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AFCON 2015: What they said

Bata - A selection of quotes and tweets from the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea:

"Police helicopter hovers about the pitch with Ghana fans in real danger. It's now like a war zone." - Ghana Football Association (GFA) tweet during crowd violence at Equatorial Guinea-Ghana semi-final in Malabo.

"Ghana fans moved out of the stadium with barbaric acts of vandalism and unprovoked violent attacks still going on." - another GFA tweet.

"The western media are simply here to perpetuate colonisation" - African Football Confederation (CAF) president Issa Hayatou after semi-final chaos injured 36 people.

"I don't see the negative side of African football that the media presents." - FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the same media conference as Hayatou.

"Everyone makes mistakes. This one was a big one." - Tunisia coach George Leekens on the Mauritian referee after a dubiously awarded penalty to Equatorial Guinea cost his side a quarter-finals victory.

"He can't stay in African football anymore. He has to go." - Tunisia striker Ahmed Akaichi calling for dismissal of Hayatou after penalty debacle.

"If we spent all our time scrutinising refereeing, we would not be able to play football anymore." - Equatorial Guinea coach Esteban Becker on penalty incident.

"When the ball is at his feet, he is magic." - Becker praising Equatorial Guinea winger Javier Balboa.

"If you came here with (Cristiano) Ronaldo and (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic I don't know if it would work." - Ivory Coast coach Herve Renard insists even superstars would struggle to make a difference at the Cup of Nations.

"There are not many teams in the world who are capable of attacking all the time. Spain have been able to play that way and today maybe Germany too. But we are not Germany, we are Ivory Coast," - Renard

"Players like him (Yaya Toure) and Kolo (Toure) are not difficult to manage. You ask them to play somewhere and they do it, because they are thinking about the team," - Renard

"There is no problem with Ebola. You can look at me -- I am here. I don't wear gloves, a mask, nothing." - local organising committee official Mba Fadipe Ambrosio dismissing fears about Ebola epidemic spreading to Equatorial Guinea during Cup of Nations.

"He is a great player, but also a great personality." - Ghana coach Avram Grant on captain and star striker Asamoah Gyan.

"We don't have Ronaldo or Messi, but we have a team with enormous character and great mental strength." - Tunisia coach George Leekens

"I keep telling my players - live for today, not the next day." - Democratic Republic of Congo coach Florent Ibenge

"We saw the hotels the other teams were staying in - comfortable, with televisions. We didn't have televisions, electricity or water." - Tunisia defender Bilel Mohsni knocks Ebebiyin hotel where squad stayed.

"We became too euphoric after we scored our second goal, we also missed a little bit of experience at this level." - veteran Congo coach Claude Le Roy on defensive collapse in a quarter-final against DR Congo.

"People have to understand that what we are doing, with all our difficulties (Ebola epidemic claiming thousands of lives), is something great." - Guinea captain and winger Ibrahima Traore.

"We saved Africa's honour." - local organising committee head Francisco Pascual Obama Asue on Equatorial Guinea stepping in as last-minute hosts after Morocco withdrew over Ebola fears.

"This is negativity against Africa because even FIFA have such a rule." - CAF spokesman Junior Binyam reacting to media criticism over using lots to decide whether Guinea or Mali qualified for quarter-finals

"It is the worst kind of cruelty to force a team to do this." - Mali football federation president Boubacar Baba Diarra on drawing lots.

"The majority of people in Cameroon hate you. Are you going to step down or wait until you are chased out of the job?" - journalist to Cameroon coach Volker Finke

"We should have been the team in the quarter-finals. It was not a penalty -- Balboa dived -- and I have been in football long enough to know that. I'm not somebody who worked in a supermarket." - Gabon coach Jorge Costa after controversial penalty leads to defeat by Equatorial Guinea.

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