Another tough group, which features Côte d'Ivoire , Mali, Cameroon and Guinea. Two sides that have the potential to lift the crown are among the four in this group and are likely to progress. The group also features two stalwarts of the game that once shared the field together for one of the best sides in the world. Seydou Keita and Yaya Toure, for Barcelona are possibly the best midfielders to ever play football from Africa. How does group D look?
Ivory Coast
They are the favorites in the last four or five tournaments to no avail. They fail to get it together and produce the required performance. What is so different this year is they do not have Didier Drogba but have the four times African player of the year on their side and one of the best midfielders in the world. Yaya Toure. They stuttered into the tournament and never looked convincing once. With Wilfried Bony who has found it easier to score for Swansea than for his country taking over from Didier Drogba the Elephants will struggle unless the rejuvenated German based forward Salomon Kalou has one last hurrah. An unconvincing win over a Nigerian side that had local based players confirms their inability and shortcomings to be Africa's best. Serge Aurier and Kolo Toure will need to be on their best if Ivory Coast are to survive. They will do well to make it to second in the group.
Will need to make a miraculous improvement, adapt and make the final.
Cameroon
Finished top in a group with the Ivory Coast, including thrashing the Ivorians 4-1. They are one of the favorites of the tournament. With a well balanced squad, a brilliant coach and prolific strikers what could stop them from surging through. Cameron were dealt a blow when they got news of Alex Song's retirement from international football. They rarely played the West ham midfielder since the World Cup despite his fine performance and now they know he is out of reach. With Stephane M'bia, who will captain the four time winners, and will anchor the midfielder their foundation is well grounded. He will be assisted with proven finishers in Clinton N'Jie and Vincent Aboubakar. The Indomitable Lions, roar again. They are among favorites to win the tournament.
Guinea
Drawn in a tricky group during qualifiers, Guinea emerged with some impressive displays. They managed to finish strong by comprehensively beating Togo and Uganda. Finishing second behind Ghana, they face a tougher task as they look to overcome three former champions. The side do boast a prolific goal scorer in Seydouba Souma who plays for Slovan Bratislava . The Forward cum Midfielder bagged a hat trick when the side thumped Togo. His versatility allows his coach to deploy him in the midfield if need be and allow Mohamed Yatta to lead the line. With a workaholic midfield, a shaky defense and strikers that know how to find the back of the net the side will be able to put in a performance if the ball rolls well into their path.
Tough task to progress, a dark horse and will do well to pip Mali to third. The strikers will be a joy to watch.
Mali
They are Dark horses, led by Captain Seydou Keita. The AS Roma midfielder has resurrected his career in Italy and has been top class. The Mali captain is also, the country's top goal scorer with 24 goals, and has the most caps. Should Mali progress from the group he will get his 100th cap in the tournament this year. It will be on Keita whether the team progress or not. From the creativity side of the team to the goal scoring department the Roma man will have to take it upon him. Mali are goal shy with the squad lacking many goal scorers besides the captain. Their midfield will need to pitch in with some strikes and the defense must shore up a bit. They have managed to finish third in the last two campaigns at the tournament. Winning mentality. Remember 2010? Down 4-0 with 11 minutes to play, the Eagles stormed back to end the game at 4-4! Fighters...
Fancy them to battle Ivory Coast for that second spot.
Article contributed by: Benedict Chanakira
Twitter: @bchanakira2
 |
| Africa Cup of Nations [Image by Theo's Little Bot] |
They are the favorites in the last four or five tournaments to no avail. They fail to get it together and produce the required performance. What is so different this year is they do not have Didier Drogba but have the four times African player of the year on their side and one of the best midfielders in the world. Yaya Toure. They stuttered into the tournament and never looked convincing once. With Wilfried Bony who has found it easier to score for Swansea than for his country taking over from Didier Drogba the Elephants will struggle unless the rejuvenated German based forward Salomon Kalou has one last hurrah. An unconvincing win over a Nigerian side that had local based players confirms their inability and shortcomings to be Africa's best. Serge Aurier and Kolo Toure will need to be on their best if Ivory Coast are to survive. They will do well to make it to second in the group.
Will need to make a miraculous improvement, adapt and make the final.
Cameroon
Finished top in a group with the Ivory Coast, including thrashing the Ivorians 4-1. They are one of the favorites of the tournament. With a well balanced squad, a brilliant coach and prolific strikers what could stop them from surging through. Cameron were dealt a blow when they got news of Alex Song's retirement from international football. They rarely played the West ham midfielder since the World Cup despite his fine performance and now they know he is out of reach. With Stephane M'bia, who will captain the four time winners, and will anchor the midfielder their foundation is well grounded. He will be assisted with proven finishers in Clinton N'Jie and Vincent Aboubakar. The Indomitable Lions, roar again. They are among favorites to win the tournament.
Guinea
Drawn in a tricky group during qualifiers, Guinea emerged with some impressive displays. They managed to finish strong by comprehensively beating Togo and Uganda. Finishing second behind Ghana, they face a tougher task as they look to overcome three former champions. The side do boast a prolific goal scorer in Seydouba Souma who plays for Slovan Bratislava . The Forward cum Midfielder bagged a hat trick when the side thumped Togo. His versatility allows his coach to deploy him in the midfield if need be and allow Mohamed Yatta to lead the line. With a workaholic midfield, a shaky defense and strikers that know how to find the back of the net the side will be able to put in a performance if the ball rolls well into their path.
Tough task to progress, a dark horse and will do well to pip Mali to third. The strikers will be a joy to watch.
Mali
They are Dark horses, led by Captain Seydou Keita. The AS Roma midfielder has resurrected his career in Italy and has been top class. The Mali captain is also, the country's top goal scorer with 24 goals, and has the most caps. Should Mali progress from the group he will get his 100th cap in the tournament this year. It will be on Keita whether the team progress or not. From the creativity side of the team to the goal scoring department the Roma man will have to take it upon him. Mali are goal shy with the squad lacking many goal scorers besides the captain. Their midfield will need to pitch in with some strikes and the defense must shore up a bit. They have managed to finish third in the last two campaigns at the tournament. Winning mentality. Remember 2010? Down 4-0 with 11 minutes to play, the Eagles stormed back to end the game at 4-4! Fighters...
Fancy them to battle Ivory Coast for that second spot.
Article contributed by: Benedict Chanakira
Twitter: @bchanakira2
Post a Comment