Soccer-Nations-Organisers fail to match quality on the pitch

By Brian Homewood

ACCRA, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The African Nations Cup provided top quality football and drama on the field yet, as the tournament grows in stature, its organisers appear stuck in a time warp.

This year's competition, which ended with Egypt beating Cameroon 1-0 Sunday's final, boasted more big name players than ever before, was televised around the world and produced the impressive tally of 99 goals in 32 matches.

But the organisation remains unchanged from the days when it was an exotic sideshow and European club coaches, who today complain bitterly about losing their African players for one month, had not even heard of it.

On the pitch, Ghana set the tone by beating Guinea with a stunning late goal from Sulley Muntari in the opening game and that was followed by defending champions Egypt producing a 4-2 win over Cameroon.

Then came the upsets as Angola recovered from a goal down to beat Senegal 3-1 and Guinea overcame Morocco 3-2.

The quarter-finals saw Ghana produce a memorable comeback to beat arch-rivals Nigeria 2-1 while Ivory Coast turned on the style in a 5-0 demolition of Guinea, only to come unstuck in the semi-final when they lost 4-1 to Egypt.

Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o scored five goals, making him the most prolific scorer in the tournament's history with 16, while Angola's Manucho burst onto the scene with four.

Egypt's Essam Al Hadari produced world-class goalkeeping and his team mate Hosni Abd Rabou was outstanding in midfield.