REVIEW: Some good football in Africa, but where were the crowds?

By Peter Auf der Heyde Feb 13, 2012, 8:37 GMT

Libreville, Gabon - Zambia ended an Africa Cup of Nations full of surprises as champions, but on many occasions only small crowds came to witness the sometimes classy football on display.

Zambia's triumph, 8-7 on penalties against fancied Ivory Coast, was a fitting finale of the 28th edition of the event hosted for the second time by two nations, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

The three-week showcase of African football went smoothly in general, travel between the two countries was hassle free, and African football supremo Issa Hayatou was naturally pleased.

'We have asked the organizers to pass on a message to the two heads of state hailing them for the efforts that all those concerned made,' Hayatou said.

'We can say that our stay in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea has been very pleasant. CAF can only congratulate all concerned.'

The football on display was generally good, and a number of players showed the class that justifies them playing for clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea, Barcelona and Arsenal.

Gabon coach Gernot Rohr, who came within a penalty of taking the co-hosts to the semi-finals, said that he considered the competition to have been a great success.

'The football was terrific and I think some people were surprised that everything went off so smoothly. I did not have my doubts, but there are always those who expect the worst,' Rohr said.

'I think it was a wonderful advertisement for football, the way it is supposed to be, a real advertisement for the game.'

There were plenty of surprises, like Sudan and Equatorial Guinea advancing to the quarter-finals at the expense of Angola and Senegal, and of course Zambia's progress to the title, knocking out Ghana's Black Stars in the semis and stopping Ivory Coast for the trophy.

Chipolopolo's victory provided a fairytale ending, as many shared in their triumph in Libreville which came 19 years after the nation's biggest football tragedy in the same city.

Back in 1993, a plane carrying the Zambian national team crashed into the sea after refueling in Libreville en route to Senegal for a World Cup qualifier.

All 30 people on board perished, amongst them 18 team members.

The competition had surprises, excellent matches like Gabon's 3-2 victory against Morocco or the 2-1 victory for Zambia against Senegal and terrific goals.

Star players included Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Emmanuel Mayuka, Gervinho or Zambian captain Christopher Katongo, who was voted as the player of the tournament.

What was sadly lacking in quite a number of the games, were spectators in the stadium.

In some of the matches less than 1,000 people lost themselves in stadiums that had seating for 37,000, but Hayatou did not want to be drawn into a debate.

'What do you expect us to do? We can't force people to come to the stadium. We have done everything we can,' he said.

For Rohr, the issue was simply a familiar one, as he said: 'There is often a problem to fill the stadium for the matches that do not involve the host nation. I don't think that it was much different here.'

However, sponsors may in the future prefer full stadiums for better television coverage, and CAF will have to look into the matter.

The next tournament will be held in less than a year in South Africa after CAF decided to move to odd years to avoid having the competition held in World Cup and Euro years.

That gives the governing body just under a year to address the question of the lack of spectators. Should they manage that, a good tournament could become a great tournament.