Angola went into their final Africa Cup of Nations Group A game last night, knowing that a 0-0 draw would send them both through to the quarterfinals. Algeria knew that a 0-0 draw would suffice, provided Mali beat Malawi. So when news filtered through that Mali were beating Malawi… Angola vs Algeria deteriorated into one of the most eye-hurtingly boring games of football I’ve endured a long time. Highlights are above.

The last ten minutes were especially painful, with the Algerian defenders passing the ball along their back four while the Angola stood and watched.

It has been a day of conflicting news and uncertainty following yesterday’s deadly attack on the team bus of the Togolese national team.

With players and other staff members of the Togolese national team, officials of the Togolese FA and government, officials of the Angolan FA and government, CAF, FIFA, Sepp Blatter and a range of European clubs all releasing statements and bits and pieces of sometimes contradictory information, it’s difficult to give a definitive picture of the current situation.

Nearly surreal news coming from Angola today: the Togo national team was crossing into Angola from the DRC when they were attacked by Angolan rebels, who fired into the bus with machine guns. At least three players and the bus driver have reportedly been hit, and according to Thomas Dossevi, there may be more.

“I am fine but several players are in a bad way,” Nantes striker Thomas Dossevi told Radio Monte Carlo.

“We are still at hospital. We were attacked like dogs and had to hide for 20 minutes under the seats to avoid the bullets.”

Dossevi also said that the team no longer wanted to play at the tournament.

It’s right around the corner, you know. And by ‘right around the corner’, we mean that quite literally: turn the corner of this week into next week and you’re there. The first game kicks off Sunday evening when tournament hosts Angola take on Mali.

So with time at a premium, let’s get right down to ten things you need to know for the African Cup of Nations.

i. You can call it whatever the hell you want.
CAN 2010, African Cup of Nations or any mildly dyslexic variation, AFCON, AfCoN – they all work. And this year’s are simply being called Orange African Cup of Nations. Not because they’ve decided to replace color with years – which would be sweet: “we won the blue one!” – but because it’s being sponsored by the French telecommunications company. The official website even has it listed as COCAN 2012.

The statistics of fixed matches at 2010 year..