The 26th edition of the MTN African Cup of Nations, tagged Ghana 2008, rounded off in Accra Sunday, with Egypt beating Cameroon 1-0 to lift the trophy.
Following are some of the statistics from the three-week tournament, as released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
RECORDS
Sixth title for Egypt after 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998 and 2006. Cameroon and Ghana have won the title four times each.
A total of 99 goals were recorded, ranking the tournament as the one to have produced the highest number of goals in the history of the African Cup of Nations.
Samuel Eto’o was the top scorer of the tournament with five goals. He has so far scored a total of 16 goals, two more than Ivorian legend Laurent Poku, who held the record previously.
Cameroon defender Rigobert Song made history by playing his 33rd match at the Africa Cup of Nations final since making his debut in 1996. Song has also featured a total of 54 hours.
A total of 100 yellow cards were recorded in the 32 matches played during the tournament, an average of 3 yellow cards per match.
TEAM PLACING
1. Egypt
2. Cameroon
3. Ghana
4. Côte d’Ivoire
5. Tunisia
6. Angola
7. Nigeria
8. Guinea
9. Zambia
10. Mali
11. Morocco
12. Senegal
13. South Africa
14. Namibia
15. Benin
16. Sudan
GOALS SCORED BY TEAMS
Côte d’Ivoire – 16 goals
Egypt – 15 goals
Cameroon – 14 goals
Ghana – 11 goals
Morocco – 7 goals
Tunisia – 7 goals
Angola – 5 goals
Guinea – 5 goals
Zambia – 5 goals
Senegal – 4 goals
South Africa – 3 goals
Nigeria – 3 goals
Namibia – 2 goals
Benin – 1 goal
Mali – 1 goal
Sudan – No goal
TOTAL GOALS SCORED
Final – 1 goal Semi-finals and 3rd place match – 12 goals, An average of 4 goals per match. Quarter-final – 16 goals, an average of 4 goals per match
Group Phase Group A : 19 goals Group B : 12 goals Group C : 23 goals Group D : 16 goals
Total : 99 goals, Average of 3 goals per match
Goals scored in previous competitions 1998 : 93 goals (72 goals during group stages) 2004 : 88 goals (65 goals during group stages) 2000 : 73 goals (52 goals during stages) 2006 : 72 goals (47 goals during group stages) 2002 : 49 goals (35 goals during first round)
11 PENALTIES, ALL SCORED
Cameroon : 3 (Samuel Eto’o)
Egypt : 3 (Hosny Abd Rabou)
Ghana : 1 (Asamoah Gyan)
Guinea : 1 (Pascal Feindouno)
Mali : 1 (Frederic Kanouté)
Morocco : 1 (Tarik Sektioui)
Nigeria : 1 (Yakubu Aiyegbeni)
SCORERS’ CHART
5 goals : Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
4 goals : Manucho (Angola), Hosni Abd Rabou, Mohamed Aboutreika, Amr Zaky (Egypt)
3 goals : Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Boubacar Sanogo (Côte d’Ivoire), Junior Agogo, Sulley Ali Muntari (Ghana), Soufiane Alloudi (Morocco)
2 goals : Elrio van Heerden (South Africa), Joseph Désiré Job, Stéphane Mbia, Geremi Njitap (Cameroon), Kader Keita (Côte d’Ivoire), Mohamed Abdullah Zidan (Egypt), Michael Essien (Ghana), Pascal Feindouno (Guinea), Brian Brendell (Namibia), Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Nigeria), Chaouki Ben Saada, Santos (Tunisia), Christopher Katongo (Zambia)
1 goal : Katlego Mphela (South Africa), Flavio (Angola), Razack Omotoyossi (Benin), Achille Emana, Alain Nkong (Cameroon), Aruna Dindane, Bakari Koné, Yaya Touré, Marc Zoro (Côte d’Ivoire), Ahmed Fathy (Egypt), Haminu Draman, Asamoah Gyan, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (Ghana), Ismaël Bangoura, Oumar Kalabane, Souleymane Youla (Guinea), Frédéric Kanouté (Mali), Hicham Aboucherouane, Abdeslam Ouaddou, Tarik Sektioui, Moncef Zerka (Morocco), John Mikel Obi (Nigeria), Henri Camara, Abdoulaye Diagne Faye, Diomansy Kamara, Moustapha Bayal Sall (Senegal), Yacine Chikhaoui, Issam Jemaâ, Mejdi Traoui (Tunisia) James Chamanga, Felix Katongo, Jacob Mulenga (Zambia)
Own goal: Mohamed Al Khider (Sudan) against Cameroon
YELLOW CARDS
A total of 100 yellow cards were recorded, with 81 of them coming in the first round.
RED CARDS
The tournament recorded 3 red cards
Pascal Feindouno – Guinea (against Morocco)
John Mensah – Ghana (against Nigeria)
Andre Bikey – Cameroon (against Ghana)
