A sharp drop in attendances at the African Cup of Nations is expected after co-hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were eliminated in the quarterfinals over the weekend. Empty stands have been afeature of games not involving the hosts. Gabon lost on penalties to Mali, 5-4, after a 1-1 tie, and Equatorial Guinea fell to Ivory Coast, 3-0. Despite the defeats, both hosts regard theirperformance as successful.
“The team gave a lot physically in the pool matches and many of the players were not used to that kind of intensity in games against such qualityopposition,” Gabon coach Gernot Rohr said. “My team gave everything they had.”
Fans hardly seemed disconsolate after the loss to Mali despite the visiblegrief of striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the only player to miss in the shootout. Goalscorer Eric Mouloungui said that three wins in the group games, including athrilling 3-2 triumph over Morocco, had brought the country’s small population much pleasure.
The next game in Gabon is Wednesday’s semifinal in Libreville between Ivory Coastand Mali; In the other semifinal, Ghana plays Zambia in the Equatorial Guinea port city of Bata. Equatorial Guinea provided a huge upset by beating heavily favored Senegal in the group stagebefore losing to Ivory Coast.