All what you need to know about the ACN 2012

The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations is fast approaching, and NileSports.com will cover all the news of the competition to be held in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
The 2012 Africa Cup of Nations will be taking place from 21 January to February 12.

HOST COUNTRIES:
The Republic of Equatorial Guinea & Gabon

CLIMATE:

Gabon experiences a dry spell from December to January (Afcon month). The monthly average high temperature ranges between 30 and 35 degrees Celsius in the month of February, so the players are in for hot, dry weather during the tournament.

STADIUMS:

Stade d’Angondje
The 45,000-seater stadium is located in Angondje, a suburb in the Gabonese capital city Libreville. Funded by the Gabonese and Chinese government, this state-of-the-art venue took about 20 months to build.

This will be the venue for the final game of the tournament.

Stade de Franceville
Designed by the Serbian manufacturer Amiga and owned by the Gabonese government, this 40,000-seater masterpiece is located in Franceville. The stadium ground-breaking was held in March 2010 and the venue will host seven matches, including one quarter-final.

TEAMS & GROUPS

Tournament Ball:

The 28th Africa Cup of Nations will take place in West Africa and hosted by two countries, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. The matches will be played in stadiums across both countries in the following cities: Libreville, Malabo, Bata, and Franceville. The tournament kicks off on January 21, 2012 in Bata (Equatorial Guinea), with the final taking place on February 12, in Libreville (Gabon).

Sudan is the only East African nation in the tournament. But Sudan started qualifying as one country, and is now two. Players from both Sudan, and what is now South Sudan, will be playing to win and hopefully this will be a chance for the people to feel a bond of unity. Libya and Tunisia will both still be playing despite going through revolutions in 2011. That’s the power of soccer in Africa, nothing will stop the game from being played! Although the Libyan team will not be playing in their traditional green shirts, instead they’ll be sporting new shirts bearing the pre-Gadhafi national flag. Togo did play for a spot in the tournament despite the horrific attack they endured in Angola, 2010. Unfortunately they failed to qualify. Egypt also failed to qualify despite winning the tournament a record seven times, including the last tournament played in Angola in 2010.

The Cup of Nations is Africa’s biggest regular sporting event and it’s held every 2 years. Although the plan is to hold another tournament in 2013 so the tournament does not clash with the World Cup (2014). Sixteen national teams made it through the preliminary stages for the 2012 Cup of Nations. If you’re traveling in Africa during the Cup of Nations, you’ll know when the matches are being played because countries literally come to a standstill to watch or listen to the games. Football (soccer) is hugely popular throughout Africa.

Teams to Watch

With heavyweights Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria and Egypt out of the running for this Africa Cup of Nations, it looks like top FIFA ranked African team, Ivory Coast, will have an excellent chance of winning the tournament. But “The Elephants” will have their hands full with Ghana, Senegal, and Morocco.

Players to Watch

Mali has three of Africa’s top players on its national team — Seydou Keita, Frederic Kanoute and Mahamadou Diarra. Didier Drogba is one of the best players the game has ever seen, he’ll be leading The Elephants (Cote d’Ivoire) along with Emmanuel Eboue and Yaya Toure. Dede Ayew, Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan are all excellent players from Ghana.

Most of Africa’s best players play in Europe. It’s a struggle for them to get the time off and play for their home country. A lack of practice with their country team mates’ means they don’t always perform as well as they’re expected to.

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