Global attention will be zoomed on the Central African city of Bata today as 16 of the continent's finest football teams converge on Equatorial Guinea for three weeks of what promises to be an exciting football fiesta at the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2015.
Conspicuously missing will be seven-time champions, Egypt, and defending champions, Nigeria. Nonetheless, their absence will still not take the shine out of the 30th edition of Africa’s biggest soccer showpiece which has attracted some of the continent's powerhouses such as Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Algeria.
The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) had to fall on Equatorial Guinea at the last minute to save the competition, following the withdrawal of original host, Morocco, following the outbreak of the Ebola Virus Disease.
The health threat and other hitches notwithstanding, pundits and soccer fans will throng the various match venues or be glued to their sets in anticipation of a thrilling spectacle from some of the leading football stars who grace the foreign leagues each passing week. Notable among them will be the reigning African best player Yaya Toure, (Cote d’Ivoire) Asamoah Gyan, (Ghana) Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, (Gabon) Papiss Cisse (Senegal) and Seydou Keita, ( Mali) and others, completing a list of 245 European-based players out of the expected 368 players scheduled to participate in this year's competition.
Heralding the first match between Equatorial Guinea and Coach Claude le Roy’s Congo, however, will be a colourful opening ceremony likely to be witnessed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and other top government officials, as well as CAF president, Issa Hayatou, among other dignitaries.
With the total 757,014 population fully behind the Nzalang Nacional, the host can be counted as favourites of tonight’s game against their Congolese counterparts in their second AFCON participation.
The Red Devils of Congo, who surprised the Super Eagles of Nigeria during the qualifiers, will come all guns blazing in a bid to spoil the party for the homesters and get a better footing towards qualification to the next stage of the competition.
