CAPE TOWN — DARK horses Morocco will open their account of the CAF African Nation Championships tomorrow at Athlone Stadium when they take on Zimbabwe, kick-off at 17h00.
Morocco’s long voyage from the top of Africa down to the southern most point has seen them and Zimbabwe paired in Group B alongside Uganda and Burkina Faso.
The Atlas Lions shocked the African footballing contingent when they dispatched defending champions Tunisia to qualify for the final 16 of the Chan tournament.
Abdesamad El Mobarky scored the only goal in the two-legged affair to ensure they would participate for their second successive tournament on South African soil, after having featured in the 2013 African Cup of Nations.
A new face is on the Moroccan bench, however, after Hassan Benabicha took charge from Rachid Taoussi over the Christmas break and he has brought in a squad filled with Raja Casablanca players.
Eight men from the Raja squad, which finished second to Fifa Club World Cup championships Bayern Munich, have made the trip to their base camp in the Mother City hungry to taste further success.
It will be a tall ask for Benabicha to taste success with not even a month’s training with the squad, but qualifying for the final eight of the tournament will be deemed impressive under the circumstances.
Meanwhile, Ian Gorowa’s side has been hard at work in Cape Town and they were one of the first teams to touchdown in the country.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Having coached in Cape Town before, the Zimbabwe coach has an advantage of what to expect when it comes to the weather patterns and the flight of the ball.
Despite having to make do without the likes of Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat and Kingston Nkhatha, who are ineligible, there is still a strong breed of quality that has come through the local ranks and, as a result, they are considered to be one of the favourites for the tournament.
A more exciting opening to a group match couldn’t have been asked for and both teams, tipped to do something this tournament, are expected to put out a good show. On Tuesday, the Warriors beat Gabon 2-0 in a friendly match at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg before the national team’s fringe players fell 3-0 to Ajax Cape Town in a practice match at Ikamva on Thursday.
Key players in the Zimbabwe team are Mamelodi Sundowns new recruit Kuda Mahachi, giant goalkeeper George Chigova, Simba Sithole, who has previously played for Supersport United in South Africa, FC Platinum strikers Donald Ngoma, Ali Sadiki and Milton Ncube. Ncube and Ngoma scored in the win over Gabon.
—MTN Football
CAPE TOWN — THE troubled African Nations Championship (Chan) kicks off in Cape Town today.
With the saga around the availability of Premier Soccer League (PSL) players for Bafana Bafana preceding the competition, the local organising committee on Thursday expressed its wish to have had more time to “educate South Africans about this tournament”.
There is an information desk about the tournament at the Cape Town International Airport, and a few flags en route to the city and around the stadium that will host the opening ceremony. Apart from that, the city’s tourist attractions are more likely to grab your attention.
As Bafana prepared for their clash against Mozambique at 6pm today, the tournament organisers revealed that only 43% of their target for tickets sold for the Chan — which runs from today till February 1 — had been met.
By lunchtime on Thursday, local organising committee head of communications Sipho Sithole confirmed that 22,000 tickets had been “printed and distributed” for the opening day of the tournament. The day will include another Group A encounter, between Mali and Nigeria, right after the match between Bafana and Mozambique at the Cape Town Stadium. The venue has a 59 000-seat capacity.
On Tuesday, Mvuso Mbebe — the organising committee’s CE — had announced that 10 000 tickets had been sold.
With that number doubling in two days, interest in the Chan, a competition inherited by the African Nations Cup hosts of the previous year, might be picking up in the Mother City.
But the other two host cities — Polokwane and Bloemfontein — may battle to whip up interest in the games.
“Ideally, we would have wanted to have three years to educate South Africans about this tournament,” Sithole said.
“It is important that people do not compare it with last year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which obviously had big-name players and was sanctioned by Fifa. But I have been told that people are keen to still see Bafana in action and are taking their kids to the game this weekend.”
He said that the organising committee had targeted selling 350 000 tickets for the Chan, but only 182 000 tickets were distributed. But the show must go on.
Bafana coach Gordon Igesund on Thursday finally made clear his intentions for the tournament after running the rule over his players. “We are not trying to be arrogant or anything like that, but I have made it clear that we have to go all the way,” he said.
“A while back I did mention that Fifa were determined to get these games recognised and now they have A-listed them.”
Business Day
