Even as co-hosts of the tournament they were given little chance before the event started. Their profile was not good enough, their rankings too low and their players of no particular star standard. But they have shown a lot of grit and fight in the competition and find themselves both as unlikely quarter-finalists this weekend.

When Gabon fought back from a goal down in their key mid-group game against Morocco, it was the force of the crowd willing them on and the excitement that came after their first goal that saw them to a 3-2 win.

Their coach was adamant that they win the group so that they could continue playing in the Libreville stadium, a brand spanking new, Chinese-built 45,000-seater strong venue that has served up a heady atmosphere every time the Gabonese team has played.

They do not have a particularly strong team but you can see how much energy they draw from the crowd and how determined they are not to disappoint. Gabon are on a roller coaster here at the Nations Cup, they have the country’s president in their change room after every game and the populace have gone from pessimists about their chances to now expecting. When they do fall it will be a spectacular drop.

Equatorial Guinea’s side is a mélange of journeyman footballers and rank amateurs yet they have fought and scrapped for every ball and taken some large scalps at the tournament. The reason has been the volume of noise, screaming mostly, in Bata. I saw the game against Senegal and the atmosphere was electric, the team willed to win every tackle, challenge for every ball.

It used to be like that for Bafana Bafana. The 1996 African Nations Cup finals engendered great support but the most spine-chilly atmosphere came a year later at the old Soccer City when the team beat Congo to qualify for the World Cup.

The team did not play well that day but the crowd willed them over the line.

*Betting this weekend centres around a return to league action in the English premier division and the absorbing race for the title, primarily between the two Manchester teams. It is much the same in Germany too and also Italy but in Spain Real Madrid are now really beginning to open up a substantive lead that will see them take the championship from Barcelona.