South Africa and Ivory Coast have failed to play up to their talent level for quite some time. They’re among this year’s favorites to win the Africa Cup of Nations.
ACN team previews: South Africa
Gallo ImagesThey’re in this edition of the Africa Cup of Nations for the same reason they were in the 2010 World Cup: Automatic qualification as the hosts. They’ve failed to qualify for the last two editions of the tournament, just like they failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. The nation has taken an incredible step backwards in their footballing progressions since their 1996 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and their qualification for the 1998 and 2002 World Cups.
There’s no time like the present for South Africa to stop underachieving. Between their fairly weak group and their home-crowd advantage, there’s not really any excuse for failing to make the quarterfinals. Since this is one of the weakest Africa Cup of Nations fields ever -- thanks to the rushed qualifying format -- there’s actually not any excuse for them failing to make the semifinals. A loss to anyone but Ghana, the Ivory Coast or Zambia should probably be considered an utter failure.
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