Zambia finish off Sudan 3-0 to make final four
Double from Drogba Ivory Cost into semi 3 - 0 E.Guinea
Quarter-finals set
Saturday February 4, 2012
11:00 ET Zambia 3 - 0 Sudan
2:00 ET Ivory Coast 3 - 0 E.Guinea
Sunday, February 5, 2012
11:00 ET Gabon v Mali
2:00 ET Ghana v Tunisia
Tunisia ready for Ghana
Tunisia's Saber Khelifa feels his side's familiarity with Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final opponents Ghana could prove the difference in the tie.
The two sides meet on Sunday in Franceville, Gabon, and Khelifa – who plays his club football for Ligue 1 side Evian – said the team has been doing their homework on their upcoming opponents.
"We've been studying Ghana for a while," Khelifa told Mosaique FM.
"We watched all of their games and we know their strong and weak points."
"We're going to focus on them even more now and watch additional videos with our coach and the technical staff."
Despite performing well in Tunisia's matches so far, Khelifa is still without a goal in the tournament, but the 25-year-old said he does not care for personal glory – as long as his side are winning.
"Of course I want to score," he said. "Truthfully, there’s more to it than just scoring goals."
"I can create them for my teammates. What's essential is that we keep winning. God willing, I'll score in the quarters."
Sudan coach pleased with form
Sudan coach Mohamed Abdalla is happy with the progress of his team ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final against Zambia on Saturday.
Sudan progressed to the last eight of the competition despite a narrow 1-0 loss to the Ivory Coast in their opening game.
A 2-2 draw with Angola and a 2-1 win against Burkina Faso in the final game was enough for them to take second spot in Group B.
Abdalla said his team had the right build-up to the tournament, which has allowed them to do well in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
"We knew that with locally-based players you need good preparation," the former Sudan captain told the BBC.
"So we played Senegal, Gabon and Tunisia (before the Nations Cup), which allows your inexperienced players to (develop)."
"And then from match to match, from Ivory Coast to Angola, to this third match (against Burkina Faso) we have progressed tactically."
The quarter-final between Sudan and Zambia takes place in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, on Saturday and Abdalla is aware their opponents will provide a stern test.
"Zambia are very fast - they're well organised, but we have time to prepare tactically and physically for this game," he said.
2012 African Nations Cup Fixtures
Saturday Jan 21, 2012
1:30 ET Equatorial Guinea 1 - 0 Libya Group A Estadio de Bata
4:00 ET Senegal 1 - 2 Zambia Group A Estadio de Bata
Sunday, January 22, 2012
11:00 ET Ivory Coast 1 - 0 Sudan Group B Nuevo Estadio de Malabo
2:00 ET Burkina Faso 1 - 2 Angola Group B Nuevo Estadio de Malabo
Monday, January 23, 2012
11:00 ET Gabon 2 - 0 Niger Group C Stade d'Angondje
2:00 ET Morocco 1 - 2 Tunisia Group C Stade d'Angondje
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
11:00 ET Ghana 1 - Botswana Group D Stade de Franceville
2:00 ET Mali Wednesday, January 25, 2012 11:00 ET Libya 2 - 2 Zambia Group A Estadio de Bata
2:00 ET Equatorial Guinea 2 - 1 Senegal Group A Estadio de Bata
Thursday, January 26, 2012 11:00 ET Sudan 2 - 2 Angola Group B Nuevo Estadio de Malabo
2:00 ET Ivory Coast 2 - 0 Burkina Faso Group B Nuevo Estadio de Malabo
Friday, January 27, 2012 11:00 ET Niger 1 - 2 Tunisia Group C Stade d'Angondje
2:00 ET Gabon 3 - 2 Morocco Group C Stade d'Angondje
