ACTUALITE |
21.10.2005
CAN 2006 : First Round Adversaries Known
Draws for the 2006 African Cup of Nations took place last night in Cairo, Egypt.
The draw for the composition of the groups of teams qualified for the finals of the 25th African Cup of Nations (CAN) took place last night at the Giza Pyramids, on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The 16 teams were divided into four groups of four.
Hitherto the draws, the teams were classified into four categories following their performances in the last three tournaments - Tunisia (2004), Mali (2002) and Ghana-Nigeria (2000). This certainly justifies why the World Cup debutants did not feature highly on the list.
Hosts Egypt, champions Tunisia and previous winners Nigeria and Cameroon were selected to head the four groups. DR Congo, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa were the second seeds. Ivory Coast, Togo and Ghana - all World Cup bound, as well as Guinea the third tier and Libya, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Angola - another debutant at Germany 2006 - in the fourth pot.
Cameroon would face Angola, Togo and the DR Congo in the first round.
Meanwhile, preparations are afoot in Egypt for the continental football jamboree that runs from January 20, 2006 to February 10, 2006. During the meeting of the African Cup of Nations Committee held last Tuesday at the CAF Headquarters in Egypt, the Egyptian Local Organizing Committee (LOC), gave an impressive progress report on the 2006 football fiesta preparations. CAF President Issa Hayatou was impressed with the efforts made. "We are extremely delighted to see that the preparations for African Cup of Nations 2006 are on the right track", he said.
Egypt would usher in several innovations in the nations cup. For the first time in Africa, tickets can be purchased online. Concerns about some of the playing surfaces led to permission for the use of artificial turf being granted. It will be the first time, since 1982, that some games at the Cup of Nations will be staged on artificial surfaces. In the meantime, there will be five venues for the event; including the 80,000 capacity Cairo Stadium and the Military Stadium, also in the capital.
The 24 group matches will be staged between 20-31 January. The two leading teams of each group will qualify for the quarterfinals to take place on 3 and 4 February, 2006. The semi-finals will be staged four days later, with the final will be on 10 February, 2006.
|
|
Hits: 1 | Source:cameroon-tribune.cm | |
|
|
|
|
| |