Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian
The Unobstructed View
In the world of sports, there have been moments where teams/players have celebrated prematurely but I’ve never heard of an entire team celebrating too soon and then learning that they failed to qualify for an event.
South Africa’s men’s soccer team appeared to have qualified for the African Cup of Nations with a draw against Sierra Leone. The team even celebrated by doing a lap around the stadium assuming that it had won Group G.
However due to a three-way tiebreaker, South Africa was left out of the African Cup for 2012:
South Africa’s 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone left South Africa tied with Niger and Sierra Leone, and ahead on goal differential — which is usually good enough to advance
But the Confederation of African Football used head-to-head results among the three teams as a tiebreaker. That sent Niger to the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and left South Africa out.
South Africa’s head coach Pitso Mosimane was not pleased with the news that his team had lost out due to a tiebreaker:
“I’m confused. Just have a look at the table of the group now and see who is top of the group,” Mosimane said. “Put points on the table now and tell me, are you going to put Niger on top now, even with our better goal difference?
“It’s very sad for South Africa because the country deserves to be in next year’s AFCON. I feel like I have failed.”
is the right answer !!
ah well, you might get a game at the lane if there are a few away in the sun.
South Africa’s men’s soccer team appeared to have qualified for the African Cup of Nations with a draw against Sierra Leone. The team even celebrated by doing a lap around the stadium assuming that it had won Group G.
However due to a three-way tiebreaker, South Africa was left out of the African Cup for 2012:
South Africa’s 0-0 draw with Sierra Leone left South Africa tied with Niger and Sierra Leone, and ahead on goal differential — which is usually good enough to advance
But the Confederation of African Football used head-to-head results among the three teams as a tiebreaker. That sent Niger to the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and left South Africa out.
South Africa’s head coach Pitso Mosimane was not pleased with the news that his team had lost out due to a tiebreaker:
“I’m confused. Just have a look at the table of the group now and see who is top of the group,” Mosimane said. “Put points on the table now and tell me, are you going to put Niger on top now, even with our better goal difference?
“It’s very sad for South Africa because the country deserves to be in next year’s AFCON. I feel like I have failed.”
is the right answer !!
ah well, you might get a game at the lane if there are a few away in the sun.
