Now that’s what I call a tournament mascot. I don’t need modern interpretations of peace, harmony and good will like the dreadful trio that South Korea and Japan gave us in 2002. Dreadful mascots and a dreadful tournament. I want giant animals or characters that can play football or playing football. This is Palanquina, who is based on the famed Angolan Giant Sable Antelope, a rare animal now only found in one region of Angola. A proper mascot if there ever was one.

Well if the first round of matches showed us anything, then it was not to take anything for granted. Whilst some semblance of order returned in the second round of games, there were still some shocks and one of the best games you will see all year and allegations of match fixing. Just a normal continental football tournament then!

So Group A saw Algeria recover to beat under-performing Mali 1-0 on Thursday to get them back on track and put Mali facing the exit, but more on that later. Angola continued there fine form with a convincing 2-0 win of Malawi, with Manucho getting another goal. This meant that all Angola and Algeria needed was a 0-0 draw today for them both to qualify, regardless of how many goals Mali scored against Malawi. Can you guess what the final score was?

Apparently, the group stages are decided on head to head results, though the irony of Algeria being involved in a dodgy result after the 1982 World Cup saw them eliminated through exactly the same thing is rather a shame. Yet, Mali have only themselves to blame, they simply never got going until it was too late.

Group B gave us only one game on Friday, but what a match it was. A clash of real international heavyweights was end to end all through the game and Ivory Coast broke the deadlock in the first half, with Gervinho getting the opener. Ghana pushed and pushed but the Ivory Coast held on until half time. 10 minutes in to the second half though, Ghana looked to have the advantage when Emmanuel Eboue was sent off for a reckless two footed challenge.

This seemed to have the opposite effect though and with Drogba in mesmerising form, Ghana were torn to shreds and found themselves 3-0 down through Tiene and Drogba and the lack of real experience and quality in the Ghana side was compounded. Saturday brought further bad news and not just for the Black Stars, when Michael Essien was ruled out for the rest of the competition.With him on crutches, Chelsea will be hopeful that the knee injury is not too serious.

Ghana play Burkina Faso tomorrow knowing a win is the only thing that will get them through the group.

Group C saw Egypt continue with their remarkable from so far in Angola 2010, with another 2-0 win though it was a tough game at times, but another great game of football. Unfancied Mozambique had chances to score before conceding a harsh own goal, then missed chances to draw themselves level before Egypt finished them off with a superb turn and volley from Mohamed Gedo. The Pharoahs are looking good once again.

Nigeria, still hurting from their opening game loss against Egypt struggled to beat Benin 1-0, thanks to a Yakubu penalty in the 42nd minute. Despite all the experience, they looked sluggish and were also hit with an injury to key defender Joseph Yobo. If Benin had been more ruthless in front of goal, the Nigerians would be going home. Instead, a point against Mozambique will see them through.

Finally in Group D, Cameroon huffed and puffed after their humiliating defeat against Gabon to win 3-2 against Zambia despite being a goal down until the 68th minute. Geremi equalised and Eto’o put them 2-1 up but Zambia came back again to equalise with an 82nd minute penalty. To the rescue rode Idrissou with a late header to steal the win and keep Cameroon’s disappointing tournament on track. They need to get going soon because someone is going to take them apart if they’re not careful.

In the final game, surprise package, Gabon, battled to a fine 0-0 draw with Tunisia to keep themselves on track to reach the quarter finals. Tunisia meanwhile now know that the only way they’ll be through to the next stage is to beat Cameroon on Thursday. Now that is a game I’m looking forward to.

So there you have it, a bit of scandal, top Premiership players injured, unfancied Premiership players such as Daniel Cousin and Manucho doing their countries proud and a couple of big surprises. The next 3 days will be very interesting indeed and its been a great tournament so far. I’ll be back with another round up after Sunday’s first Quarter finals.

Qualified for Quarter Finals: Algeria, Angola, Egypt

Out and heading home: Mali and Malawi

On the edge of elimination: Ghana and Cameroon. Ghana have to win, Cameroon have to not lose.

Can anyone remember the last time Hull City won a Premier League game? December 6th at home to Middlesbrough was the last time. Since then, they have been very much in freefall.  When Hull first arrived in the Premiership, they were tipped to go straight back down but decided to tear up the script and go to well established top flight sides like Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United and win. How dare they!

 Since then however, Hull have had a bit of a reality check. Despite two very credible draws at Anfield and Stamford Bridge, a couple of resounding batterings from Manchester City and Sunderland, accompanied with some less humiliating defeats and the odd draw have seen Hull fall into thirteenth. By all means this is a respectable position but the worrying thing for Phil Brown’s side is that they are looking over their shoulder now, rather than towards the dizzy heights of Europe that their early season form suggested.

The run of form that they are in at the moment suggests only one thing; a relegation scrap. This is the last thing that they would have wanted or expected at the time of their last league win but have struggled to maintain the kind of form that shocked the world before Christmas. Credit to Brown, he acknowledged their slump and tried to shake things up by bringing in some new faces, most notably Manucho on loan from Manchester United (to replace the outgoing Marlon King) and record signing Jimmy Bullard from Fulham. The latter however seems to have backfired for the time being as Bullard required further surgery to his troublesome knee and is out for the remainder of the season having only made one substitute appearance for the Tigers.

A problem that is still rectifiable this season though is their home form. The KC Stadium has hardly been a fortress having picked up just three wins in the league there all season. Perhaps this is because it is a welcoming venue for travelling teams with nice facilities and doesn’t boast the most hostile of atmospheres. If a team is to avoid the drop, it is often their home form that will decide it. Stoke City are a good example of a side who are making the most of their home territory and in turn made themselves very difficult to beat there. Hull’s next three home games all come against sides who are in the relegation mix and the phrase ‘six pointer’ starts to take on some real meaning. Sunday’s match against a rejuvenated Blackburn Rovers is a crucial match and a win for Hull could spark a run that results in a comfortable finish to the season and doesn’t require the need for a positive result against Manchester United on the final day. Newcastle United and Portsmouth are the following home games for Hull while upcoming trips to Fulham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Sunderland suggest that Hull should pick up enough points to survive.

Most neutrals would like to see Hull stay up, purely because of the way they shook things up in the opening weeks of the season and think it would be a waste to then throw it all away. Hull have achieved a lot in a short space of time and sending them back to the drawing board now would be harsh. However, you only stay up if you’re good enough and time will tell.