South Africa 2013 got off to an underwhelming start on Saturday after a pair of stalemates involving the hosts, Cape Verde, Morocco and Angola but expect the tournament to have well and truly heated up by the time last year’s beaten finalists enter the fray on Tuesday.
Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure and Abdul Razak will be looking to put an end to one of international football’s most remarkable underachiever stories when they kick off their African Cup of Nations campaign against Togo on Tuesday.
It’s the fifth consecutive tournament that Ivory Coast have been backed as favourites to triumph but this is arguably the most difficult to predict international tournament in world football, so Yaya and Co will take nothing for granted.
It’s a squad packed with leaders – not only the Toure brothers but also the talismanic striker and captain Didier Drogba who harbours more regrets than most, having missed the penalty in last year’s final against Zambia that would have surely landed the trophy.
Afcon Fixtures:
Tuesday:
Ivory Coast vs Togo- Royal Bafokeng, 5pm
Tunisia vs Algeria- Royal Bafokeng, 8pm
Wednesday:
SA vs Angola- Moses Mabhida, 5pm
Morocco vs Cape Verde- Moses Mabhida, 8pm
Thursday:
Ghana vs Mali- Nelson Mandela Bay, 5pm
Niger vs DR Congo- Nelson Mandela Bay, 8pm
Friday:
Zambia vs Nigeria-Mbombela, 5pm
Burkina Faso vs Ethiopia- Mbombela, 8pm
