AFCON without East Africa

The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations begins Saturday and everybody already has an idea on who the favourites are. They are not South Africa, the host nation, nor is it Nigeria the historical giant. Ivory Coast stands alone in the echelon as the super favourites. It is the Spain of Africa, albeit a bit less lucky. It has the best player on the continent in Yaya Toure.It is once again sad and grief laden times for East Africa- the only region without a representative at the tournament. Football fanatics in the region will have to once again choose a country to support other than their own.South Africa is very lucky to be playing at the tournament. It took the baton to host AFCON from Libya which suffered a civil war and was deemed unable to host.This is going to be a big tournament full of surprises. Although Ivory Coast are the clear favourite, I fancy some under dogs like DRC and Algeria.Pep Guardiola snubs EnglandPep Guardiola finally made his decision after taking a sabbatical from the game, and it was a painful one for Premier League enthusiasts.Before it was announced that Guardiola had chosen to manage Bayern Munich, English newspapers went viral claiming how he had spoken well of the Premier League and how his next move was certainly tailored to be in England.Suddenly, Guardiola joined the only team that earlier in the week had rubbished the ‘coup’- much more indicating how we should never fully rely on what we read in the press.Whichever league Guardiola was bound to join as coach, this man proved beyond reasonable doubt that he alone would have the luxury to handpick a club to join.Much as the news is sad for Premier League fans, it comes as a tourniquet to managers like Mancini at Manchester City and Rafael Benitez at Chelsea, who are always taunted with possible replacements.In all honesty, I think Guardiola chose the right club. Bayern is a great club and has a rich history domestically and in Europe. It is by far the biggest club in Germany and has also won four European trophies.Bayern play beautiful football, something that Guardiola will by all means try to improve the moment he joins the club next season.Suarez admits to cheatingBrendan Rogers did everything to defend his best player against accusations of using dirty tricks to get an advantage in the game.Rogers and Suarez went on about how the striker is unfairly targeted by the press and they almost duped us into believing that the Uruguan international was being used by the press to sell papers.But, all of a sudden, Suarez admitted to the accusations- saying that he dived to get an advantage when Liverpool lost to Stoke City earlier this season.The admission surprised Rogers who had clang by his player, but not football fans that had grown wary of Suarez’s drama on the pitch.Now Brendan says that Suarez did the wrong thing to admit and promised to punish him internally.Suarez is the same player who infamously acted as a “goalkeeper” against Ghana in 2010 World Cup, and he is the same player, who dug his teeth into the opponent’s flesh while still at Ajax. And remember his goal at lowly Mansfield in the FA Cup? Probably all that Suarez is trying to do is to cheat Liverpool back to the top, which he completely believes is the only way through which his club can keep pace with United.What Suarez forgets is that Liverpool is far bigger than one man; and regardless of his genius feet, his behaviour cannot be tolerated by a historic club like Liverpool well known for its achievements and competitiveness.If bad goes to worse, Liverpool may have to do away with the player who is bent on destroying the club’s image, although it may also mean they will have to lose their best player.