause an upset but could not hit the target when it exploited the Ghana backline.

After Quincy Owusu-Abeyie had threatened repeatedly on the right flank he connected with Agogo whose touch was enough for the ball to cross the line.

Asamoah Gyan started the match partnered with Agogo but was substituted midway through the second half after failing to find his touch.

In the 33rd minute Gyan put the ball over the bar despite his pressure on Namibia goalkeeper Attiel Mbaha forcing the ball free out wide and open the net.

The late goal failed to break Namibia's resolve and it kept its defensive discipline through the second half to make some amends for the 5-1 defeat at the hands of Morocco four days ago.

In the 67th and 68th minutes Namibia twice broke the Ghana defensive line but strikes failed to hit the target - from there any chance of an equaliser was closed down by a Black Stars team happy to waste time.

Michael Essien patrolled the midfield effectively for Ghana through the full match, but the crowd focused more on the inability of Gyan and Agogo to make the most of the chances that fell its way.

''We created a bit of quality but needed a bit of quality,'' a remoseful Namibia coach Arie Schans said after the game.

''We fought everywhere, everytime. We were unlucky our strikers could not score one goal and it meant more pressure when the chances came.''

Teo Pellizzeri, Accra Stadium