Nigerian legend Segun Odegbami has slammed the standard of this year's Africa Cup of Nations and insists Ghana and Ivory Coast look like the most likely winners of the competition.
Odegbami says while Ghana may not have played well so far, they still look the most likely winners ahead of the Ivory Coast.
"Ghana may not have played very well, but they still look the most compact team in the championship. If they will be beaten at all it can only be by their co-favourite in the championship, Ivory Coast, and even that would be a very steep mountain to climb," Odegbami wrote on his SuperSport column.
"Ivory Coast have won their matches but have not shown a cohesiveness that convinces analysts they can go all the way. Ivory Coast still need their current best player, Yaya Toure, to lift his game and knit his attack into a consistent goal-scoring machine in order to succeed. So far, he is not showing enough of his true capability." The former Super Eagles’ winger is disappointed with the quality of football which he claims is partly because Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt and South Africa are absent.
"Afcon 2012, so far, has been disappointing. The championship has not lived up to my expectations in many ways," Odegbami said.
"The standard and quality of play have been relatively low. The high profile players (the superstars in several European clubs) have been subdued and unimpressive. The terraces in most matches have been full of empty seats. "The audiences at matches outside of the host teams have not been as boisterous, loud, colourful and exuberant as we have seen in recent previous editions, where the atmosphere around the grounds gave the African football festival a unique flavour.
"The performances have been characterised by physical play and too much running without a discernible strategy and discipline; evidence of poor coaching. Even the teams that boast some of the best African players have not displayed mastery or been comfortable on the ball."
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