Afcon roars into life

It’s the second major event inside three years after a successful World Cup tournament that was won by Spain.

Great players will converge on South Africa in an effort to try and win the most prestigious tournament on the continent with former Chelsea star player Didier Drogba leading an array of Cote d’Ivoire ageing stars in what could be their last chance to lift the trophy. Defending champions Zambia will be seeking to go back home with their prized possession and are in Group C with Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ethiopia.

John Obi Mikel of Nigeria has already declared his intention of being the tournament’s shining star.

The football jamboree will be held over  22 days.

There will be six match-free days in between, meaning there will be 16 match days. For the most part, there will be two matches daily on those days.

Sixteen countries will be taking part in the tournament, with South Africa who qualified as hosts, being joined by 15 countries from the qualifying rounds  that have produced casualties in a proportion never seen in the history of the tournament.

Traditional powerhouses of the tournament will be missing and these include Egypt, who have won the last three of the last four tournaments and seven in total (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2010), Cameroon (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002) and Senegal.

The 16 teams have been grouped into four groups and will be based in five host cities — Johannesburg, Rustenburg, Durban, Nelspruit and Nelson Mandela Bay.

Group A: South Africa, Angola, Cape Verde Islands, Morocco

Group B: Ghana, DRC, Mali, Niger

Group C: Zambia, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Ethiopia

Group D:  Cote d’Ivore, Algeria, Togo, Tunisia

The 16 teams have been drawn into four groups of four each and will play a round-robin with mini-league groups. The top two teams from each group will progress to the quarter-finals. There will be six matches in each group and 24 in total during the group stage.

Article 72 of the Caf Africa Cup of Nations regulations clarifies the parameters that will determine who progresses from the group in the event of a tie. This will ease the pains of the qualifying rounds, when there was a lot of misinterpretation.

In case of equality of points between two or more teams, at the conclusion of the group matches, the ranking of the teams shall be established according to the following criteria:

72.1. Greater number of points obtained in the matches between the teams in question;

72.2. The best goal difference in the matches between the teams in question;

72.3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;

72.4. Goal difference in all group matches;

72.5. Greatest number of goals scored in all the group matches;

72.6. Fair Play points system taking into account the number of yellow and red cards;

72.7. Drawing of lots by Caf Organising Committee.

Knockout stage

This will be a straight elimination series with games played out for 90 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of extra time and, ultimately, if no winner emerges after full time and extra time, they will go straight to penalty shoot-outs (five kicks each) and thereafter, sudden death penalty kicks until a winner emerges.

Article 73

73.1. At the conclusion of the four group matches, the first and the second of each group shall be qualified for the quarter-finals.

The quarter-final matches shall be played in the following order:

i. Winner Group A v Second Group B

ii. Winner Group B v Second Group A

iii. Winner Group C v Second Group D

iv. Winner Group D v Second Group C

73.2. The quarter-final matches shall be played in accordance with the direct elimination system of the loser. Extra time shall be eventually played in case of a draw after the regular time. If, after extra time, the result is still not decisive, the winner shall be determined by penalty kicks.

Fixtures:

Today:

South Africa v Cape Verde Island (4pm), Angola v Morocco (7pm)

Tomorrow:

Ghana v DRC (3pm), Mali v Niger (6pm)

Monday 21 January:

Zambia v Ethiopia (3pm), Nigeria v Burkina Faso (6pm)

Tuesday 22 January:

Cote d’Ivoire v Togo (3pm), Tunisia v Algeria (6pm)

Wednesday 23 January:

South Africa v Angola (3pm), Morocco v Cape Verde Islands (6pm)

Thursday 24 January:

Ghana v Mali (3pm), Niger v DRC (6pm)

Friday 25 January:

Zambia v Nigeria (3pm), Burkina Faso v Ethiopia (6pm)

Saturday 26 January:

Cote d’Ivoire v Tunisia (3pm), Algeria v Togo (6pm)

Sunday 27 January:

Cape Verde Islands v Angola (5pm), Morocco v South Africa (5pm)

Monday 28 January:

DRC v Mali (5pm), Niger v Ghana (5pm)

Tuesday 29 January:

Burkina Faso v Zambia, Ethiopia v Nigeria (5pm)

Wednesday 30 January:

Algeria v Cote d’Ivoire (5pm), Togo v Tunisia (5pm)

Quarter-Finals (QF)

Saturday 2 February:

(1) Winner Group B v Runner-Up Group A (3pm), (2) Winner Group A v Runner-Up Group B (6.30pm)

Sunday 2 February:

(3) Winner Group D v Runner -Up Group A (3pm), (4)  Winner Group A v Runner-Up Group D (6.30pm)

Semi-Finals (SF)

Wednesday 6 February:

(1) Winner QF 3 V Winner QF 2 (3pm), (2) Winner QF 1 v Winner QF 4 (6.30pm)

Third Place Play-Offs

Saturday 9 February:

Loser SF 1 v Loser SF 2 (6pm)

Final:

Sunday 10 February:

Winner SF 1 v Winner SF 2 (6pm) — Sports Reporter/Online.