Benin book their place in Angola

Benin on Sunday ended Ghana’s 100% record with a courtesy of a 92nd minute goal from Mohamed Aoudou. For Benin it means they will be appearing in their third African Cup of Nations in 2010 in Angola and their second consecutive appearance.

It was a match that had no meaning for Ghana who had already qualified for the World Cup (and they can partially thank Benin for that as it was Mohamed Aoudou who got Benin’s equaliser against Mali in the last fixture that allowed Ghana to qualify). For Benin it means their final match in Sudan will be a tense affair as Benin know completed the job. Despite the fact that Ghana were playing merely for pride this is still one of the biggest wins in Benin football history. Beating a continental giant like Ghana does happen everyday, especially for a side that are recently shedding the minnow label.

Now Benin can prepare for Angola where hopefully they can claim their first ever point in the Nations Cup. It may not be the World Cup but Benin continue there steady progress and are now firmly among Africa’s middle-weight sides. Not yet a heavy-weight but certainly no longer a minnow.

And sorry for the lack of posts in recent months. I hope to be able to regularly update the Benin blog in the lead up to and during their Nations Cup adventure.