Even before Clint Dempsey plopped to the ground Sunday the United States was already nearing The Tipping Point.

Charlie Davies is recovering from a shattered leg; Oguchi Onyewu is trying to rush back from a patellar tendon rapture (his knee is fucked up); Jermaine Jones might never recover from his broken leg; Jozy Altidore can't score a goal in the English Premier League; Carlos Bocanegra is stuck on the Stade Rennes' bench; DaMarcus Beasley started playing well for the first time in years before tearing his hamstring.

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On this week's main report, we continue our look at some of the countries who have qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. This week we feature one of the teams that made it through from the African section and who are also currently taking part in the Africa Cup of Nations, Algeria.

England's World Cup Group C opponents Algeria were in action vs Malawi in the Africa Cup of Nations today. As you can see above, it did not go well.

Algeria went into the game very much as favourites, but ended as 3-0 losers. Disastrous defending for the first goal. And the third. Malawi blogger Sscouser was understandably happy with the result.

Can host nation Angola emerge from a tricky group?
The tournament preview is up, you've seen the African Cup of Nations 2010 match schedule, now let's crack onto the group previews. Here is our team-by-team guide to the competition, which kicks off in Angola this weekend.
Group A
Algeria - Angola - Malawi - Mali
Algeria
Algeria is a country that has been sat until recently in the shadows of international wilderness.

The U.S. has set up a World Cup warmup game Feb. 20 against El Salvador, according to a story in El Diario de Hoy. The report quotes El Salvador federation president Reynaldo Vasquez.
The U.S. Soccer Federation has yet to announce the match, indicating it has not been finalized. The U.S. is attempting to find opponents similar in style to their World Cup group foes -- Algeria, England, and Slovenia.

Continuing our look at teams for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, this week we look at Group B England Ranked 9 by FIFA Winners in 1966 Manager: Fabio Capello Key Player: Wayne Rooney Every Englishmans hopes and dreams rest on the 'Roonster' being fit and in top form. We say it every World Cup, but surely this is the [.

As WAAtP pointed out, Algeria lost 3-0 to Malawi in the African Cup of Nations.
There is absolutely no reason the USMNT shouldn't easily win that game in South Africa.
Now, about Slovenia...

When you're good enough to ply your trade in Europe and play international football, you've got an easy life, right? Ask Malian captain and Real Madrid player Mahamadou Diarra (pictured.)

Diarra's life was so glamourous yesterday, in fact, that he and his team were reduced to begging security staff to allow them onto the pitch for their scheduled training time.

Group A was decided on Monday as Angola and Algeria punched their tickets into the next round as they both shared honors in their final group match. This left Mali out despite their impressive win against Malawi 3-1. They would be gone because of the first tiebreaker being head-to-head matchups- that topic became a big discussion point afterwards.

Mali triumphed over Malawi but failed to progress as Algeria and Angola played out a controversial goalless draw that saw both sides go through and has led to Mali filing a match fixing complaint against their fellow group members.

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There were two major surprises in the African Cup quarterfinals today.In the first one, the home side of Angola were surprisingly eliminated by Ghana, who without their star Michael Essien managed a somewhat fortunate and hard-fought 1-0 victory on a goal by Stade Rennais' Asamoah Gyan. Ghana is set to play the winner of Zambia-Nigeria, and a match against their West African rivals Nigeria would

Ghana v Nigera, 1700 local, 1100 EST.

Egypt v Algeria, 2030 local, 1430 EST.

Streaming: myp2p; atdhe.

African Cup of Nations Semifinals Liveblogtacular

Egypt got the better of Algeria in this typically bad tempered encounter with Hosni Abou Rabou netting the first goal after Algeria had been reduced to ten men when Halliche was sent off. Mohamed Zidan scored a second to kill off any chance of comeback from the Desert Foxes who's woes continued when they found themselves down to nine men when Nadir Belhadj was red carded.

Algeria 0-4 Egypt
African Cup of Nations semi final
Goals: Hosni 38', Zidan 65', Abdelshafi 80', Gedo 90'
If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Sometimes football can throw up the most appropriate of metaphors. A red rag to a bull almost couldn't describe Egypt's 4-0 thrashing of Algeria any better, from the suave matador-like performance of the holders to the mad angry rage of the Algerians.

photo credit: aikijuanma

The Team: Slovenia? OK, yesterday I at least pretended that I knew something about Algeria, but I must say that I actually know just about nothing about the third foe the US will face in the 2010 World Cup. In my defense, I guess the reason I know so little about Slovenia is because it is so new.

Egypt 4-0 Algeria: The Pharaohs Subdue Bitter Rivals To Reach Final
Ghana 1-0 Nigeria: Black Stars Shoot Down Super Eagles To Reach Final
Egypt prepare for final against Ghana

The host country is Angola and the mascot looks a bit like Drogba when he is in a good mood.Since the first African Cup of Nations tournament was held in Sudan in 1957, host countries have failed to reach at least the semi-finals on only four occasions so Angola have that bit of history to deal with.

So, if the only time you've ever come across this tournament is when certain Premiership managers whine about it, let me welcome to you to one of World Football's best kept secrets. Over the years, the African Cup Of Nations has grown and grown to be one of the most respected tournaments in World Football.

Have you been dragging your feet to get tickets to see the US play in South Africa? If so, the LACF will be a game saver for 48 corporate sponsors. Tickets to the 2010 World Cup are already sold out, but soccer lovers can still see the U.S. team in action, live in South Africa, by becoming a sponsor of the LAFC Foundation, the charitable umbrella for one of America's largest youth soccer organizations.

It's right around the corner, you know. And by 'right around the corner', we mean that quite literally: turn the corner of this week into next week and you're there. The first game kicks off Sunday evening when tournament hosts Angola take on Mali.

