Yusupha Jow wrote:
> The African Nations Cup is only three weeks away and I assume that this is
> the right time to assess the strengths of the favorites that will partake in
> this competition. The tournament will be played in Ghana and Nigeria. It
> will be the first time the tournament will be jointly hosted. A great test
> of our ability to work together.
> As usual, the tournament will be broadcast around the World. Our European
> members of the list will have the privilege of watching it live on Eurosports
> and other channels. Omar and CO, please send us some tapes. There will be a
> few soccer bars that will broadcast the games live in major U.S cities. The
> matches might be broadcast live in Canada too. Also, those of us that have
> satellite dishes can watch some of the games on ART (Arabic Channel). Call
> your providers for more details. The tournament is a big deal now and
> hopefully the host nations will uphold their part of the bargain by making
> sure the communication facilities that will ensure a smooth broadcast are in
> place.
>
> All the teams are in the process of making final preparations by camping in
> Europe and elsewhere. I hope we can get an exchange going on which teams are
> the favorites. It seems as if, like many other things in our beloved
> continent, predicting an outcome is always hard. But the one of the
> following teams will definitely win the tourney: :^ )
>
> NIGERIA
> The Nigerians are camped in Malaga, Spain and, as usual, their preparations
> have been chaotic. But what's new? Nigeria is a chaotic country and the
> same rules apply to everything they do. Only 16 of their army of
> professionals have shown up for camp so far. But their new coach, Jo
> Bonfrere, has lot to do because they have been annihilated by two Spanish
> regional sides in the past week. However, with Nigeria friendlies don't mean
> much. After all, they got to the second round of La Mundial in France after
> two weeks of training. They are the top dogs and will be tough to beat in
> front of 75,000 fervent fans in Lagos
> Key players: Nwanku Kanu, JJ Okocha, Finidi George and Taribo West
>
> MOROCCO
> The best prepared of the lot. The Atlas Lions, under erstwhile coach Henri
> Michel, have been preparing for years. They seem to, unlike most teams south
> of the Sahara, have their house in order. Their preparations have been going
> on for the past year and they have played against variety of European teams
> with good results. But the Moroccans have always wilted against the physical
> West African sides like Cameroon and Nigeria. They should get to at least
> the quarterfinals and will be tough to beat.
> Key players: Mustafa Hadji Youssef Chippo, Mustapha Hadda, Adel Ramzy
>
> SOUTH AFRICA
> The best local players on the continent. They have one of the best organized
> domestic leagues and have a tons of technically sound players to choose from.
> The Bafana Bafana, as they are fondly called, are probably the most
> tactically ad technically adept side on the continent and their style of
> soccer is closer to the European style. They will be missing two key of
> their main strikers Phil Masinga and Benni McCarthy. With top defender Lucas
> Radebe marshaling the defense, I will not be surprised to see them play
> cohesive tactical soccer on the road to lifting the cup.
> Key players: Lucas Radebe, Quinton Fortune, Herman MKalele,
>
> CAMEROON
> The Camerounians have an impressive footballing legacy. Undoubtedly the best
> in the continent. They also have a lots of good and physically strong
> players all over the Europe and the country can be described as a soccer
> factory. They could probably pick an all star village team and still qualify
> for the cup. Expect them to get past the first round and maybe all the way
> to the finals.
> Key players: Rigobert Song, Mark Vivian Foe, Samuel Olembe, Patrick Mboma
>
> GHANA
> The Black Stars formerly known as the Brazil of Africa, despite never making
> the World Cup, have a claim to African Team of The Century. They have won
> more Nations cups than anyone else. Also, other African sides have used Ghana
> as a benchmark to gauge their strength. Under Italian coach, Dossena, the
> Stars just lost to Tunisia to end their 14 month unbeaten streak. The home
> field advantage will be a telling factor and the Ghanaians will be one of the
> hot favorites to win the tourney. Their record in the junior tournaments has
> been exemplary and they have outstanding professionals all over Europe.
> Key players: Samuel Ossei Kuffour, Richard kingson, samuel Johnson, Charles
> Okunnor, Samuel Asamoah
>
> SENEGAL
> The sleeper of the tourney will be Senegal. Les Guyndaye du Senegal. Of
> course our brothers and sisters from Senegal can be all talk. But, to their
> credit, The Gambia has never managed to beat Senegal. Les Lions, under
> German coach Schittinger, have prepared well for the tourney. They also had
> to go the tough route to get to the event, playing against the highly rated
> Zimbabweans and upstart Eritrea. But our neighbors did us proud and
> qualified against tough odds. Among their impressive results have been a
> draw with Morocco, yet another thorough beating of our beloved Scorpions and
> also a victory over Cote D'Ivoire. I expect them to spring some major upsets
> and they should at least get to the second round.
> Key players: Henri Camara, Alieu Cisse, Kalilou Fadiga
>
> Well, this is a brief synopsis of the teams that I think will have a major
> impact on the tourney. Let me know what you think.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
Could anyone on the nel hepl me for the fixtures of the African Cup of Nations
Thanks
Babu
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
