The Only Late Match

This match in Recife is the only match in this World Cup that starts later than 7:00 PM local time.

Absolutely ridiculous.

But I've already covered my thoughts about start times at the 2014 World Cup here, so I won't insist any more for now.

Regarding the match, Japan had a surprisingly excellent first half, which saw them take the lead through Keisuke Honda, in only the 16th minute. And it was a very good, powerful shot by the A.C. Milan player.

Ivory Coast woke up only after the introduction of their talismanic ex-Chelsea (currently Galatasaray) striker Didier Drogba, after the hour mark.
It was Bony and Gervinho, however, in minutes 64 and 66, respectively, who turned the tide in favour of the African team.

So, The Elephants will feel pretty good about their chances of advancing from this group now, having beaten one team already and seeing their likely opponent for second spot, Greece, fall to a three-goal deficit which may prove huge in a tournament where the main tiebreaker (for teams tied on points in the group stage) is overall goal difference.

Highlights:

Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan All goal's &Full...

2013.02.03 - The Results

FRANCE: Ligue 1

14:00 -- Ajaccio - Lyon 3-1     highlights
[0-1]  53' Alexandre Lacazette
[1-1]  57' Chakhir Belghazouani
[2-1]  65' Adrian Mutu
x - 87' Bafetimbi Gomis (m. pen. Lyon) - x
[3-1]  90' + 2' Adrian Mutu (pen.)
17:00 -- Montpellier - Reims 3-1 (0-1)
21:00 -- Marseille - Nancy 0-1     highlights
73' Salif Sane

Current standings:
1 PSG  23 14 6 3 42-12 +30  48p
2 Lyon  23 13 6 4 38-21 +17  45p
3 Marseille  23 13 3 7 30-28 +2  42p
4 Bordeaux  23 9 11 3 26-15 +11  38p
5 Nice  23 10 8 5 35-27 +8  38p



NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie

12:30 -- NEC Nijmegen - Vitesse 2-1 (1-0)
14:30 -- Twente - Utrecht 2-4     highlights
[0-1]  32' Jens Toornstra
[0-2]  45' + 1' Jacob Mulenga (pen.)
[1-2]  56' Dusan Tadic
[1-3]  66' Davy Bulthuis
[2-3]  73' Dusan Tadic (pen.)
[2-4]  74' Mike van der Hoorn
14:30 -- VV Venlo - Ajax 0-3     highlights
34' Siem de Jong
61' Viktor Fischer
82' Derk Boerrigter
16:30 -- Willem II - Feyenoord 1-3 (1-1)

Current standings:
1 PSV  21 15 1 5 73-22 +51  46p
2 Ajax  21 12 7 2 50-23 +27  43p
3 Twente  21 12 6 3 37-18 +19  42p



AFRICA NATIONS CUP: Quarter-Finals

16:00 -- Cote d'Ivoire - Nigeria 1-2     highlights
[0-1]  43' Emmanuel Emenike
[1-1]  50' Cheikh Tiote
[1-2]  78' Sunday Mba
19:30 -- Burkina Faso - Togo 0-0, 1-0 after extra time     highlights
105' Jonathan Pitroipa



PORTUGAL: Primeira Liga

17:00 -- Gil Vicente - Maritimo 4-2 (2-0)
17:00 -- Nacional - Moreirense 1-2 (0-1)
17:00 -- Olhanense - Academica 0-0
19:00 -- Beira Mar - Braga 3-3 (2-2)
21:15 -- Benfica - Setubal 3-0     highlights
5' Enzo Perez
48' Lima
56' Rodrigo Moreno

Current standings:
1 Porto  17 14 3 0 44-8 +36  45p
2 Benfica  17 14 3 0 44-12 +32  45p
3 Braga  17 9 3 5 38-24 +14  30p
4 Pacos de Ferreira  16 7 7 2 22-12 +10  28p
5 Rio Ave  17 7 4 6 21-22 -1  25p



ITALY: Serie A

12:30 -- Chievo - Juventus 1-2     highlights
[0-1]  10' Alessandro Matri
[0-2]  42' Stephan Lichtsteiner
[1-2]  52' Cyril Thereau
15:00 -- Fiorentina - Parma 2-0 (1-0)
15:00 -- Genoa - Lazio 3-2 (2-0)
15:00 -- Palermo - Atalanta 1-2 (0-0)
15:00 -- Pescara - Bologna 2-3 (2-1)
15:00 -- Siena - Inter 3-1 (2-1)
20:45 -- Milan - Udinese 2-1 (1-0)

Current standings:
1 Juventus  23 16 4 3 48-16 +32  52p
2 Napoli  23 15 4 4 45-20 +25  49p
3 Lazio  23 13 4 6 34-25 +9  43p
4 Milan  23 12 4 7 41-29 +12  40p
5 Inter  23 12 4 7 36-28 +8  40p



