Goal.com analyses Group A's second matchday...
By the time Mali conclude their Africa Cup of Nations group stage campaign against Malawi next week, the much vaunted quartet of Mahamadou Diarra, Momo Sissoko, Seydou Keita and Frederic Kanoute will have spent a grand total of five minutes on the field together.

Stephen Keshi's decision to keep Kanoute on the bench for the first hour of the defeat against Algeria, his hooking of Sissoko five minutes later and Diarra's impending suspension all mean that estimations of the Eagles' strength, on the sole basis of their formidable axis, are grossly off the mark.

The underperforming side have not been able to make their key cogs click in sync, either through strategy or form, and are suffering for it.

To put it midly, Mali were inexcusably poor against an Algeria side which had learned lessons from a smarting on matchday one. Faouzi Chaouchi, the Algerian goalkeeper, is widely held to be among the most maladroit at the tournament but the west Africans failed to put him under any significant pressure, either through shots or crosses.
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Instead, the Desert Foxes took the opportunity to make life uncomfortable for Mali's stand-in netminder and forced the solitary goal with a free-kick delivered into the right area. Now, the World Cup-bound side can breathe more easily while the Malians are still faltering.

And why, with some of the world's best talent, are they foundering? There has been little or no evidence that the Eagles can soar together as they have scarcely managed to piece five successive passes in a sequence since the tournament began.

Diarra has not been the forceful warrior we were expecting to see. Sissoko was anonymous for an hour against Algeria; Keita was not much better. Kanoute was a victim of his coach's axe, justifiably or not, despite his expert line-leading capabilities. Now, with the well-drilled Flames of Malawi on the horizon, they could be set to plummet from the competition.

Last night though, the Flames were well and truly extinguished by Angola. The hosts discovered a ruthlessness and dedication that had been lacking at the conclusion of their opening match against Mali. Despite the injury-enforced absence of Gilberto, the Black Antelopes punched in a deliberate and concentrated performance, with Flavio, Djalma and Mabina again prominent.

Manuel Jose instilled aggression to his troops' game and they were handsomely rewarded. Malawi, so efficient and fluent against Algeria, were made to look ordinary. Kinnah Phiri's side were hassled into rudimnetary mistakes and could not bring their match-winners into focus. Indeed, Jospeh Kamwendo was replaced not long after the hour mark.

It sets up a final matchday in Group A, which leaves the path to progress open for all teams. There is a convuluted set of permutations to watch out for, but if the final two game produce two winning teams, then it will be they who go through.

The second matchday may just have given a better indication of the actual standard of the teams in Group A. Algeria are no world beaters but have the potential to go deep in the tournament thanks to their technique. Mali are still stuttering and desperately need to step up to the mark. Angola showed their teeth and saw through their assignment to the end whilst Malawi found it hard to cope once their underdog veneer had been pierced.

My hypothesis, a futile task at a tournament as unpredictable as this, is that Mali will finally and belatedly click against Malawi and sneak the result they need to go through. Meanwhile, a team that suffers from stage fright, Angola, will freeze again. Algeria proved in the World Cup qualifers that they are capable of digging out results when it truly matters. From Group A, Mali and Algeria to go through.