Equatorial Guinea saved the day by stepping in as hosts of the Africa Cup of Nations, but their preparations have been far from ideal.Morocco pulled out as hosts of the 2015 edition of the tournament due to fears surrounding the Ebola epidemic. Equatorial Guinea agreed to stage this years AFCON in Moroccos stead, but changed coach with the competition just days away. Andoni Goikoetxea was fired after he failed to arrive at the teams training camp in Portugal and he has been replaced by the womens national team coach Esteban Becker. And inexperienced Argentinian Becker has his work cut out to match Equatorial Guineas AFCON 2012 run to the quarter-finals. The favourites - Congo, Gabon Congo have Frenchman Claude Le Roy at the helm and will be hoping his impressive record in seven previous AFCON competitions will provide them with the experience they need to go deep into the tournament. Le Roy has only failed to take his team to the last eight once. Congo last won the tournament in 1972 but will be confident of at least progressing from a relatively weak Group A after impressing in a tough qualifying pool that also included South Africa, Sudan and Nigeria. Meanwhile, Gabon qualified from a tough group including Burkina Faso, Angola and Lesotho, and will hope to at least match their run to the quarter-finals in 2012. The outsiders - Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso Equatorial Guineas managerial disarray makes their task even harder, despite the fact they will enjoy home advantage. Burkina Faso managed a fairytale run to the final in the 2012 AFCON where they were finally beaten by Nigeria. But they find themselves in a pool that contains their qualifying group conquerors Gabon and a Congo side under the stewardship of the wily AFCON fox Le Roy. Despite almost qualifying for the World Cup Finals in Brazil and their 2012 AFCON heroics, this tournament may prove a bridge too far for Burkina. Star Player - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) Lightning-quick forward Aubameyang has performed well since moving to Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and he is the undoubted star of Gabons team. Aubameyang scored both of his nations goals in their 2-0 win over Burkina Faso during qualifying and will undoubtedly be a handful for defenders throughout the tournament. Crunch match - Gabon v CongoJanuary 21s clash between the favourites to progress from Group A is likely to decide who wins the pool and therefore takes on the runners-up from Group B. Matches 17 January 2015 - Equatorial Guinea v Congo, Bata / Burkina Faso v Gabon, Bata 21 January 2015 - Equatorial Guinea v Burkina Faso, Bata / Gabon v Congo, Bata 25 January 2015 - Gabon v Equatorial Guinea, Bata / Congo v Burkina Faso, Ebebiyin
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 15:00:04 +0000
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