SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Desailly still backs Ivory Coast desite tough Nations Cup draw

Record ID: 342922

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Desailly still backs Ivory Coast desite tough Nations Cup draw
  • Date: 25th October 2012
  • Summary: DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA (OCTOBER 24, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF THE OFFICIAL BALL FOR THE 2013 AFRICAN NATIONS CUP WIDE SHOT OF THE MIXED ZONE WHERE BROADCASTERS DO INTERVIEWS ZAMBIA COACH HERVE RENARD TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZAMBIA COACH, HERVE RENARD, SAYING: "We have to do like in 2010 and 2012 to finish first from our group. It will be a very good performa
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2012 12:00
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  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA7VO1RLJCHSQE89MRQXAJXT16V
  • Story Text: Ivory Coast's mantle as favourites for next year's African Nations Cup was placed under early threat when they were drawn with two former winners in their opening round group but Marcel Desailly still thinks they can win the competition.
    The Ivorians, whose golden generation missed out on 2012 success when they lost to Zambia in a penalty shootout, will meet Algeria and Tunisia in Group D of the 16-team tournament next Jan.19-Feb.10.
    If Desailly's home country Ghana does not win the competition the former France international would like to see the Ivorians succeed.
    "We really want Ivory Coast to win it," he told Reuters Television on Wednesday (October 24). "They have such a great generation of players. Then let's see what is important is that we enjoy ourselves.
    "Great commitment from the players to show us that African football is now coming very high in the football world; UEFA, FIFA now CAF and the African Cup is there for us."
    Desailly, who won the Champions League twice, was also looking forward to Ghana's clash with the Democratic Republic of Congo, as it means Congo coach Claude Le Roy will pit his wits against his former team, and the surprise appearance of Cape Verde.
    Cape Verde, with a population of just over 500,000, shocked Cameroon in the qualifiers earlier this month.
    "(It is) a pleasure to see that now action is coming," Desailly added. "I mean Ghana v. Congo where Claude Le Roy was playing. South Africa first game against the small team Cape Verde that have surprised everyone. I hope the Tunisian and the Algerian teams will be able to compete physically with the other teams because technically they may be better than everyone but are they able to compete on the physical aspect?"
    DRC coach Le Roy said it would be an intriguing encounter against his former team Ghana and that the Black Stars along with Mali are the favourites to qualify from their group.
    "A lot of the (Ghana) young players played their first international game with me - like Rashid Sumaila, a lot of them, Harrison Afful," Le Roy said. "And Kwesi, the coach was my assistant that means we both know a lot about the two teams.
    "And the two other teams are Mali and Niger. They are the favourites Mali and Ghana in this group but I would like to be an outsider. I think the first game against Ghana on the 20th of January will be a very, very important, but I'm so happy to play in Nelson Mandela Stadium that's for me a fantastic symbol."
    Zambia were handed a nasty surprise when they were paired with Nigeria, the team universally regarded as the one to avoid by coaches present at Wednesday's draw in Durban.
    The defending champions will still be confident of progress to the quarter-finals ahead of Group C's other two sides Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, who return to the finals after an absence of three decades.
    "We have to do like in 2010 and 2012 to finish first from our group," said Zambia coach Hevre Renard. "It will be a very good performance because our target first is to reach the quarter-final. I am always optimistic that means we have to go far."
    Hosts South Africa have a potentially tricky start in the opening match against the Cape Verde Islands, the only first time participants at the continental championship.
    The match at Soccer City in Johannesburg kicks off the tournament.
    South Africa coach Gordon Isegund said: "We all know that Morocco is a giant in North African football and they're a tough draw and of course Cape Verde, the first time they are making their appearance in the competition.
    "We don't know too much about them but what we do know is that they have just knocked out Cameroon so they can't be too bad and of course Angola. So I think it is a fair draw.
    "We will be ready for anybody, if we want to go all the way to the final as the host we're going to have to play them sometime, you know, and it wouldn't have been bad if we got Nigeria but it would have just meant we wouldn't have met them in the quarter-finals or semi-finals."
    Meanwhile, Cape Verde coach Lucio Antunes said the whole nation cannot wait for the tournament to begin.
    "It's very exciting for all, all the coaches, for all the players and for all the Cape Verdean people," he said. "Playing against the Bafana Bafana in the opening of the ceremony will be great."
    South Africa and Cape Verde also meet Morocco, whose potential is widely acknowledged but who crashed out early at the last finals and have recently changed their coach. Angola are the fourth team in Group A.
    The Ivorians start with a match against Togo but then play the two dangerous North African sides in Group D, to be based in Port Elizabeth.
    Algeria knocked out their team at the 2010 finals when the Ivorians were also regarded as favourites.
    Ghana were drawn as top seeds in Group B and meet Mali, Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
    Ghana beat Mali in the group phase at the last finals but then lost to them in the third place playoff.
    The Nations Cup is being held 12 months after the last tournament as the Confederation of African Football has switched the hosting of the bi-annual tournament from every even to every odd year.
    The draw for the 2013 African Nations Cup finals conducted in South Africa on Wednesday Group A: South Africa, Angola, Morocco, Cape Verde Islands Group B: Ghana, Mali, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo Group C: Zambia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia Group D: Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Algeria, Togo The tournament is being hosted in Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth and Rustenburg from Jan.19-Feb 10.
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