Neutrals pray for perfect hosts

Neutrals pray for perfect hosts

Unless you're one of that side's natural enemies, it's always a relief when the host nation of a major tournament stays in the competition.

Angola aren't yet out of the woods, but their 2-0 win over Malawi on Thursday put them in charge of their own destiny at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Malawi, of course, aren't exactly delighted at missing the chance to be the first team into the quarter-finals.

But half the thrill of these matches comes from the energy of the crowd, and I was glad to see Angola hold on to the points that could see their boisterous fans back to the cauldron of the November 11 stadium beyond the next match.

The word cauldron is a sporting cliché that still fits well when describing a bubbling atmosphere, and it's a good job the November 11 contains such volatile ingredients on home matchdays. Because otherwise it can be rather unsatisfying.

It's all very impressive and modern, with its red and white diamond panels on the roof giving it the appearance of some sort of tropical beetle. But if there's one thing guaranteed to suck the life out of a game of football, it's having a massive running track separating the spectators from the pitch.

Matches do not always spark such passion as that displayed by Angola's fans, and the atmosphere when lower level ties are played after the tournament will be, quite frankly, rubbish.

A lesson could be learned from Italian giants Juventus, who are reducing the capacity of their Stadio delle Alpi stadium to make it more intimate and intimidating – and are getting rid of that terrible athletics track.

Football grounds should be for football. It's a bit late for that now and thankfully the Angolans make up for the shortcomings of the architects. The crowd on Thursday night was so frenzied that they couldn't even wait for a Mexican wave to travel all the way round the stands, but instead sent breaker after breaker crashing after the first ripples.

The beauty of both results on the night was that they set up a mouth-watering pair of deciding fixtures in Group A, which is so evenly poised that any team could progress and any team be eliminated.

After their opening defeat to Malawi, Algeria bounced back with a muscular 1-0 win over Mali to put them joint second on three points going into their match against the hosts on Monday.

Anyone witnessing Algeria's World Cup playoff against Egypt in Sudan last November can be in no doubt as to the intensity of their fan's support and the reciprocal fire of the players. And while most of the Algerian atmosphere will be generated in the streets and homes of Algiers, Batna and Chlef, what travelling contingent they do have will give the home fans a run for their money.

On the pitch, defenders Yazid Mansouri and Madjid Bougherra will need all their power and experience to stop Flavio and Manucho from creating the space that the Angolan attack has enjoyed in both their matches so far.

Statisticians may relish the thought that qualification in the event of a points tie is not based on overall goal difference in the first instance, but on head-to-head results, goals, body mass index of the kit man etc. Algeria will be out if they lose, but can still qualify with a draw if Mali beat Malawi.

The permutations in the group are mind-boggling but, basically, Angola must win or draw. They can still go through with a defeat, but it probably depends on the waxing or waning of the moon and the price of fish in Omsk.

Whatever happens, Mali must win. They will still go out unless Angola beat Algeria, or if Algeria beat Angola and a mathematical formula that hasn't yet been confronted by science comes into play.

While a draw would see Angola safe, that could mean they finish second in the group to Malawi and have to travel to Cabinda for their quarter-final instead of staying settled in Luanda. "We would like to stay here because we feel used to it," the hosts' Leeds United defender Rui Marques told Al Jazeera on Thursday night. "But there's no problem. If we have to move town I'm sure the people there will support us. We'd like to be first in the group though."

For Marques, those people could well be from Yorkshire if Angola don't get a result on Monday. Fifty thousand ticket holders and millions more Luandans and neutrals here in the capital will be praying that doesn't happen.