Asamoah Gyan of Ghana

By Olawale Ajimotokan

Bata, the second city of Equatorial Guinea will be the centre of attraction tomorrow when the opening ceremonies of the 28th Africa Cup of Nations are set in motion.

The Africa Cup of Nations is the continent’s biggest football festival where 16 nations will display skills and panache to determine which team will win the prized trophy on February 12.

This very edition will etch in the memory, not for the matches but particularly because of the narrow field potential winners created by the absence of some of the continent’s traditional powerhouses, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt and Algeria.

The first match will be a test of wits between joint hosts, Equatorial Guinea and Libya in a contest where the Nzalang Nacional have been promised a share of $1million windfall by the brother of the President, Teodoro Obiang Mangue.

Libya betrayed the form guide to reach the finals as one of the second best qualifiers, despite having to play their matches away from home, as result of costly civil war that lasted for over six months, and resulted in a regime change.

The Greens showed hearts and character in 1982 where they reached the final only to lose to Ghana.

Portugal born coach, Marcos Paqueta, will hope to plod through three difficult matches in Group A with a squad that is limited in talent and exposure.

Majority of the Libyans are either based in at home, Africa or the Middle East, while only two players (defender Mohammed Abdulsalam who is based in Serbia and Djamal Mahamat, who plies his art in Portugal) are the only two squad members that professionally play in Europe.

The excitement across Equatorial Guinea can only be defined in the sense that it is the first time the oil rich, tiny nation will be participating in the biennial tournament.

The other fixture to look out for in Group A is the match between tournament favourites, Senegal and perennial under-achievers, Zambia.

The Teranga Lions is full of quality and are hugely tipped to be in the best position to win their first ever continental title.

The closest the Senegalese came to fulfilling the script was when they reached the final at Mali 2002, only to suffer a heart break to Cameroon in a match where the sides were separated by penalty shootout.

The West Africans led by local coach Amara Traore, will try to put their credentials forward with a number of well rated players, including the free scoring Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse, both of Newcastle, as well as Moussa Sow of Lille ; Mamadou Niang of Qatar and Remi Gomis of Valenciennes.

But they struggled to convince purists in build up matches after labouring to narrow victories over Sudan and Kenya respectively.

In addition to Senegal, the West African bragging rights is expected to be fuelled by both Ghana and Ivory Coast, who for obvious reasons stand out as the bookies favourites to win the tournament.

Ghana is the most successful team going to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, with the Black Stars having claimed the tournament on five occasions in the past.

They are expected to build on their exploits at the last World Cup in Africa where they reached the quarter finals, in addition to having in their ranks some of the continent’s most exciting players.

But as they will discover, annexing another continental title since 1982, will be a daunting task if they don’t learn to step up their act when the chips are down.

The tone for their ambition will be set by the way they approach their first game against Botswana in Franceville on Tuesday in Group D.

The Black Stars are in at the tournament with a squad which is based in Europe bar Asamoah Gyan, who plays in UAE and Ernest Sowah and Daniel Adjei, who are based in the Ghanaian league.

With a set up of players, most of whom featured at the 2008 finals held in Ghana; John Mensah, Sully Muntari, Isaac Vorsah, Andre Ayew, Tony Annan and Kwadwo Asamoah, the Ghanaian public wont demand for anything less than the trophy from coach Goran Stevanovic.

What Ghana has in well heeled players is probably surpassed by the Ivorians that boast of Didier Drogba, Gervinho, Yaya Toure, Cheik Tiote, Sol Bamba, Abul Kader Keita and Seydou Dombia, considered the best striker in the Russian league.

The first salvo for the Elephants will be presented by Sudan on Sunday in Malabo.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea complete the list of the traditional west African forces who will aspiring to bringing the trophy to the sub region since Nigeria last achieved the feat by beating Zambia in Tunisia in 1994.

The Burkinabe ultimately wound up for their best place ever when finished fourth at home in 1998.

Following a spat with Namibia over claims of fielding of an ineligible player, Paulo Duarte will look at Jonathan Pitroipa of Rennes as his main warhead, while attention will be on the imposing Moumouni Dagano, Narcisse Yameogo,  Saidou Panandetiguiri and Bertrand Traore, who at 16 is the youngest player at the tournament.

While Sudan and Libya cannot be considered as formidable candidates, the North African challenge will be inspired by Morocco and Tunisia, who are among the field of five nations with genuine credentials to claim the trophy.

Morocco and Tunisia have only won the tournament once apiece. While the Moroccans did it in 1976, the Carthage Eagles rose to the task in 2004 as hosts.

The two Arab nations will set the ball rolling with a derby in Libreville on Monday and hope to advance from a tough Group C which has hosts, Gabon and debutantes, Niger as other contestants.

Niger will be happy to play the group’s dark horses. The Menas will be under no pressure whatsoever to impress at the big stage. Tunisia, Morocco and Gabon will only underrate the ‘outsiders’ at their own peril, considering the feat the Nigeriens recorded in qualifying round, by picking the group ticket from a pack that comprised Egypt and South Africa.

Angola reached the quarter finals in 1998 in Burkina Faso and has hosts two years ago.

The Palancas Negras, who drew 0-0 with Nigeria in Abuja and beat Sierra Leone 3-1 Cabinda, will count on the experience of Manucho, Flavio, Zuela and Carlos their Group B games where they will be up against Sudan, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.