LUANDA: With the glaring exception of Ghana none of the five World Cup-bound teams competing at the Africa Cup of Nations left Angola with their reputations enhanced.
Ghana can look forward to South Africa with plenty of optimism after overcoming a horror injury list to make it to Sunday s final where they came unstuck 1-0 to defending champions Egypt.
Coach Milovan Rajevic saw no fewer than eight inexperienced youngsters step up to fill the shoes of established absent players like Michael Essien and Stephen Appiah.
Ghana open their World Cup campaign against Rajevic s home country Serbia on June 13, and can justifiably fancy their chances of making it through a group that also includes Germany and Australia.
Ivory Coast turned up in Angola wearing the favorites tag but Didier Drogba s team flattered to deceive.
The Elephants let a 2-1 lead over Algeria slip away in the closing stages to go out 3-2 in extra time in the quarter-finals.
Coach Vahid Halilhodzic was mystified at his multi-millionaire side s collapse.
Great teams do not let a 2-1 lead a few minutes before full-time slip like that, said the Bosnian-born former Yugoslavian international.
It is unacceptable. We are all really stunned. We came here with great hopes and as is always the case Ivory Coast has failed to deliver.
It is imperative that everyone assumes their responsibility for this, me to start with.
It is not a physical problem it is a mental one. I do not have all the answers but I am ashamed with regard to how we played and apologize to the Ivorian public who really believed in us.
Nigeria too struggled to impress, laboring past Zambia in the quarter-finals only to fall to Ghana and then edging Algeria in Saturday s third-place play-off.
Coach Shuabi Amodu reflected: We have done well enough even though we may not have played to our full potential, but with longer preparations we can do a lot better. We improved with each game, we were not at our best in Angola but we can be better before the World Cup.
The Algerians started atrociously being on the wrong side of a 3-0 thrashing by minnows Malawi.
The Desert Foxes went some way to redeeming themselves by edging Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals but then pressed the self-destruct button in the semi-finals.
Three of their players were red-carded as they suffered a 4-0 wipe out by bitter rivals Egypt to return home with plenty to think about ahead of South Africa where England are among their first round rivals.
Algeria skipper Yazid Mansouri was disappointed to finish the tournament empty handed.
We did not do as well as we would have wanted to. We will move ahead and learn form the mistakes we made at this tournament.
We have to work very hard to get ready for the World Cup especially in the midfield and attack. The Nations Cup has afforded us a chance to know where we have to improve.
Cameroon only made it to the quarter-finals, losing 3-1 to defending champions Egypt, yet Real Mallorca striker Achille Webo was insistent that positives could be taken from Angola.
The younger players in the team have shown that they are capable of taking over from the older generation. They proved they can live with the best, said Webo.
