The Africa Cup of Nations' strongest group wraps up play on Tuesday, and everyone is still alive going into the final day. South Africa is in the worst position -- they need a win and some help -- but the scenarios that would see them through aren't strange in the slightest. Ghana and Algeria might go through with draws, but like South Africa, would need help to do that. The only team in great shape is leaders Senegal, who are guaranteed to progress with just one point.
Africa Cup of Nations 2015: Schedule and how to watch on Day 11
The Group of Death is back, and we’ll say goodbye to two good teams on Tuesday.
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The news from yesterday
A monsoon kept Cape Verde and Zambia from playing much of a match, and ultimately it cost both sides. They failed to score, meaning both of them were eliminated from the tournament. The Copper Bullets had some late chances after the rain subsided to reasonable levels, but couldn’t capitalize.
That set up a pretty funny scene in Bata, where both Tunisia and Democratic Republic of the Congo were celebrating a 1-1 draw like they'd won the match. Tunisia would have been a bit aggrieved at their failure to win the game given the number of chances they had, but ultimately, it didn't matter. That draw was enough to see them finish on top of the group, and they'll be favorites against hosts Equatorial Guinea in the quarterfinals. DR-Congo, meanwhile, will face off against neighboring Congo.
What to look for today
Some very fun matches. The only team that has any incentive to play a conservative game is Senegal, whose biggest strength is their strikers. There’s going to be plenty of attacking during these two matches.
South Africa, in particular, are going to have to get ambitious. They’ve been among the tournament’s most defensive teams as expected, and something is going to have to change on Tuesday. Ghana have a talented and athletic set of attackers who have the potential to rip South Africa apart on the counter, so it would be surprising if that match didn’t feature goals for both teams.
In the other game, Algeria are going to have a lot of the ball. It won’t necessarily get them anywhere, and god help them if their super questionable central defenders get isolated against Senegal’s formidable forwards, but they’re going to at least have enough of the ball to try to win the game. It’ll be up to Yacine Brahimi to turn their possession into anything of substance.
Our guess is that we’ll see a couple of fun scoring draws with the two teams currently in position to advance staying there, but Africa Cup of Nations has been even weirder than usual so far, so expect to see nothing like that at all.
Standings, Group C
Thanks to Wikipedia for keeping these standings up-to-date.
Schedule and how to watch, Day 10
South Africa vs. Ghana
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Venue: Estadio de Mongomo, Mongomo
Watch: beIN Sports Connect (USA and Canada); Eurosport 2 (where available); other viewing options available here.
Senegal vs. Algeria
Time: 1 p.m. ET
Venue: Nuevo Estadio de Malabo, Malabo
Watch: beIN Sports Connect (USA and Canada); Eurosport 1 (where available); other viewing options available here.
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