African Cup Of Nations 2012

Posted by FalseNine from Cardiff - Published on 03/01/2012 at 17:17
2 comments » - Tagged as Sport & Leisure

The African Cup of Nations kicks off on Saturday 21st January in Bata, Equatorial Guinea and I can’t wait!

It’s a fantastic football tournament that is often more entertaining than the Euros and makes managers of European club side even angrier than usual; this is because selected players will be leaving the drudge of their club’s winter league programme for three weeks of sunny international cup football.

There are a few big boys missing this tournament with Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria and Togo all failing to qualify. This is good news for Sunderland - tireless winger Ahmed Elmohamady won't be joining up with 2010 champions Egypt, Arsenal – midfield lynchpin Alex Song won’t be playing for Cameroon in the tournament, Tottenham Hotspur – top goalscorer Emmanuel Adebayor won’t be playing for Togo, and Goodluck Jonathan – the brilliantly named President of Nigeria was so appalled at his country’s showing at the 2010 World Cup that he wanted to ban Nigeria from international football for two years and while FIFA stepped in to stop this from happening, the players took up the initiative and duly failed to qualify.

It’s also good news for the sixteen nations (fourteen qualifiers and two hosts – Gabon and Equitorial Guinea) in the competition, who are listed below

--------------------------------

Group A

Equatorial Guinea
Nickname - Nzalang Nacional (The National Lightning)
Player You Might Know - Bodipo (Deportivo de La Corua)
Previous Best - Debut
FIFA Ranking - 151
Odds - 125/1

Libya
Nickname - The Mediterranean Knights
Player You Might Know - Djamal Mahamat (Braga)
Previous Best - Runners Up (1982)
FIFA Ranking - 63
Odds - 40/1

Senegal
Nickname - Les Lions de la Teranga (Lions of Teranga)
Players You Might Know - Armand Traor (QPR), Mohamed Diam (Wigan Athletic), Demba Ba (Newcastle United)
Previous Best - Runners Up (2002)
FIFA Ranking - 44
Odds - 12/1

Zambia
Nickname - Chipolopolo (The Copper Bullets)
Player You Might Know - Emmanuel Mayuka (Young Boys)
Previous Best - Runners Up (1974, 1994)
FIFA Ranking - 79
Odds - 50/1

--------------------------------

Group B

Cte d'Ivoire
Nickname - Les lphants (The Elephants)
Players You Might Know - Kolo Tour (Manchester City), Yaya Tour (Manchester City), Gervinho (Arsenal), Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Previous Best - Winners (1992)
FIFA Ranking - 16
Odds - 6/4

Sudan
Nickname - Falcons of Jediane
Player You Might Know - ???
Previous Best - Winners (1970)
FIFA Ranking - 112
Odds - 66/1

Burkina Faso
Nickname - Les Etalons (The Stallions)
Player You Might Know - Bakary Kon (Lyon)
Previous Best - 4th (1998)
FIFA Ranking - 62
Odds - 25/1

Angola
Nickname - Palancas Negras (The Sable Antelopes)
Player You Might Know - Manucho (Real Valladolid)
Previous Best - Quarterfinals (2008, 2010)
FIFA Ranking - 84
Odds - 40/1

--------------------------------

Group C

Gabon
Nickname - The Panthers of Gabon
Player You Might Know - Daniel Cousin (ex-Hull City)
Previous Best - Quarterfinals (1996)
FIFA Ranking - 77
Odds - 33/1

Niger
Nickname - Mena (Gazelles)
Player You Might Know - Olivier Harouna Bonnes (Nantes)
Previous Best - Debut
FIFA Ranking - 98
Odds - 100/1

Morocco
Nickname - Lions of the Atlas
Players You Might Know - Adel Taarabt (QPR), Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal)
Previous Best - Winner (1976)
FIFA Ranking - 60
Odds - 9/1

Tunisia
Nickname - Les Aigles de Carthage (The Eagles of Carthage)
Player You Might Know - Amine Chermiti (FC Zurich)
Previous Best - Winners (2004)
FIFA Ranking - 60
Odds - 9/1

--------------------------------

Group D

Ghana
Nickname - The Black Stars
Players You Might Know - John Paintsil (Leicester City), Sulley Muntari (Internazionale)
Previous Best - Winners (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982)
FIFA Ranking - 29
Odds - 9/2

Botswana
Nickname - The Zebras
Player You Might Know - ???
Previous Best - Debut
FIFA Ranking - 96
Odds - 100/1

Mali
Nickname - Les Aigles (The Eagles)
Player You Might Know - Seydou Keita (Barcelona)
Previous Best - Runners Up (1972)
FIFA Ranking - 67
Odds - 20/1

Guinea
Nickname - Syli National (National Elephants)
Player You Might Know - Fod Mansar (Toulouse)
Previous Best - Runners Up (1976)
FIFA Ranking - 79
Odds - 25/1

--------------------------------

Catch all the action on British Eurosport or on the internet.

2 Comments – Post a comment

FalseNine

Commented 57 months ago - 6th January 2012 - 09:29am

Hot off the press: Burkina Faso might be kicked out and replaced by Namibia (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/jan/05/africa-cup-nations-burkina-faso)