West Africa makes up the bulk of countries in the last four with Guinea, Ivory Coast and Mali in the last four joined by DR Congo from Central Africa.
East Africa was represented by hosts Rwanda, Ethiopia and Uganda but neither made it to the last four of the biennial tournament which is regarded as Africa’s second biggest football competition.
Rwanda, who were making their debut appearance at the fourth edition of the continental showpiece that is organized exclusively for players featuring in their domestic leagues, made it to the quarterfinals after registering two wins over Ivory Coast 1-0 and Gabon 2-1 to finish top of Group A.
A 4-1 loss to Morocco in their last group encounter did not deter Rwanda’s ambitions of finishing top of the ‘group of death’, a feat that saw them write history as the first Amavubi side to qualify for the quarterfinals of a major football competition.
Riding high on the support of home fans, Rwanda’s presence in the last eight was a national achievement that they will look up to for quite some time hereafter.
Ethiopia, who were making a second appearance at Chan, started the tournament on the wrong footing after they lost 3-0 to DR Congo before holding Cameroon to a goalless draw.
A 2-1 loss to Angola in their last Group B game saw them finish bottom of the table standings with one point and one goal by Seyoum Tesfaye.
Competing at Chan for the third time, Uganda once again fell short of their set targets failing to make it past the group stages.
The Cranes gave away their lead twice in their opening Group D game against Mali [below] as Les Aigles held them 2-2 before a lapse in concentration saw Zambian captain Christopher Katongo score the lone goal to hand Uganda defeat against the Chipolopolo in their second game.
Hoping to live it late by beating Zimbabwe by two goals in their last game and hoping Zambia defeat Mali was a tall order as their fate would be sealed when the Warriors scored first before the Cranes equalized in stoppage time.
Whatever the result, Mali had held Zambia to a goalless draw, a result that sent Uganda out of the tournament with just two points in third position.
These results ensured the status quo at continental tournaments that continues to hinder East Africa’s march to catch up with the rest of the continent.
However, Caf vice president Almamy Kabele Camara told supersport.com that, “East Africans play spectacular football like Uganda and Ethiopia. In football, there is a winner and a loser in a game. Uganda are not poor, they had two draws and one loss. You can see how they have been performing.”
“You can see initiatives like the Cecafa U-17 tournament which will be held this year in Uganda. We applaud an organization like that.”
East Africa has never been represented in the last four since the inaugural Chan edition in 2009 while it has been only Uganda that has made it to the last four of Afcon since its inauguration in 1957.
The Cranes finished fourth at the 1962 edition in Ethiopia before losing to Ghana 2-0 in the 1978 edition in Ghana and that was the last time Uganda made it to Afcon.
Rwanda and Kenya were at Afcon in 2004 in Tunisia but did not make it past the group stages and have not been to the continental tournament since
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