Saturday, January 28, 2012 11:00 ET Botswana 1 - 6 Guinea Group D Stade de Franceville
2:00 ET Ghana 2 - 0 Mali Group D Stade de Franceville
Sunday, January 29, 2012 1:00 ET Equatorial Guinea 0 - 1 Zambia Group A Stade d'Angondje
1:00 ET Libya 2 - 1 Senegal Group A Estadio de Bata
Monday, January 30, 2012 1:00 ET Ivory Coast 2 - 0 Angola Group B Stade d'Angondje
1:00 ET Sudan 2 - 1 Burkina Faso Group B Estadio de Bata
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 1:00 ET Gabon 1 - 0 Tunisia Group C Stade de Franceville
1:00 ET Niger 0 - 1 Morocco Group C Stade d'Angondje
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 1:00 ET Botswana 1 - 2 Mali Group D Stade d'Angondje
1:00 ET Ghana 1 - 1 Guinea Group D Stade de Franceville
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Enter the Africa Cup of Nations Fantasy League 11:00 ET Zambia v Sudan Quarter-finals
2:00 ET Ivory Coast v E.Guinea Quarter-finals
Sunday, February 5, 2012 11:00 ET Gabon v Mali Quarter-final
2:00 ET Ghana v Tunisia Quarter-finals
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 11:00 ET W25 v W28 Semi-finals .
2:00 ET W27 v W26 Semi-finals .
Saturday, February 11, 2012 2:00 ET Loser Match 61 v Loser Match 62 Third Place .
Sunday, February 12, 2012 2:00 ET Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 Final
World Cup qual. - Africa (2nd leg Qualification) Burundi 2 - 1 Lesotho (2-2 agg)
Madagascar 2 - 1 Equatorial Guinea (2-3 agg)
Tanzania 0 - 1 Chad (2-2 agg)
Kenya 4 - 0 Seychelles (7-0 agg)
Rwanda 3 - 1 Eritrea (4-2 agg)
Congo 1 - 1 Sao Tome and Principe (6-1 agg)
DR Congo 5 - 1 Swaziland (8-2 agg)
Togo 1 - 0 Guinea-Bissau (2-1 agg)
Mozambique 4 - 1 Comoros (5-1 agg)
Namibia 4 - 0 Djibouti (8-0 agg)
World Cup qual. - Africa (Qualification) 18:12 November 11
Comoros 0 - 1 Mozambique
Djibouti 0 - 4 Namibia
Eritrea 1 - 1 Rwanda
Seychelles 0 - 3 Kenya
Swaziland 1 - 3 DR Congo
Chad 1 - 2 Tanzania
Equatorial Guinea 2 - 0 Madagascar
Sao Tome and Principe 0 - 5 Congo
Guinea-Bissau 1 - 1 Togo.
Lesotho 1 - 0 Burundi
Puma reveals new strips for African nations Puma has unveiled the new strips for 10 nations ahead of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Puma sponsor Confederation of African Football (CAF) members Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, South Africa, Algeria, Namibia, Senegal, Togo, Gabon and Burkina Faso, revealing unique new kits on Monday for each nation.
Cameroon, South Africa, Algeria, Namibia and Togo did not qualify for the tournament but will begin using their jerseys in upcoming friendlies.
Ghana striker Asamoah Gyan of Al Ain on Monday modelled the Black Stars' new strip in London at a ceremony held at the Design Museum, which was attended by Ghana Football Association (GFA) president Kwesi Nyantakyi.
Steven Pienaar of South Africa, Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Toure of Ivory Coast also modeled the uniforms of their national sides.
Ghana maintains the white shirt as its home jersey and red and yellow for away fixtures.
"We will officially use our new designs in our first match at the 2012 African Nations Cup against Botswana," Nyantakyi told the GFA website.
Nigeria face Rwanda in 2013 Cup of Nations qualifiers The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has announced the preliminary match-ups for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
With so many big names failing to make it to the 2012 edition, there are some important ties early on in the campaign.
Seven-time champions Egypt will face Central African Republic while Cameroon take on Guinea-Bissau.
