- …Hosts play Guinea Bissau tomorrow
Defending champion, Cote d’Ivoire, have expressed readiness to defend the title it won two years ago, as they face Togo in the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off as from tomorrow in Gabon.
Cote d’Ivoire, who beat Ghana on penalties in the 2015 final, are in Group C against Togo, Morocco and Democratic Republic of Congo. Hosts Gabon will stage the opening match in Libreville tomorrow against Group A opponents Guinea-Bissau, who make their debut in the 16-nation tournament.
Cameroon and Burkina Faso are also in the group. The other group favourites, Algeria and Ghana start against Zimbabwe and Uganda respectively.
Algeria have the toughest first round task in Group B where they contend with Tunisia and Senegal for one of the two qualifying places for the quarter-finals. Ghana are the team to beat in Group D.
Apart from Uganda, they will take on Egypt, making their return to the contest after missing three finals, and Mali. With only a day to go before the tournament kicks off, Gabonese authorities are rushing to put finishing touches to the four stadia due to host the tournament.
Gabon go into the tournament with new Coach Jose Antonio Camacho signed last month to replace former Portugal international Jorge Costa, saying, “This means a lot to us, because we will get a chance to be known internationally.
We will be able to also show the world other parts of the country.
However, the tournament has been overshadowed by Gabon’s disputed elections held last August that saw Ali Bongo retained power.
