Angola hosts the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament

The Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament created an opportunity for international and Angolan photographers to capture not only an important sporting event, but also to venture outside the stadiums to transmit pictures of a people and place not often seen in the mainstream media. The three-week, sixteen-team tournament provided plenty of action, and when games weren't being played, photographers were free to roam the markets, beaches, and neighborhoods of Angola, a former Portuguese colony finally stabilizing after years of civil war that mostly ended in 2002. What follows is a collection of the best sports pictures of the tournament, images made outside the stadiums, and even a few of fans from other countries in Africa reacting to their teams' fortunes. ( 38 photos total)

An Angolan fan cheers before the opening of the Africa Cup of Nations football championships at the November 11 stadium in Angola's capital Luanda January 10. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Tragedy struck the tournament before it began. A video frame-grab shows Togo soccer players after their bus was attacked by gunmen in Cabinda province, Angola January 8. Separatists opened fire with machine-guns on the bus killing the driver and wounding at least nine people. Togo withdrew from the competition. (AP Photo/TPA via APTN) #

Participants perform at the November 11 stadium in Luanda January 10 during the opening ceremony. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Algeria's Nadir Belhadj (left) and Rafik Halliche vie for the ball with Mali's Mamadou Diallo (center) during their match January 14. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) #

Angolan boys play football in Lobito village January 14. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images) #

Angolan kids play football inside an abandoned house in a poor neighborhood outside Tundavala Stadium in Lubango January 14. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Chiukepo Msowoya of Malawi (center) fights for a ball with Mabina of Angola (left) and David during their 2nd round qualifing match January 15. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Ghana's Asamoah Gyan (left) duels for the ball with Ivory Coast's Soulemen Bamba during their group stage match at the Chiazi stadium in Cabinda January 15. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images) #

A supporter of Ivory Coast blows his trumpet to celebrate victory against Ghana during their group stage match in Cabinda January 15. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images) #

Mohamed Abe El- Shafi (right) of Egypt vies for the ball with Johnson Reda of Benin during their group stage match at the Ombaka stadium in Benguela January 20. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images) #

A fisherman carries a big fish at Lombolombo beach in Cabinda January 12. (REUTERS/Rafael Marchante) #

A worker poses for a picture at a cement workshop in Zangoio, a neighbourghood of Cabinda January 14. (REUTERS/Rafael Marchante) #

Ousmane Berthe of Mali (top) and Hameur Bouazza of Algeria fight for a ball during their qualifing match in Luanda January 14. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Floriana Kwayela, 50, sits inside her home in an impoverished neighborhood in Lubango January 14. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

A girl leans on a highway railing on the outskirts of Lubango January 14. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

A girl selling apples by the roadside waits for customers just outside Lubango January 15. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

A boy performs a handstand at Landana beach near Cocongo January 16. (REUTERS/Rafael Marchante) #

A woman pauses as she sells charcoal on the road to Tundavala Stadium in Lubango January 16. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images) #

A street vendor waits in his shop for clients in Lubango January 16. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Cameroon's Mohamadou Idrissou (left) and Zambia's Stophira Sunzu compete during their match at Tundavala Stadium in Lubango January 17. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell) #

An Angolan fan watches the match between Angola and Algeria in Luanda January 18. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Malawi's Chiukepo (left) duels for the ball with Mali's Ousmane Berthe January 18 at the Chiazi stadium in Cabinda. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images) #

Children climb a ship stranded along Fishermen beach in Cabinda January 21. (REUTERS/Rafael Marchante) #

A vendor carries goods in a basin on her head in Lubango January 22. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly) #

A girl emerges from the "Cascada de Huila," a natural waterfall on the outskirts of Lubango January 23. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images) #

Ghanian fans cheer in front of the Angolan flag during the quarterfinal match between Angola and Ghana in Luanda January 24. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Angola's Flavio (left) and Lee Addy of Ghana collide during their quarterfinal match in Luanda January 24. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Angolans watch their national team play on a television set up outside a shop in Benguela January 24. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) #

A supporter of Ivory Coast cries January 24 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast after the elimination of his team by Algeria. (SIA KAMBOU/AFP/Getty Images) #

Cameroon’s Chedjou Aurelien (left) receives a red card from South African referee Damon Jerome during the quarterfinal match between Egypt and Cameroon at the Ombaka Stadium in Benguela January 25. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images) #

A Cameroon fan watches the quarterfinal match against Egypt in Benguela January 25. (REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh) #

Girls pause for a photographer in their room at Lar Kuzola orphanage in Luanda January 27. The orphanage shelters 330 children where they find home, security and organised health care. (JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images) #

Nigeria's Martins Akinwunmi (center) duels for the ball with Ghana's goal keeper Phelimon (left) and Samuel January 28 in Luanda during their semifinal match. (ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP/Getty Images) #

Egypt's Mahmoud Fathala (left) clears the ball as Algeria's Hassan Yebda follows play during the semifinal at the Ombaka National Stadium in Benguela January 28. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) #

The Kasseque fish market on the Atlantic Ocean in Benguela draws customers January 29. (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images) #

Egypt's players celebrate their victory in the final against Ghana in Luanda January 31. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic) #

Egyptian soccer fans celebrate around one twirling a Sufi robe covered with the Egyptian flag in Tahrir square in downtown Cairo after their team beat Ghana to win the Africa Cup of Nations soccer final for the third time in a row January 31. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) #

An Egyptian soccer fan watching the game on television in a shisha and coffee shop reacts after the final whistle is blown and their team beat Ghana January 31. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) #

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Angola hosts the Africa Cup of Nations soccer tournament