Sport
Africa cup of nations 2012: Africa’s new star – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. PHOTO/Francois Mori/AP
Africa has a new shining star in Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, while Senegal’s Newcastle United striker Demba Ba would rank as one of the biggest flops at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
After the conclusion of the first round, one of the most open Nations Cups in history has thrown up a lot of disappointments, none bigger than the exit of Ba and Senegal from a tournament they had been predicted to win.
Ba fired 15 goals in the glamorous English Premier League before he jetted in for Africa’s showpiece football event amid high expectations that went beyond the borders of Senegal.
The Teranga Lions, quarter-finalists at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, finished bottom of a group that included co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Zambia and without a point from three matches.
And Ba failed to find the back of the net on his Nations Cup debut.
“We have to forget what has happened here,” said the big striker.
“We were looking like a big side in the qualifiers, but unfortunately, the competition has shown the reality of African soccer.”
Instead of Ba, the headlines at the Nations Cup are now about 22-year-old, Aubameyang, the tournament’s joint-leading scorer with three goals.
He is the son of former Gabon star Pierre Aubameyang, who captained the country to the 1994 Nations Cup and two years later was also in the team that posted the country’s best ever showing in the competition, when they reached the last eight in South Africa.
