Nothing can be taken for granted at this AFCON.

A plethora of last-minute goals is proof that it ain’t over until the fat lady sings

“Non dire gatto se non ce l'hai nel sacco” 

THE GREAT Italian coach Giovanni Trappatoni apparently used to love using the phrase above when addressing his teams. The English translated it to mean ‘don’t say cat if you don’t have it in the sack (bag)’. 

The more popular saying with a similar meaning is ‘It ain’t over until the fat lady sings’. And boy has this been true of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) currently underway in the Ivory Coast. 

Such have been the plethora of late goals at the biennial, continental showpiece that Trappatoni would have been pulling his thin silver hair out in anguish at the players not heeding his advice.

Many a team has literally given away victory for a draw through their assumption that the current state of the match was irreversible only to concede a goal when they were expecting the referee to blow the final whistle. 

It is, however, not just because teams went to sleep thinking the game was wrapped up that we have had the late goals. An early distinguishing mark of this 34th edition of the AFCON has been the ‘never say die’ spirit displayed by the competitors and because of it, we have been treated to goals galore, and a good number of them right at the end of the match – or even the first half. 

It started at the outset of the tournament, with Egypt ‘robbing’ Mozambique of what would have been a maiden victory at the finals as the Black Mambas enjoyed a 2-1 lead deep into time added on for stoppages in their Group B. The Pharaohs persisted with their attacks and got duly rewarded when they earned a penalty kick which Mo Salah converted. 

When they beat Mauritania 1-0 on MatchDay 1, Burkina Faso did so in a similar way to the Egyptians – their star Bertrand Traore scoring from the penalty spot with the clock on 90+6. 

The Stallions were then given a taste of their own medicine in their second group match when they literally had victory snatched away from their grasp, Algeria’s Baghdad Bounedjah scoring his second goal in the fifth minute of time added on for stoppages after the 90 minutes in a 2-2 draw. 

Dramatic does not begin to explain it. 

Namibia’s maiden win at the tournament in their fourth appearance was not courtesy of a goal as dramatically late as those by Egypt, Burkina Faso and Algeria. But it came at a time when just about everyone in the stadium was anticipating the final whistle and content that the Brave Warriors and the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia were going to share the spoils. 

And if a goal epitomised the never-say-die spirit that has characterised this tournament so far, it was the one by Orlando Pirates’ Deon Hotto as Namibia persisted with their attacks late in the match. And they got duly rewarded on 88 minutes when Hotto powerfully headed in a pin-point cross delivered from the left flank by substitute Bethuel Muzeu. 

It has been an edge-of-the-seat stuff kind of tournament, what with the so-called minnows holding their own against the continent’s giants and some clashes being thrill-a-minute affairs – Angola’s 3-2 win over Mauritania plus Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Ghana comes to mind. 

As we go into the final group matches that will be played at the same time in each group, it is going to be tough deciding which match to focus on – the possibility of missing out on delightful action in the other being there. 

But I am not complaining, although I am not joining the general chorus of those who are already proclaiming this the greatest AFCON finals ever as yet.  

Another thing I am not doing is to say cat before it’s in the bag. I’m definitely waiting until the fat lady sings with every match I'll be watching.