So with time at a premium, let's get right down to ten things you need to know for the African Cup of Nations.

Simple question and yet such a complicated answer:

- The bookies say it's going to be the on-paper favorite Ivory Coast.

- History says it will be Egypt, two-time defending champions.

- Your gut says it won't be either.

Then who will it be?
Everything, at least right now, points to two teams: Ghana & Ivory Coast.

The British press is reporting that Zidane may be be offering his expertise and assistance to Algeria this summer in South Africa. Zidane, who is the son of Algerian immigrants to France, has already started working as an adviser to Real Madrid earlier this year as an introduction that may lead to a more prominent coaching role in the future.

There still appears to be some confusion over the death toll, but it seems likely that as well as the un-named Angolan bus driver, assistant coach Abalo Amalete, press officer Stanislas Ocloo and reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale were either killed during the attack or died of their injuries afterwards.

Well after yesterday's dramatic draw, let's hope today's matches (Malawi v Algeria and Côte d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso) don't fail to live up to the strong start of the tournament.
Malawi boast Chiukepo Msowoya who lead the Flames with six goals from the qualification rounds. 27-year-old Esau Kanyenda also has finishing ability.

Egypt will be aiming to bounce back from World Cup play-off defeat to rivals Algeria to become the first team in the competition's history to lift the trophy three times, while other favourites Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon also have their eye on the continent's biggest prize. Be prepared for some shock results as well, with the likes of Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia keen to prove that they are not just in Angola to make up the numbers.

Malawi produced something of an African Nations Cup shock with this easy win over Algeria.

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Malawi 1-0 Algeria (Russel)

Malawi 2-0 Algeria (Kafoteka)

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CAF have announced Togo will be disqualified if they do not materialize for the kick off of their fixture against Ghana tonight in Cabinda.
Rumours abound whether Botswana, The Republic of the Congo or Namibia will be invited to do a "Denmark".
Cabinda's separatist rebels, FLEC, have apologized for the attack, claiming it was a mistake to attack the Togolese, and have presented their condolences to the families of the deceased.

Every news story to come from the actual games will likely come second to anything involving Togo, as it should. So easily the second biggest of the CAN's second day is the thrashing Malawi gave Algeria, proving World Cup participation means nothing. But on the grander scale, the game itself may mean nothing compared to the gate.

Malawi v Algeria, African Cup of Nations in numbers
Algeria goals: 0
Malawi wins at the African Cup of Nations before this game: 0
Number of people in the crowd at Angola's National Stadium: approx 30
Number of Algerians who represent Portsmouth: 2
Chances of Algeria beating England at World Cup 2010 on this performance: 0
Amount of money I lost from Algeria failing to turn up and being soundly beaten by a hopeless Malawi team who have never won a match in this competition before and despite having one of those comedy African goalkeepers who doesn't look like he has ever played football before: £5

11.01.2010 - Africa Cup Of Nations
Malawi 3-0 Algeria

L'agguato dell'8 Gennaio alla nazionale del Togo (che si è poi ritirato ufficialmente) ha sicuramente gettato molte ombre sulla manifestazione, ma "the show must go on" e quindi si è dato il via alla 27° edizione della Coppa D'Africa. Si è partiti domenica scorsa con l'incontro inaugurale tra i padroni di casa dell'Angola, e il Mali.

By Ollie Irish

In front of, er, not very many fans at all, Malawi recorded their first ever win in the African Cup of Nations. And utterly deserved it was too, as Algeria one of England's group rivals at the 2010 World Cup were worse than rubbish, particularly at the back.

They are ranked 73 places below Algeria and were always the underdogs going into this game having never won a game at the African Cup of Nations before.So their 3 - 0 win was a pretty good way to start winning...
Elsewhere Drogba failed to get his name on the scorecard as Ivory Coast played out a goalless draw with Burkina Faso ( Yes there is such a country.

Ivory Coast 0-0 Burkina Faso: Elephants Share Goalless Draw With Stallions
Malawi 3-0 Algeria: Malawi Hat-Trick Takes Algeria By Surprise
The big names suffered a humbling on their maiden voyages in the Africa Cup of Nations. Goal.com's Peter Staunton reflects on Monday's action.

England have a friendly match lined up against Egypt as part of their World Cup preparation. They've chosen Egypt because they are supposed to be on the same level and have a similar style to Algeria, who England will face in their World Cup Group matches.However, having watched African minnows Malawi demolish Algeria 3-0 on Eurosport yesterday, I have to confess I have no idea how Algeria

The USA will face Algeria on June 23rd, in the final game of Group C play. This last game could be crucial for both teams as one or both may face elimination from the Cup. Algeria is busy in group play of the African nations cup and blew its first game 3 nil, with some shoddy goalkeeping.

Everyone knows about Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o. The superstars of African football. Most will know about Mali's Fredi Kanoute and Seydou Keita too. You don't need WorldCupBlog to tell you about them. So we thought we'd compile a list of 10 players to watch at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, featuring talented youngsters and other players with slightly lower profiles than those listed above.

Well we all know how the competition started but the tournament kicked off in earnest on Sunday evening with the host nation Angola entertaining Mali. Hopes were high after all the political wrangling that engulfed the weekend, football could return to the forefront. What no-one expected was a series of breathless games and major shocks that have turned the Cup Of Nations on its head.

Algeria edged past Mali in this African Nations Cup group stage encounter.

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Malawi manager Kinnah Phiri has criticized the Confederation of African Football, organizers of the African Nations Cup, and the Angolan football federation for not providing and/or sabotaging Malawi's training times.

"We find it very strange that in this competition a team cannot be found a ground to train," said Phiri.