CAIRO — Title favourites Ivory Coast are among 14 qualifiers for the 2013 Caf Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), who begin preparations for the tournament by playing friendlies in Africa, Europe and North America this week.
Report by Supersport
Ghana and Cape Verde Islands get the ball rolling in Lisbon followed by 15 fixtures today from Miami — who host Nigeria and Venezuela — to Johannesburg where South Africa confront Afcon title holders Zambia.
Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Angola, Morocco, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Tunisia and Togo are qualifiers who will be in action.
That leaves Mali and Ethiopia as the only two of the 16 challengers for the Afcon in South Africa between January 19 and February 10, who will not be playing.
Ivory Coast tackle Austria in Linz minus injured Arsenal midfield flier Gervinho and a January warm-up against the DRC is the only other friendly planned before facing Togo in the opening series of Africa Cup fixtures.
The title has eluded the Ivorian “golden generation”, led by Didier Drogba and including Kolo Touré, Didier Zokora and Boubacar Barry, since 2006 and South Africa is seen as the last-chance saloon for the ageing stars.
With a 53-place advantage in the world rankings, the Ivorians are expected to follow up an August draw in Russia by defeating the modest Austrians, even if the low night-time temperature may not be to the liking of the West Africans.
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