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Ghana lead Afcon hopefuls into battle
World Cup quarterfinalists Ghana lead 42 hopefuls when the 2012 African Nations Cup qualifying campaign kicks off this weekend.
The 'Black Stars' are away to Swaziland on Sunday two months after new Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan blazed a last-minute penalty over the crossbar and Uruguay went on to win on penalties.
Midfielders Michael Essien of Chelsea, Sulley Muntari of Inter Milan and Stephen Appiah of Cesena will be notable absentees, leaving wily Serb coach Milovan Rajevac to unleash his young stars on the Swazis.
Essien has just returned to action after a lengthy absence caused by a knee injury sustained during training at the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola last January and opted out of African combat for an indefinite period.
Talented but temperamental Muntari has given the coach more grey hairs than the rest of the squad combined and was left out while Appiah decided last month to concentrate on his club career in Italy.
Swaziland usually provide stiff resistance at Somhlolo Stadium in the breathtaking Ezulwini Valley, defeating Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and his Togo teammates there in the last qualifying competition.
Sudan will host Congo on Saturday in the other Group I fixture, knowing that second place is the realistic limit of their ambitions with Ghana hot favourites to secure a place at finals being co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Defending champions no longer get a free passage to the biennial tournament so seven-time title holders Egypt must go through the same six-match grind as everyone else, starting with Sierra Leone in Cairo Sunday.
The Pharaohs warmed up with a 6-3 home victory over the Democratic Republic of Congo and in young Ahmed Ali from Ismailia they appear to have unearthed another promising striker.
Another threat to the Leone Stars will be Mohamed 'Geddo' Nagy, unknown before the 2010 tournament, only to upstage stars like Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and finish leading scorer with five goals.
South Africa and Niger are in the same group and the 2010 World Cup hosts cannot afford any slips in north-east city Nelspruit Saturday as new coach Pitso Mosimane makes his competitive debut.
Both teams had encouraging warm-up results last month with Bafana Bafana edging Ghana 1-0 in Johannesburg while Niger forced a goalless stalemate away to Benin.
Nigeria caretaker coach Austin Eguavoen has gone against the tradition of naming only foreign-based stars by including several locals for a Group A encounter with modest Madagascar in Calabar Sunday.
After a disastrous World Cup campaign, the 'Super Eagles' are under massive pressure to improve and should collect maximum points against rivals who battled to overcome featherweights Comoros Islands in a warm-up game.
Algeria, who held England at the World Cup, get the 21-fixture schedule under way Friday in Blida against Tanzania with the biggest concern of the hosts being the lack of firepower, harshly exposed in South Africa.
Drogba has followed Chelsea teammate Essien and made himself unavailable for multi-talented but trophyless Ivory Coast, leaving fellow 'Pensioner' Salomon Kalou to lead the Abidjan assault on Rwanda Saturday.
That leaves Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto'o as the only African superstar in action and an away engagement with Mauritius offers the possibility of goals for World Cup flops Cameroon under new Spanish coach Javier Clemente.
Because there are five teams in Group K, three rounds have been played and surprise leaders Botswana can begin dreaming of a first Nations Cup appearance if they defeat Togo in Gaborone Saturday.
The 16-team finals field will comprise Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, the 11 group winners, the Group K runners-up, and the best two runners-up from the other 10 mini leagues.
Group A
Saturday
Cape Verde Islands v Mali
Sunday
Liberia v Zimbabwe
Group B
Sunday
Nigeria v Madagascar
Ethiopia v Guinea
Group C
Saturday
Zambia v Comoros Islands
Sunday
Mozambique v Libya
Group D
Friday
Algeria v Tanzania
Saturday
Morocco v Central African Republic
Group E
Saturday
Mauritius v Cameroon
Sunday
Democratic Republic of Congo v Senegal
Group F
Sunday
Gambia v Namibia
Bye: Burkina Faso (Mauritania withdrew)
Group G
Saturday
South Africa v Niger
Sunday
Egypt v Sierra Leone
Group H
Saturday
Ivory Coast v Rwanda
Sunday
Benin v Burundi
Group I
Saturday
Sudan v Congo
Sunday
Swaziland v Ghana
Group J
Saturday
Guinea Bissau v Kenya
Uganda v Angola
Group K
Saturday
Botswana v Togo
Tunisia v Malawi
Standings (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, against, points)
Botswana 3 2 1 0 3 1 7
Tunisia 2 1 0 1 3 2 3
Togo 2 0 2 0 3 3 2
Malawi 2 0 2 0 2 2 2
Chad 3 0 1 2 3 6 1
Qualifiers for 2012 finals
- Co-hosts Equatorial Guinea and Gabon
- Group winners
- Group K runners-up
- Best two runners-up from other 10 groups
AFRICAN NATIONS CUP APPEARANCES
22 - Egypt
18 - Ivory Coast
17 - Ghana
16 - Cameroon, Nigeria
15 - Democratic Republic of Congo
14 - Algeria, Tunisia, Zambia
13 - Morocco
11 - Senegal
9 - Ethiopia, Guinea
7 - Burkina Faso, South Africa, Sudan
6 - Congo, Mali, Togo
5 - Angola, Kenya, Uganda
4 - Gabon, Mozambique
3 - Benin
2 - Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe
1 - Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania
No appearances:
Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde Islands, Central African Republic,
Chad, Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea,
Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Sao
Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Somalia, Swaziland.
Note: African Football Confederation members Reunion (overseas
region of France) and Zanzibar (semi-autonomous part of Tanzania) ineligible
