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Egypt’s most significant hour against the Ivory Coast and Mali’s test against Equatorial Guinea. AFCON 2021 predictions.
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Weekend Guide 13.11.2015
The 2018 World Cup kick-off is less than a thousand days away, and our Weekend Recap is all about the qualifiers. Three games, on the road to Russia, with love!
(All hours are in CET)
Amateur (Like these guys)
What? Colombia – Argentina
When? Tuesday, 21:30
Where? Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez, Baranquilla
Why? Two of the most talented teams in South America will play each other in a passionate match. Colombia will try to qualify again, while Argentina hopes to avoid a huge failure, as they gained only one point and didn’t score in their first two matches.
Key Players: Let's forget for a bit about Gonzalo Higuaín and James Rodriguez, and instead take a look at some other great players. Edwin Cardona is just 22 years old and has already scored for Colombia in this campaign. At the Argentinian squad, there is one young player that one day may lead the team, Tottenham's Érik Lamela.
Never Forget: The 1994 qualifying campaign was a bitter one for Argentina, and Colombia is responsible for that. Argentina had to win the last match in order qualify, but they were thrashed at home by Colombia 5:0 - sending them to play in the playoffs.
Professional (like this guy)
What? Jamaica – Panama
When? Saturday, 03:00
Where? Independence Park, Kingston
Why? The two surprises of the previous two Gold Cups, Jamaica and Panamá, will face each other in their opening match of the qualifying campaign.
Key Players: Jamaican Darren Mattocks, who scored at the Gold Cup semifinals against the USA and plays regularly for Vancouver Whitecaps, will look to shine. Veteran Panamanian Luis Tejada, who plays for Peruvian club Juan Aurich, will lead his team on their quest to Russia.
CONCAGOL: In two out of the last three qualifying campaigns, the top scorer came from the CONCACAF tournament. Mexican Jared Borgetti was the leader of the 2006 scorers with 14 goals. In 2014 Deon McCaulay from Belize scored 11 goals.
World Class (like this guy)
What? Equatorial Guinea – Morocco
When? Sunday, 16:00
Where? Estadio do Bata, Bata
Why? It takes one golden generation to enter the main stage of world football. Morocco had it during the 90's, when they qualified to the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. Now they have another aspiring generation that wants to end the 20 year absence from the tournament. Equatorial Guinea also has a golden generation, but it is based on naturalized players and not local talents.
Key Players: Equatorial Guinea is all about Emilio Nsue, the captain from Middlesbrough, who is one of the Spanish naturalized players. Don’t sleep on Napoli’s Omar El Kaddouri, who scored 4 goals in 11 international caps for Morocco.
If you won’t, I will: The real conflict between the teams happened before the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year. Morocco was the original host of the tournament, but they decided to withdraw due to the Ebola crisis. In a dubious decision, Equatorial Guinea, which was eliminated in the first qualifying round, hosted it instead.