The 28th edition of the AFCON is arguably the most open, bereft of tournament regulars Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and reigning champions Egypt. Co-hosts Equatorial Guinea kick off proceedings on Saturday against Libya (on paper it would struggle to keep Snorlax and a cruise ship of Geriatrics awake), LIVE ‘s Sports Ed Christian Adofo previews the cup and adds some pensive predictions to boot.
TEAMS TO WATCH
Group A
Equatorial Guinea
Libya
Senegal
Zambia
Senegal – Many will recount their shock 1-0 victory against France at World Cup 2002 as their finest moment, culminating in the West African nation reaching the Quarter-Final stage in their debut appearance. That same year also saw Senegal finish the AFCON as runners-up. Regarded by many observers as the ‘Dark Horses’ (make a pun…Go on), the partnership between prolific Newcastle striker Ba and new Toon Army signing Papiss Cisse (whose 22 goals for Freiburg last season beat Tony Yeboah’s record for most goals in a Bundesliga season by an African) will be key to the Lions of Teranga advancing to the latter stages of the knockout round.
Group B
Ivory Coast
Sudan
Burkina Faso
Angola
Ivory Coast – This team is akin to a bride or groom (equality and that) who eternally mistakes laxatives for Cadbury’s finest the night before the big day and bricks it with greater regularity than a standard portion of french fries. In other words, Cote d’Ivoire have a vast repertoire to go far and par but with their hopes resting on the aged talisman Drogba for inspiration. This tournament represents the last opportunity for a ‘Golden Generation’ of players at their peak with an average age of 27, with the majority of the squad nearing their mid-thirties by Rio 2014.
Group C
Gabon
Niger
Morocco
Tunisia
AFCON’s Group of Death sees North African rivals Morocco and Tunisia reignite ‘pleasantries’ alongside fellow co-hosts Gabon. Niger, however, are threatening to be the tournament’s surprise package. Conquerors of 7-time AFCON winner’s Egypt and World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa in qualifying, the large landlocked nation in West Africa are making their debut appearance and will be a wildcard bet.
Group D
Ghana
Botswana
Mali
Guinea
Ghana – Quarter-Finalists at the last World Cup and Runners-Up of the AFCON back in 2010,the Blackstars are primed to build on their momentum in international competition. Blending the experience of Captain John Mensah nicknamed ‘the rock of Gibraltar’ and blooding raw talent of Andre Ayew (the newly crowned BBC African Footballer of the year) in big tournaments from an early age has paid dividends. Let’s hope a hailstorm of smashed Supermalt bottles doesn’t reign over Tottenham High Road…again.
PREDICTIONS
WINNERS:
Ghana
RUNNERS UP:
Senegal
FLOP OF THE TOURNAMENT:
Equatorial Guinea
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Emmanuel Agyemang Badu
Seydou Doumbia
Adam Larsen Kwarasey
Seydou Keita
Demba Ba
Mbark Boussoufa
Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez
DODGY BARNETS TO LOOK OUT FOR
Akon with a Malteaser-forehead and dreads done by 3-year old- Gervinho.
Serena Williams long-lost twin is rumoured to follow Samuel L Jackson and Sir Patrick Stewart in chopping it all off, once he stops relaxing his mop – Didier Drogba.
Tames his hair with a rusting lawnmower on the regs- Bertrand Traore.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE CO-HOSTS
Equatorial Guinea:
Equatorial Guinea players have been offered $1m if they win the opening match against Libya, with $20,000 on offer for each goal scored.
On the fifteenth day of each month, citizens of the tiny African state walk on a tight rope that straddles between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer in opposite directions in tribute to the National Anthem – ‘Let us walk the path of Immense Happiness’. The furthest anyone has reached? The Atlantic Ocean.
E.G is home to the quickest brother in water since LL Cool J in Deep Blue Sea, Eric Moussambani a.k.a Eric the Eel famously swam a 100m freestyle heat on his ones in 1:52.72 at Sydney 2000. Scientists have proven you could play 3 games of Tiddlywinks, make 12 Banana milkshakes and eat 7 packs of Space Raiders in that duration.
Gabon:
President Ali Bongo was the inspiration for cult teeth eroding drink ‘Um Bongo’ after a Libby’s (company who manufactures the soft drink) executive was expressing his frustration onomatopoeically at failing to come up with a suitable name after a nocturnal brainstorm. His eureka moment came when he was watching coverage of an African Union meet on CNN which the Gabon head of state was attending and coincidentally smacked a drum…also a Bongo.
Historically, it has one of the lowest population densities on the African continent, to the extent that cockroaches and cows are officially recognized as humans in the national census.
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