Walter Wilson Nana, AfricaNews reporter in Buea, Cameroon
Several African sides are playing in international friendlies beginning today August 11 ahead of next month's African Cup of Nations qualifiers for 2012.
Incumbent African champions, Egypt, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, amongst others, will all be in action to sharpen themselves for what is expected to be a tough qualifying campaign.
For some of the African teams, the friendlies will afford them an opportunity to regain confidence and erase the painful memories of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. One such country is Nigeria who were eliminated in the first round without a single win, even though they had been widely tipped to qualify for the last 16.
The Super Eagles will face Korea Republic in Seoul on Wednesday. They will be without some of their star players including keeper Vincent Enyeama, John Obi Mikel, Obinna Nsofor and Yusuf Ayila. Fresh from a morale-boosting rise in the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, African champions Egypt will begin a journey to reaffirm their dominance in Africa when they face DR Congo in a friendly in Cairo.
DR Congo coach, Robert Nouzaret told FIFA.com: “We have assembled a strong team to face Egypt. We have a lot of respect for them. However, we want to prepare for the qualifiers, that is our priority.”
On Wednesday, Ghana will make their first visit to a place where they almost wrote a new page in the history books of African football when they face South Africa at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. "We all know how good Ghana are. They were the best African side at the World Cup, but I believe we can beat them. I am not making any promises but I have confidence in my players who I know will come to the party in my first game in charge of Bafana,” said South Africa coach, Pitso Mosimane to journalists in Johannesburg.
Ghana star, Andre 'Dede' Ayew said it was important for the Black Stars to continue from where they left off during the World Cup. “It feels good to be back in South Africa and we are looking forward to doing well and build on our performance at the World Cup. We cannot be complacent.”
Côte d’Ivoire, without captain, Didier Drogba, already beat Italy 1-0 at the Upton Park in London.
The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon will travel to Europe to face Poland at Szczecin. They, like Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, still don’t have a permanent head coach following after the departure of Paul Le Guen.
Other fixtures
Togo - Saudi Arabia
Algeria - Gabon
Angola - Uruguay
Mali - Guinea
Senegal - Cape Verde Islands
Morocco - Equatorial Guinea
Several African sides are playing in international friendlies beginning today August 11 ahead of next month's African Cup of Nations qualifiers for 2012.
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