Whole new ball game in Africa

There have been four direct free-kicks scored in this Cup of Nations.

That might not sound a particularly important statistic, but it augurs well for the European Championships in June. Two years ago, in Angola, there were no direct free-kicks scored and the goalkeeping was bewilderingly inept, leading to a load of semi-justifiable jokes about how bad African goalkeeping is. The difference? The ball.

The Comoeqa looks good, and it behaves superbly, without the cartoonish drift of the Jabulani that blighted both the 2010 Cup of Nations and the World Cup. It’s essentially the same ball as the Tango 12 that will be used in Ukraine and Poland, and that has to be good news. This is a ball that good players can control, that doesn’t suddenly dip on goalkeepers, and it has produced some excellent football.