Nigeria will take on Rwanda, with both teams currently looking for a coach.
The Nations Cup is being switched from even to odd years, meaning there is only one year between the next two events.
The preliminary phase of the qualifiers will start with the countries who fail to qualify for the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in January 2012.
Fifteen countries that make it through the preliminary qualifiers will be drawn against fifteen teams from the 2012 tournament.
South Africa qualify automatically as hosts, after taking over from Libya, who will now organize the 2017 competition.
All 16 teams who will compete in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon 2012 get a bye to the final round of qualifiers.
To start with, Seychelles will play Swaziland and Sao Tome will take on Lesotho in double-headed ties for the right to go into the preliminary draw.
Then there are 14 head-to-head ties to determine who goes forward to the final round, where the 16 teams who made it to the 2012 event will join the race for 2013.
The opening rounds of the campaign will take place in early 2012 and the final round of qualifying will happen in September and October next year.
Preliminary round one: Seychelles v Swaziland. Sao Tome v Lesotho.
Preliminary round two: Ethiopia v Benin. Rwanda v Nigeria. Congo Brazzaville v Uganda. Burundi v Zimbabwe. Algeria v The Gambia. Kenya v Togo
Sao Tome/Lesotho v Sierra Leone. Guinea Bissau v Cameroon. Chad v Malawi
Seychelles/Swaziland v DR Congo. Tanzania v Mozambique.
Central African Republic v Egypt
Madagascar v Cape Verde. Liberia v Namibia
Cameroon sack coach Javier Clemente Coton Sport's Lavagne takes over as new Cameroon coach Denis Lavagne has been named as the new coach of Cameroon, replacing Spaniard Javier Clemente.
The Frenchman leaves his post with Cameroonian side Coton Sport to begin his job with the Indomitable Lions with immediate effect.
Clemente lost his job after he failed to lead the Indomitable Lions to January's Africa Cup of Nations finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
Cameroon's campaign to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil begins next June.
They have been drawn in Group I alongside Libya and the winners of the qualifying games between Swaziland and DR Congo as well as Guinea Bissau against Togo.
Lavagne will be assisted by Martin Ndtougou Mbile from the under-20 team that went to July's World Cup in Colombia and Pierre Mbarga will be the goalkeeping coach.
Cameroon have won the Nations Cup four times so missing January's finals is a major setback for one of Africa's most successful teams.
Guinea´s recruiting method slammed Equatorial Guinea's move to naturalise foreign-born footballers has been slammed by locals in the African nation.
Host of next year's African Cup of Nations, the 155th-ranked country is recruiting players to boost their profile in the sport, but local-born footballers are unhappy with the naturtalisation of foreigners.
The tiny, oil-rich central African nation, which is set to co-host the showpiece with neighbouring Gabon, has succeeded in enrolling more than a dozen foreigners in the Nzalang Nacional line-up, eclipsing indigenous players, whose long-time dream of participating in the continent’s premier football competition fortuitously came to pass when the country grabbed the rights to host the event.
However, this supposed positive revolution has been slammed by some of those born and raised in the country, with a recent outburst coming from team member Juvenal Edjogo-Owono of Spanish Segunda Division side Sabadell, who admitted regret at how the national team was becoming a club-like group of players with different nationalities.
"I prefer playing and losing three to four goals in a national team with all its players originally from the country, than playing in team made up of players coming from different countries," Owono told the BBC World Service Sport.
"You have a goalkeeper coming from Brazil, a striker from Nigeria, a midfielder from Cameroon, it’s no longer a national team but a club side."
Among the players to have joined Equatorial Guinea include Brazil-born Danilo Clementino, Andre and Atila Nelese; Daniel Ekedo and Kelvin Onosiughe of Nigeria; and Luciano Mutasi of Cameroon.
More than a dozen Spanish-born players are also being prepared to play their international football in the former Spanish colony.
