in Tunisia Group A (at Bizerte, Rades, and Tunis) Tunisia DR Congo Guinea Rwanda Group B (Bizerte, and Tunis) Burkina Faso Kenya Mali Senegal Group C (Monastir, Sfax, Sousse) Algeria Cameroon Egypt Zimbabwe Group D (Monastir, Sfax, Sousse Benin Morocco Nigeria South Africa Groups A and B certainly look to be the weakest of the four. Tunisia has an easy ride to the next round. Group C and D both look very tough for the respective teams. Group D without a doubt is the toughest group in the ANC. Full schedule http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-africanationsdraw&prov=reuters&type=lgns The Cup starts on Jan 24th.
I'm goign to go out on a limb here and do an arly prediction. Group A 1. Tunisia 2. DR Congo 3. Guinea 4. Rwanda Group B 1. Senegal 2. Mali 3. Burkina Faso 4. Kenya Group C 1. Cameroon 2. Algeria (Dark Horse Special) 3. Egypt 4. Zimbabwe Group D 1. South Africa 2. Morocco 3. Nigeria 4. Benin QF's Mali def. Tunisia Senegal def. DR Congo Morocco def. Cameroon (Sorry Lions) South Africa def. Nigeria SF's Morocco def. Mali Senegal def. South Africa 3rd place South Africa def. Mali Final Senegal def. Morocco
Groups A and B totally favor Tunisia and Senegal and Groups C and D look very tough. I hate to say this but for Zimbabwe and Benin, it's pretty much already over. I know they can't think that way, but in all honesty Benin beating the likes of South Africa, Morocco and Nigeria and Zimbabwe beating Cameroon, Algeria and Egypt is stretching it. Well, here are my predictions: Group A Tunisia (hosts and will advance) DR Congo (usually can advance from the group stage) Rwanda (shocked Ghana so they have some talent) Guinea (they are horrible away from home) Group B Senegal (are now experienced and will get out of this group with ease) Mali (a solid squad and should finish in second) Burkina Faso (has some talent but not enough) Kenya (inexperienced and the pressure will get to them) Group C Cameroon (has a very talented squad and should get out alive) Egypt (experienced, and might struggle but should advance) Algeria (could make second, but I don't think they will as sometimes their offense is shaky) Zimbabwe (newcomer, will play in close games but won't get the results they need) Group D Morocco (played very well in qualifying and have something to prove) South Africa (beat out Ivory Coast and should sneak ahead of Nigeria) Nigeria (played mediocre in qualifying and just lost 2 friendlies 3:0) Benin (inexperienced and are in way too tough of a group to advance)
I like how CAF defended the seeding system saying it would help prevent giants playing each other early. Yet they draw a group with Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria, 3 of the top 4 or 5 teams on the continent. It will be interesting to see how this CAN shakes out as it's the first since 1996 to be held outside West Africa. And the first in 10 years to be held in North Africa. Group A: Tunisia, DR Congo, Guinea, Rwanda Hosts Tunisia will win the relatively weak group. The DRC will narrowly edge out Rwanda, who will do themselves credit. Although I'm a huge fan of Guinea, an earlier poster was right: they are horrible away from home. Especially outside West Africa. I can't remember the last competitive game they lost at home, and I've been following them since '95. But their suckiness is proportional to their distance from Conakry. Group B: Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali, Senegal Senegal and Mali should advance. Though Burkina might pull of a surprise. Group C: Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Zimbabwe Cameroon and Egypt. Probably an easy call. Though north African derbies are always testy affairs so if Algeria gets a result against Egypt, who knows. Group D: Benin, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa Pity poor debutants Benin, drawn in this group of death. I think Nigeria and Morocco will edge South Africa, if only just. QUARTERFINALS Tunisia-Mali (a Mali upset wouldn't shock me) Senegal-DRC Cameroon-Morocco (Maroc always disappoints in the CAN) Nigeria-Egypt (Nigeria seem to struggle outside W. Africa) SEMIFINALS Tunisia-Cameroon Senegal-Egypt FINAL Cameroon-Egypt Three-peat for Cameroon
Guyz dont be so quick to shrug of kenya. They have a pretty solid team right now and they have always been close in pulling surprises, and i bet they will finnish second in the group coz they will loose only to senegal and beat both mali and bf( they have beaten bf before u know)