अफ्कों २०१२ Preview

2012 African Cup of Nations Preview.
One of the big news going into the tournament is that some of the big names in the continent would be missing out.The list includes seven time champions and three times defending champion Egypt.Four times champions Cameroon,two times champions the Super Eagles of Nigeria,Algeria and lastly world cup hosting nation, the Republic of South Africa.That is a total of 14 African Cup of Nations winners that would not be in the competition that is scheduled for Gabon and Equatorial Guinea from the 21st of January to the 12th of February 2012.
For those that would be making the tournament, the list starts with co-hosting nations Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.The rest of the field is as follows;Sudan,Guinea,Botswana,Angola,Zambia,Morocco,Ghana,Ivory Coast,Senegal,Burkina Faso,Niger Republic,Tunisia,Libya and Mali.
The sixteen teams are divided into four groups of four teams.The first group-A that would be based in Malabo has Equatorial Guinea,Libya,Zambia and Senegal.Group B that would be based in Bata has Ivory Coast,Sudan,Angola and Burkina Faso.Group C that would be based in Libreville is made up of Tunisia,Morocco,Niger and co-host Gabon.And lastly group D that would be based in Franceville has Ghana,Mali,Guinea and Botswana.This is how I think that the competition is going to play out.
Starting with group A, Equatorial Guinea would be playing in their first ever African Cup of nations.So they are in this competition because they are one of the two host countries.According to the Fifa rankings Equatorial Guinea is the weakest of the 16 teams that are present in this competition.Some of the keys players of the Equatorial Guinea national team include midfielder Samuel Itondo of Deportivo Mongomo and midfielder Juvenal of CE Sabadell.
Libya has participated in an African cup of Nations before,they hosted in 1982.The nation recently underwent a transition from a one man rule to some form of a democratic type rule.Despite the political situation in the country,they still manage to pick up a qualification ticket for the 2012 African cup of nations.Libya did not lose a game during their qualifiers.They finished second to Zambia to qualify as runners.In the head to head showdown with their main rivals in the qualifiers, they drew away 0-0 with their main rival in this group and beat them at home by one goal to nil.With three victories and three draws they got a total of 12 points that saw them through qualification.Some of their keys players to watch for during this competition include forward Ahmed Sa'ad and defense man Younes al Shibani.
Zambia had been a recent consistent customer to the African cup of nations making it to the finals once.A tragic plane accident once wipe out the entire national team but they have been back since then.They qualify as winners of their group with a total of 13 points.They could cause some problems in this group.I look for them to pick up the slack if Senegal decides to go to sleep.Some of the key players in the Zambia squad include forwards players Christopher Kotango and Collins Mbesuma.Also watch out for midfielder Rainford Kalaba.
Senegal qualified first from a group that included the Republic of Cameroon.They beat the Lions 1-0 in Dakar and had a 0-0 tie in the return leg match in Yaounde.They pick up am impressive 16 points out of a total of 18 in their way to qualifying for this years African cup of nations.They also netted in a total of 16 goals while conceding just two goals on an away 4-2 defeat of the Democratic Republic of Congo.They should form the next group of favorite nations to lift the trophy should Ghana or the Ivory Coast fail to do so.The Lions of Senegal are one of three African teams to ever make it to the quarterfinals of a world cup event. So they have some history of achieving on their side.I like them to get the order ticket out of group A in this competition.Some of the key players to watch on this Senegalese team include Mama Diouf,a striker from Manchester United,Souleymane Camara of Montpellier in France and Mamadou Niang of Al Sadd.So from group A I am looking at Senegal and Zambia to advance to the knockout stages of the competition.
Group B has one of the super favorites to lift the trophy in the name of Ivory Coast.Ivory Coast breeze through qualifiers picking up all 18 points following six victories in their group matches.They also scored an impressive nineteen goals while conceding just four in the process.When it comes to the Ivory Coast,being a super favorite might be more of a problem than a blessing.They have been a favorite to lift the trophy in the past three competition and they have gone home empty handed.Didier Drogba would be playing in his last Cup of nations and if the Ivory Coast team do not win this time around they would have nothing to show for their golden age in African football.Key players for the Ivorian team would start with recently crown African player of the year Yaya Toure of Manchester city.The hardworking mid fielder would be getting help form other Ivorian star players Didier Drogba of Chelsea,Gervinho from Arsenal,young sensation striker Souleymane Coulebaly,Solomon Kalou of Chelsea,Kolo Toure of Manchester city and Adbul Keita of Al Saad in the Qatar league.So as you can see the Elephants as the Ivory Coast national team is know is loaded with talent.All they have to do is to express that talent in the football pitch and everybody would be happy.
Sudan last won the African cup of nations in 1970 and the country just went through a political split the saw the birth of the Republic of South Sudan as the newest nation in the African continent.They finished the qualifiers as runners up to Ghana with 13points.That was enough to see them through as one of best second place teams to qualify.Some of their key players include forward players Alaa El-Deen Babikir and Bakri Almadina.
Angola was the last host of the African nations cup and they fail to make it out of the round of 16.They qualified with a total of 12 points from a group that included Uganda and Kenya.Their main rival though in the qualifiers was Uganda who they beat out with a single point on the classification table.On the head to head competition with their main rival they beat Uganda 2 nil at home and lost to them by 3 goals to nil away.Some of the key players to watch in this Angola squad include Manucho of Real Villadolid,Flavio of Lierse S.K. and Gilberto also of Lierse S.K.