TURKEY: Super Lig

12:30 -- Orduspor - Genclerbirligi 2-1 (1-0)
15:00 -- Eskisehirspor - Mersin 0-0
15:00 -- Trabzonspor - Gaziantepspor 4-1 (1-0)
18:00 -- Fenerbahce - Sivasspor 1-2 (0-1)

Current standings:
1 Galatasaray  20 10 7 3 38-24 +14  37p
2 Antalyaspor  20 10 3 7 32-29 +3  33p
3 Besiktas  20 8 8 4 43-31 +12  32p

2013.01.30 - The Results

SPAIN: Copa del Rey (Semifinal, leg 1)

21:00 -- Real Madrid - Barcelona 1-1     highlights
[0-1]  50' Cesc Fabregas
[1-1]  81' Raphael Varane



PORTUGAL: Taca de Portugal (Semifinal, leg 1)

21:00 -- Pacos de Ferreira - Benfica 0-2     highlights
58' Lima
75' Ola John



AFRICA NATIONS CUP: Group D, Matchday 3

18:00 -- Algeria - Ivory Coast 2-2     highlights
[1-0]  64' Sofiane Feghouli (pen.)
[2-0]  70' El Arbi Soudani
[2-1]  77' Didier Drogba
[2-2]  81' Wilfried Bony
18:00 -- Togo - Tunisia 1-1     highlights
[1-0]  13' Serge Gakpe
[1-1]  30' Khaled Mouelhi (pen.)

Final standings:
1 Ivory Coast  3 2 1 0 7-3 +4  7p
2 Togo  3 1 1 1 4-3 +1  4p
3 Tunisia  3 1 1 1 2-4 -2  4p
4 Algeria  3 0 1 2 2-5 -3  1p



NETHERLANDS: KNVB Beker (Quarter-Finals)

18:45 -- Zwolle - Heracles Almelo 3-2
[0-1]  9' Marko Vejinovic
[1-1]  16' Arne Slot
[2-1]  44' Fred Benson
[3-1]  58' Jesper Drost
[3-2]  65' Everton
20:45 -- PSV - Feyenoord 2-1     highlights
[1-0]  20' Dries Mertens
[1-1]  29' Graziano Pelle
[2-1]  78' Mark van Bommel

2013.01.26 - The Results

PORTUGAL: Primeira Liga

21:15 -- Braga - Benfica 1-2     highlights
[0-1]  5' Eduardo Salvio
[0-2]  35' Lima
[1-2]  77' Joao Pedro

Current standings:
1 Benfica  16 13 3 0 41-12 +29  42p
2 Porto  15 12 3 0 35-8 +27  39p
3 Braga  16 9 2 5 35-21 +14  29p
4 Pacos de Ferreira  15 6 7 2 17-12 +5  25p
5 Rio Ave  15 6 3 6 18-20 -2  21p



AFRICA NATIONS CUP: Group D, Matchday 2

16:00 -- Ivory Coast - Tunisia 3-0     highlights
21' Gervinho
87' Yaya Toure
90' Didier Ya Konan
19:00 -- Algeria - Togo 0-2     highlights
31' Emmanuel Adebayor
90' + 3' Dove Wome

Current standings:
1 Ivory Coast  2 2 0 0 5-1 +4  6p
2 Togo  2 1 0 1 3-2 +1  3p
3 Tunisia  2 1 0 1 1-3 -2  3p
4 Algeria  2 0 0 2 0-3 -3  0p



NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie

18:45 -- Zwolle - Heerenveen 1-1 (0-0)
19:45 -- ADO Den Haag - Roda 2-2 (1-1)
19:45 -- Waalwijk - NAC Breda 0-4 (0-0)
20:45 -- Heracles Almelo - PSV 1-5     highlights
[0-1]  23' Tim Matavz
[0-2]  35' Jeremain Lens
[1-2]  62' Everton
[1-3]  66' Georginio Wijnaldum
[1-4]  72' Dries Mertens
[1-5]  76' Georginio Wijnaldum

Current standings:
1 PSV  20 14 1 5 66-22 +44  43p
2 Twente  19 12 5 2 35-14 +21  41p
3 Ajax  19 11 7 1 45-20 +25  40p



FRANCE: Ligue 1

17:00 -- Rennes - Marseille 2-2     highlights
[0-1]  38' Andre Ayew
[1-1]  59' Kevin Theophile Catherine
[1-2]  83' Jordan Ayew
[2-2]  88' Romain Alessandrini
20:00 -- Evian - Ajaccio 1-1 (0-1)
20:00 -- Montpellier - Sochaux 2-0 (2-0)
20:00 -- Nancy - Lorient 2-1 (1-0)
20:00 -- Reims - Toulouse 1-1 (0-0)
20:00 -- Troyes - Brest 2-1 (1-0)

