Africa Cup of Nations kicks off without Super Eagles

Super eagles

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off tomorrow, Saturday, January 21 with a Group A clash between Equatorial Guinea and Libya in the city of Bata. A second group fixture involving Senegal and Zambia holds immediately after the opening game in the same stadium.

Being jointly hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, this year’s edition is the last time that the competition will be holding on an even year and marks the first time in over a decade that Nigeria’s senior national side, the Super Eagles, are not going to feature, no thanks to their failure to qualify from a group topped by Guinea.

Other big-name countries missing from the biggest soccer showpiece event on the continent are record time winners, Egypt, Cameroon and South Africa. But their loss is the gain of the likes of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Morocco, teams, who pundits have tipped as the front-runners to win the title.

Also referred to as the African Cup of Nations or African Nations Cup, officially CAN (French for Coupe d’Afrique des Nations), is the main international association football competition in Africa.

It is sanctioned by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and was first held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years. The title holders at the time of a FIFA Confederations Cup qualify for that competition.

As of 2013, the tournament will switch to being held in odd-numbered years so that it does not clash with the FIFA World Cup

With hostilities beginning in Bata tomorrow, the battle line has effectively been drawn amongst the 16 countries fighting for soccer supremacy on the continent. The final match of the tournament holds on February 12 in Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

While Nigerian players will be counting their losses by watching their peers on the television, their qualified counterparts will be doing their thing to the admiration of their home fans.

Ivorian pair of Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, Ghana’s duo of Andre Ayew and Kevin Prince Boateng, Senegal’s trio of Demba Ba, Moussa Sow and Mamadou Niang are some of the gladiators who would be strutting their stuffs of the pitches of Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

With Ghanaian top striker, Asamoah Gyan recovering from an injury, Ivory Coast, with no injuries worries, have emerged firm favourites to win their second title, after their first and only win at the 1992 edition in Senegal.

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