Zambia v Ghana and Mali v Ivory Coast is the semi final line up in the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting. Zambia were the first team through to the last four, beating the Sudan comfortably 3-0, setting a semi final clash with one of the favourites, Ghana. Ghana needed a lot of work to book their place in the semi finals, as they took on the tricky Tunisia, who were always going to be a handful for them. Ghana, one of the pre tournament favourites needed extra time to get past Tunisia, with Andre Ayew netting in the 101st minute to take the tie. The Black Stars a tight, efficient unit, and generally exert pretty steady control throughout their games. They don’t have the outright flair and attacking force of main rivals Ivory Coast, but they are great at wearing teams down, and break quickly into attack. So Ghana are there in the semi finals and will be favourite to take out Zambia. Zambia have actually come from nowhere to spring this surprise as being a semi finalist. They are the 16th ranked team in the CAF, and 71st in the world, and that is a long way short of world 26 nation Ghana, seeded only behind the Ivory Coast in the CAF rankings. So the expected 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting clash in the final of Ghana v Ivory Coast is still a strong possibility.
Because in the other semi final, we have the tournament favourites, the Ivory Coast squaring off against Mali. Chelsea’s Didier Drogba netted himself a brace, while Yaya Toure finished off the scoring in a 3-0 win over joint hosts Equatorial Guinea in the semi final. That put a stern end to the great exploits of Equatorial Guinea in the Africa Cup of Nations, and all credit to them for making it that far. But it has been four wins from four from the Ivory Coast in the tournament now, the only side in the tournament to have achieved that. They will take on Mali, who finished second in their group behind Ghana. Mail lost 2-0 against Ghana in the group stage, and with the Ivory Coast looking stronger than Ghana, we should see Didier Drogba and co move through to the final as expected. Mali struggled past Gabon in their quarter final match, needing a penalty shoot out to get past the joint host nation. So the Ivory Coast will be heavy favourites to move ahead, as well as taking the title in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations betting. They haven’t conceded a single goal in the event yet, and even if they meet Ghana in the final, well, it may be about how long the more sedate Ghanaians may be able to hold out.
2012 Africa Cup of Nations Betting
Ivory Coast: 5/6 at SkyBet
Ghana: 2/1 at Boylesports
Zambia: 9/1 at BetFair
Mali: 9/1 at William Hill
Online bookmaker BetFred have a good promotion running for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. If any match at the tournament ends in a 0-0 draw, then the popular bookie will refund any losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Double result bet placed on that match. So good bit of coverage for your 2012 Africa Cup of Nations match betting. Granted there hasn’t been a 0-0 result in the tournament so far, but at the tight semi final and final stage, it’s worth taking that coverage. BetFred offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account with them. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account, up to the maximum value of £50 with a free bet.
