Ivory Coast wins African Cup of Nations

For reasons unknown I accidentally sat through the African Cup of Nations final this afternoon. The match did not disappoint. The game that the rest of the world calls "football" is inevitably a snooze-o-rama, and sure enough, we were all tied up after 90 minutes.

0-0.

Yup. That sure was ninety minutes of soccer excitement.

After another thirty minutes of extra time, we're still tied up.

0-0.

But I have to admit, that penalty kick shoot-out had to be one of the most riveting finales in all of sports. It was easily a match for the final seconds of last week's Superbowl. After an afternoon of nothing, seeing 17 goals scored in a matter of minutes hits you like a methadrine overdose. The fact that the winner was scored by a guy past his prime and long considered a bit of an odd-ball, goaltender Boubacar Barry, gave the match that human interest element that keeps you coming back to sports spectator-ship even when you should know better.

Heart-stopping finish aside, it's somehow reassuring that the Africans can put on a match that is every bit as stupefyingly boring as the European's.

It's only a matter of time before an African team takes the World Cup.