Burkina Faso hosted the African nations cup in 1998 and made it all the way to the semi-finals.This time around they would be fighting to make it out of this group to the knockout stage together with Ivory Coast.They qualified with a total of ten points from four matches played, dropping just a point in their qualifiers.They were never really threatened by opponents Gambia and Namibia who manage just 4 points and 3 points respectively.They had to deal with the controversy of playing with Herve Zengue, a Cameroonian with a parent from Burkina Faso.Some of the key players of the Burkina Faso squad include forward Moumouni Dagano of Al-Khor and mid fielder Alain Troare of Auxerre,France.So from this group b,you should be looking at Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso to advance to the next stage of the competition.
Group C is an intriguing group.Tunisia last won the African cup of nations in 2004 when they hosted and had a naturalized born Brazilian striker to help them.I like them to be one of the teams that come out of this group.Tunisia finished their qualifiers with a total of 14 points which was three points off the pace set by Botswana in their group.Some of the players to watch in the Tunisian team include forward Issam Jemâa of Auxerre in France, midfielder Oussama Darragi of Experance of Tunisia and forward Amine Chermiti of FC Zurich in Switzerland.
Morocco won their only African cup of nations I believe in 1976 and they have been having problems with their form of late.They won their group in the qualifiers with a total of 11 points and trash main rival Algeria by four goals to nil in their match-up at home.This group though has Niger and Gabon as the other teams to compete for the two qualifying spots and Morocco could easily slide in as the second team out of the group.The key players for the Moroccan national team are forward Youssouf Hadji of Rennes in France,forward Marouane Chamakh of Arsenal in England and mid fielder and captain of the squad Houssine Kharja of Florentina of Italy.So from this group C, l like Morocco and Tunisia to move on to the knockout stage of the competition.
Niger is a surprise qualifier,they have never won the African cup of nations.You have to give Niger some credit though for qualifying in a group that included Egypt and the Republic of South Africa.With a total of nine points they made it through on goal differences despite a three way tie with South Africa and Sierra Leone.Key players for the Niger national team include strikers Ouwo Moussa Maazou of Zulte Waregem and Daounda Kamilou of CS Sfaxien.
Gabon is in the competition because of their co-host status and their recent friendly results have not been encouraging.A 2 nil defeat to Brazil followed by another 2 nil defeat to Ghana.Key players for the Gabonese team include forward Daniel cousin of Sapins,forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of St Etienne in France and forward Roguy Méyé of Zalaegerszeg.
From group D Ghana has won the African cup of nations four times.Their last victory though came way back in 1982 so they are due for a victory pretty soon.This team had a relatively easy time qualifying for this years edition of the African cup of Nations.They finish with a total of 16 points from a possible 18 with five victories and a draw against Sudan.Their goals difference was equally impressive with 16 goals netted in while conceding dust a goal to Sudan.The team from Ghana is one of the super favorites in this tournament together with Ivory Coast.So anything short of a finals appearance would be a disappointment for the team.The team has suffered a little bit in the fifa ranking where they sit at around the 29-th ranked team in the world.Key players to watch from the Ghanian national team included African player of the year runners-up Andre Ayew of Olympique of Marseille.Asamoah Gyan is on a loan transfer to Al Ain in United Arab Emerates after failing to settle well in Sunderland.Although he did not have a sensational season with Sunderland he is still king when it comes to the Ghana national team.He will always be remembered as the player who missed the penalty kick that could have seen Ghana become the first African team to make it to a world cup semi-finals.There is also Captain John Mensah to anchor the defense of the black stars as the Ghana national team is known.Another key player to watch for in this team will be Sulley Muntari of internationale.
Mali disappointed their fans in the last edition of the African cup of nations and they have never won this cup.Mali finished their group tied with 10points with Cape Verde who was their main rivals in the qualifiers.They thus qualified due to a superior goals differences over the Cape Verde Island.They beat the Cape Verde by 3goals to nil at home and lost to them 1 nil away.They have some talent in this squad and I look for them to make it to the knockout stages of the competition.Some of their key players include Seydou Keita of Barcelone who came up third in the African player of the year voting and Federick Kanoute of Sevilla in Spain.Also watch out for defense man Adama Tamboura of Metz in France.
Guinea always starts out very well in this competition but usually end up been humbled.Guinea qualified into this competition by beating the super Eagles of Nigeria by 1-0 in Conakry and holding the Eagles to a 2-2 tie in Nigeria on the last day of play of the qualifiers in this group.They ended up with 14 points as oppose to 11 points that the Super Eagles manage to pick up.They did not lose any of the six matches that that played in the qualifiers,winning four and drawing two games.Their key players will be defense man Fodé Mansaré of Manisaspor,midfielder Fodé Mansaré of Toulouse,France and forward Ismaël Bangoura of Al Nasr.
Botswana will be making their first appearance at the African cup of nations.Botswana did surprisingly well in the qualifiers finishing first in a group that they had to play 8 matches to qualify.They finish ahead of main rival Tunisia picking up a total of 17 points.Botswana also because of their surprising accomplishments during the course of the year were named African team of the year by the Confederation of African football.The key players that would attempt to get this team into the knockout stages of the competition include forward Dipsy Selolwane of Supersport United,forward Jerome Ramatlhakwane of Vasco da Gama and defenseman Mogogi Gabonamong of Supersport United.In this group though I like Mali to come out together with Ghana.
When things get to the knockout stages of the competition I would think that Ivory Coast,Ghana,Senegal and Tunisia would still be around.I would be looking at a finals between Ivory Coast and Ghana with the team from Ghana emerging as champions of Africa for the 5th team in the history of the competition.