Current standings:
1 Lyon  22 13 6 3 37-18 +19  45p
2 PSG  21 12 6 3 37-12 +25  42p
3 Marseille  22 13 3 6 30-27 +3  42p
4 Rennes  22 11 3 8 33-28 +5  36p
5 Nice  21 9 8 4 33-26 +7  35p



TURKEY: Super Lig

12:30 -- Buyuksehir - Bursaspor 4-1 (2-0)
15:00 -- Genclerbirligi - Belediyespor 1-0 (1-0)
18:00 -- Gaziantepspor - Fenerbahce 1-2
[1-0]  42' Darvydas Sernas
[1-1]  65' Moussa Sow
[1-2]  83' Semih Senturk

Current standings:
1 Galatasaray  18 9 6 3 35-22 +13  33p
2 Besiktas  18 8 7 3 40-27 +13  31p
3 Fenerbahce  19 8 7 4 29-22 +7  31p

2013.01.22 - The Results

AFRICA NATIONS CUP: Group D, Matchday 1

16:00 -- Ivory Coast - Togo 2-1     highlights
[1-0]  8' Yaya Toure
[1-1]  45' + 2' Jonathan Ayite
[2-1]  88' Gervinho
19:00 -- Tunisia - Algeria 1-0     highlights
90' + 1' Youssef Msakni

Current standings:
1 Ivory Coast  1 1 0 0 2-1 +1  3p
2 Tunisia  1 1 0 0 1-0 +1  3p
3 Togo  1 0 0 1 1-2 -1  0p
4 Algeria  1 0 0 1 0-1 -1  0p



ITALY: Coppa Italia (Semifinal, leg 1)

20:45 -- Juventus - Lazio 1-1     highlights
[1-0]  63' Federico Peluso
[1-1]  86' Stefano Mauri

Zambia Did It

It was tough. They needed to go to penalties. And they required Drogba to fuck up a penalty in regulation time (and to do so in true Chelsea fashion).

Ivory Coast could have wrapped up a perfect campaign, had Drogba scored that one.
Just like Chelsea, though, the Ivorian fell way short of the goal.
And their luck ran out at the end.

So, instead of celebrating six wins out of six matches, and the ultimate victory, Ivory Coast now has the distinction of not winning the Cup even though they conceded 0 goals! Pretty impressive... for the losers.

Kolo Toure and Gervinho missed penalties for Ivory Coast, namely the eighth and ninth kicks, respectively. Rainford Kalaba took the only missed Zambian penalty kick (right after Toure's).

Stopilla Sunzu held his nerves, after Gervinho gifted Zambian players with a second consecutive opportunity to win the PK lottery.

Zambia won, 8-7, after penalty kicks.

And Ivory Coast really must practice those kicks from the spot, because it's the second final they lose like that in the last six years. (They lost 2-4 on penalties, to Egypt, in 2006.)

Penalty Shoot-out Recording:

Zambia in the Final of the African Cup of Nations

Ghana came into the semifinal against Zambia as the clear favourite.
Even the Zambian coach was in agreement.

But Zambia stepped up to the challenge and won the game.

Those who are looking for a scapegoat should look no further than Asamoah Gyan. He had missed a penalty at the World Cup in South Africa, and he missed a penalty in this game, too.
In minute 8, Gyan stepped up to take the spot kick and sent the ball weakly towards the goalkeeper's left. Mweene saved it, and Zambia ended up winning.
That's the gist of it.
Oh, yeah, and Mayuka's goal was well-placed and somewhat spectacular. It also came at the right time, with only twelve minutes remaining.

Too bad for Ghana.

Seems like Ivory Coast has a huge chance to lay claim to the title of Africa's best nation in association football, given Ghana's not qualifying for the final.

Highlights:

Gabon Exits the Competition, Too

Together with Ivory Coast, Gabon had been part of the small group of teams to win all their matches at the African Cup of Nations.

But Gabon failed to beat Mali today, even though they were up 1-0 for almost thirty minutes in Libreville.
However, Diabate equalized in minute 84, and the game eventually went to penalties. (The equalizing shot went through the legs of the Gabon goalkeeper, by the way.)
And Mali held their nerves better, winning the shootout 5-4.

So, Gabon does not win one match and, boom, they're out.

Both hosts of the African Cup of Nations are out, after Equatorial Guinea was crushed by Ivory Coast yesterday.

Highlights:

Angola Eliminated

Angola, participant in the 2006 World Cup in Germany, was ousted by Sudan (and Ivory Coast, really) from the African Cup of Nations.

Ivory Coast defeated Angola 2-0 in Malabo, at the same time as Sudan was beating Burkina Faso 2-1 in the other match.

Eboue and Bony scored for Ivory Coast.
And the goals also came as results of awful defensive play.

In Bata, Sudan was up 2-0 until extra time, thus guaranteeing their advancement to the quarter-finals. Burkina Faso's late goal could not help Angola.

This was quite disappointing from the Angolan team.

Highlights from Ivory Coast - Angola 2-0:


Highlights from Sudan - Burkina Faso 2-1: