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BATA, Equatorial Guinea - Young Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper Felipe Ovono is a major reason why the host is still in the African Cup of Nations. Ivory Coast forward Gervinho has made headlines for his absence after getting sent off in the first round and serving out a two-game suspension.Here are some players to watch out for as the African Cup reaches the knockout stages this weekend:___Felipe Ovono, goalkeeper, Equatorial Guinea: Ovono is becoming a cult hero for the home fans, who roar with delight every time he swoops out of his goal to collect a cross, or dives full-stretch to punch a shot away. The 21-year-old Ovono plays semi-professional football for Equatorial Guineas Deportivo Mongomo and has never played for a team outside the country, but he must be destined now for a bigger club. He has been outstanding in all three of Equatorial Guineas games and ensured his country beat Gabon in its decisive final group match with a series of fine saves.___Gervinho, forward, Ivory Coast: One of the stars of the star-studded Ivory Coast team, Roma forward Gervinho has seen less than an hour of action at this African Cup. He was sent off in the first game for hitting an opposition player and given a two-match ban. Hes expected to be back for Ivory Coast for its quarterfinal against Algeria on Sunday, a welcome return for coach Herve Renard who hasnt got the Ivorians playing to their potential just yet. Gervinho — impressive for 58 minutes before his red card — could be the catalyst in the final stages.___Ibrahima Traore, winger, Guinea: The driving force behind Guineas slightly fortunate run to the quarters. Skipper Traore has been highly-rated as a player for some years, but hes added the responsibility of the captaincy now and is leading by example, scoring once in Equatorial Guinea and setting up chances for his teammates with his whipped left-foot crosses. Went off in Guineas last game with a right ankle injury and it will be a big blow for the Guineans if he cant play against Ghana in the quarterfinals.___Thievy Bifouma, forward, Republic of Congo: Born in France, 22-year-old Bifouma only made his debut for Republic of Congo in last years African Cup qualifiers. Hes already scored twice in three games at his first major tournament as the Congolese enjoy their best showing at the continental championship in over 40 years.___Asamoah Gyan, forward, Ghana: Gyan was hampered by a bout of mild malaria in the first week of the African Cup and sidelined as Ghana let slip a lead to lose to Senegal. He returned to the lineup to pounce for a stoppage-time winner against No. 1 African team Algeria and, with him back, Ghana has won two out of two. One of Africas wiliest strikers, Gyan can punish teams with just half a chance. Kevin Kiermaier Jersey . The Goldeyes (10-7) lost 4-1 to the Saltdogs (8-9) Sunday afternoon before 5,834 sizzling fans at Shaw Park. The loss drops Winnipegs record to 3-4 during this past weeks seven-game homestand. Brad Miller Jersey . -- Marty Havlat scored three goals for the first time in nearly nine years, and the San Jose Sharks prevented Colorado from clinching the Central Division title with a 5-1 victory over the Avalanche on Friday night. http://www.officialraysgearshop.com/Rays...fy-Kids-Jersey/. - Maynor Figueroa headed in a late goal to give Honduras a 1-1 draw with the United States in an international friendly Tuesday. Mallex Smith Jersey . The 36-year-old Colts receiver is going back to the playoffs as a division champion. Custom Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys . Maximilian Arnold put Wolfsburg ahead in the eighth minute, when the stationary Fallou Diagne allowed him to guide Patrick Ochs cross beyond the helpless Freiburg goalkeeper, and Ivica Olic doubled the lead three minutes later after Luiz Gustavo did well to set him up.(SportsNetwork.com) - Super Bowl dreams have turned into October nightmares for the winless New York Giants. In fact the scariest thing this Halloween season has been the play of Eli Manning and his teammates. A Giants team which actually placed a Super Bowl countdown clock in their own locker room and fancied themselves as a legitimate title contender is now at 0-5 a scant five weeks into the season as they prepare to take on the Chicago Bears on Thursday night. Hindsight now says the Giants dream of playing in another Big Game in their own backyard was nothing more than a fairytale, derailed by a perfect storm of injury and ineptitude that has engulfed "Big Blue" and head coach Tom Coughlin. By the end of the Giants latest collapse, an ugly 36-21 setback to lightly regarded NFC East division rival Philadelphia last Sunday at MetLife Stadium, even the North Jersey faithful recognized just how bad things had gotten, serenading its former heroes off the turf with a healthy chorus of boos. "There are only two ways to finish out this season," said veteran defensive lineman Justin Tuck. "Figuring out some kind of way to right this ship and get some positive momentum going here. Or you can sulk and feel sorry for yourself and have the worst season ever in Giants history." New York is 0-5 for the first time since the strike-shortened 1987 season after committing four turnovers that were converted into 17 Eagles points. The Giants now have a league-high 20 giveaways through five games, including 12 Manning interceptions after the struggling quarterback was picked off three times in the fourth quarter against Philly. "Offensively, we just have to take care of the ball better. Its as simple as that," said wide receiver Victor Cruz. "We make plays when we have the ball in our hands and we are pitching and catching, moving the ball up the field. When we turn the ball over, thats when things go awry." The injury-riddled Giants also saw another key player go down against the Eagles when running back David Wilson exited in the first quarter with a neck injury. Wilson has already been ruled out for the Bears. Manning did accumulate 334 yards against Philly despite completing just 24- of-52 attempts and he hit Rueben Randle for a pair of touchdowns in the second half. Hakeem Nicks racked up 142 yards on nine catches in the setback, while Randle put up 96 yards on six grabs. The Bears, meanwhile, are also scuffling a bit, dropping two straight games after a 3-0 start. The latest setback came in the Second City on Sunday when Garrett Hartley booted four field goals and Drew Brees threw for 288 yards and two touchdowns as the New Orleans Saints remained perfect with a 26-18 decision over Chicago. Alshon Jeffery led the way with a franchise-record 218 yards and a touchdown on 10 catches for the Bears. Jay Cutler finished 24-of-33 for 358 yards and had another scoring pass to Brandon Marshall, while Matt Forte totaled 55 yards on 12 carries in defeat. "Against a team like that, the way they played offensively and ate up the clock its hard to rebound if you miss three or four plays in the game," Cutler admitted. This will be the 49th regular season meeting between the Giants and Bears with Chicago holding a 27-19-2 advantage. The Giants have won two straight in the series, however, and their last four at Soldier Field. WHAT TO WATCH FOR This is already the Giants worst start in a non-strike-shortened season since 1979 when Joe Pisarcik kicked off that campaign at quarterback for Ray Perkins until the coach pulled the plug and went to rookie Phil Simms, a move that eventually jump-started the franchise and returned it to relevancy. Barring a hiccup here and there, New York has remained competitive ever since, punctuated by its four Super Bowl championships after the 1986, 1990, 2007 and 2011 seasons.dddddddddddd Another Super Bowl berth is a non-starter now. Since the NFL changed to the current playoff format in 1990, no team has started 0-5 and made it to the postseason. So, perhaps the Giants new goal should be avoiding the franchise- worst 0-9 start of the 1976 team. "Im always going to come out here fighting," safety Antrel Rolle said. "I dont care if we are 0-15. We just need to pick it up. We need to pick it up. Get our head out of our (behind) and pick it up. Thats the reality of it. We are losing games around here and thats not Giants football we are playing." "For us, were not even thinking about the playoffs now," linebacker Spencer Paysinger added. "Right now we are 0-5 and looking for our first win, hopefully coming on Thursday." Things have gotten so bleak that Coughlin, the two-time Super Bowl winning coach, finally pointed the finger of blame at his two-time big game quarterback Manning. "I honestly believe that hes trying so hard to get us a win, hes almost put too much on himself," Coughlin said. "He keeps it all pretty much inside. Im not making excuses. There were a couple of those plays that were terrible." As mentioned Manning threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter versus the Eagles and he is now on pace to give it away 38 times, an almost laughably inefficient performance considering all the changes to the game in recent years that have favored the offense, particularly the passing game. An NFL signal caller hasnt tossed 30-or-more interceptions in a season since 1988, when Vinny Testaverde had 35 for the Buccaneers. Again, though, that was an era when defenses were actually allowed to do some things without seeing yellow -- or last week, pink -- littering the field. To be fair to Manning his offensive line has been awful for most of the season and the running game non-existent. The two-time Super Bowl MVP has completed just 53.7 percent of his passes and been sacked 15 times while New York averages an NFL-low 56.8 rushing yards per game. "Were throwing the ball a lot and were obviously low on running backs right now," Manning said. "I thought we left some plays out there, some balls down the field. I missed a couple -- a couple that were very close to being made. We just have to keep finding ways to make those plays. You dont get a whole lot of second chances in this league." Even with the obvious deficiencies, second chances shouldnt be needed with weapons on the outside like Cruz, Nicks and the emerging Randle. In fact, its hard to buy into the narrative that Manning is trying to lead the Little Sisters of the Poor. "I know I can play better," Manning understated. "Sometimes, things are going to go wrong, but youve got to make the best decision. Throw it away, take a sack. I know I cant keep turning the ball over." The football gods are more than a little ironic, however, and Mannings next test will be in Chicago after a short week of preparation against the NFLs most opportunistic defense. The Bears "D" has 10 interception-return touchdowns since the start of the 2012 season -- the most in the NFL -- and has scored three defensive touchdowns so this season. Chicago failed to take it away against New Orleans for the first time in 11 games but is still third in the NFL with 14 takeaways. "We have to stay positive," Manning said. "We have a short week and we play on Thursday night, so weve just got to keep working and Ive got to start playing better football and making better throws, and putting our team in a better situation to win some games." ' ' '