[ 2012-01-21 ]

Africa ready for the big kick-off
Just about everything is set for the official
start of the African Cup of Nations in Gabon and
Equatorial Guinea on Saturday.

The past few weeks had seen the sixteen qualified
teams honing their skills to do battle once more,
for the ultimate prize as the continent for the
second time co-hosts the competition after 2000
when Ghana and Nigeria staged the tournament.

Despite the absence of holders Egypt, Cameroon,
Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa, the presence of
top ranked teams like Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal,
Mali and Tunisia more than makes up for the
no-show.

With three newcomers appearing at the finals,
Botswana and Niger join Equatorial Guinea's
Nzalang National who qualified automatically as
the debutants.

And the co-hosts will open the tournament today in
Bata against Libya in Group A. Either side is
dreaming of a winning start with the hosts offered
some $1 million by their government this week to
win the tournament's first match.

The other meeting of the day is the between
Senegal and Zambia, both impressive in qualifying,
could well decide the top place in the group.

When the first goal at the tournament is recorded,
it could start the challenge to surpass the record
tally of 99 scored at the finals in Ghana in 2008
in a total of 32 games.

Source - Ghana FA

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