We are days away from the kick-off of Africas most prestigious sporting event, the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Who will be crowned the new kings of African football? I will break down for you the nations I feel are favourites and the problems that might prevent them from lifting the coveted trophy. Ivory Coast Once again, Ivory Coast are outright favourites to lift the Afcon trophy. The venue (Equatorial Guinea) does not give them good memories however. The country was one of the joint hosting nations when Ivory Coast lost out in the finals three years ago. With a coach who has won the Afcon before at the same venue (Frenchman Hervé Renard) they have an advantage, theoretically. I feel this team can only win the tournament if, for once, they play it hungrily, modestly and forget their status as superstars. If not, they risk going down in the history of Ivory Coast as the most underachieving talents ever assembled. This is definitely an added motivation but, unfortunately, also added pressure. South Africa This is one team that has surprised many and themselves. The confident way they played Nigeria, in Nigeria, is totally the opposite of the South African team that failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. It is their first qualification for a major tournament, without being hosts, in a long time. They must fancy their chances with their new coach, Ephraim Mashaba. When a coach can afford to leave a player like Ajax Amsterdam star Thulani Serero from his team, you just have to respect their chances and see them as favourites. Spurred on further by the sad loss of their emblematic and charismatic goal keeper, Senzo Meyiwa, they are psychological favourites, as the Zambians were three years ago. Drawn in group C, in the company of Senegal, Algeria and Ghana, South Africa must be having some headaches as regards their prospects but, should they qualify out of this group, they should be near unbeatable. Ghana Ghana is coming to Equatorial Guinea with a new boss, Avram Grant. Though lately in crisis, on and off the pitch, only a fool would bet against this multi-talented nation. Ghanas team is set to be different in+ composition from the 2014 World Cup team (as coach Avram Grant has chosen to ignore Kevin-Prince Boateng, Sulley Muntari and Michael Essien). Get ready to see a fighting Ghana with a point to prove. Asamoah Gyan and Jordan Ayew are two players that can be catalysts to the teams success formula. Possible problems might be how the new technical crew gels with the team and the special conditions that will surround this particular edition of the Afcon and the group of death that they find themselves in. There will be pressure to win from first game. A slip up in the group of death would be hard to make up. Senegal Frenchman Alain Giresse is the coach of this team that has a huge French-based player contigency. Gradually but steadily this team has been rebuilding and, in Papiss Demba Cissé of Newcastle, they have a lethal striker who does not need too many invitations to score. Surprisingly, they have decided to drop Demba Ba of Chelsea and now Besiktas fame. This and their erratic defensive frailties are where they could struggle a bit. If they can find a way to close any defensive gaps and give enough supply to Cisse and his generals up front, opponenets will struggle against them. Algeria Africas Number 1 ranked team are coming with 18 of the 23 players that did Africa proud in Brazil, especially against Germany. Africas most enterprising and improved team qualified with a five consecutive match winning streak. Whether they live up to it in Equatorial Guinea is another question. With France-born coach Christian Gourcuff at the helm, expect some creative play. They are tactically well rounded, technical and have a perfect mix of defensive and offensive play that permits them a blistering transition from defence to attack. Dont mistake them for a counter team. They can play possession football as well and combine in style. Unlike most African Nations, they can vary their game and mix it up in segmented periods. It is little wonder they had no problems qualifying. Striker Yacine Brahimi was crowned BBC Africas Best Player of the Year by a public opinion poll. The heat could do them in. How they recover from several games in succession and the management of an outright declaration as favourites, could be testing.
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 12:43:49 +0000
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