The 2010 African Cup of Nations draw is taking place in Angola.
Group A: Angola, Mali, Algeria, Malawi.
Group B: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso.
Group C: Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Mozambique.
Group D: Cameroon, Tunisia, Zambia, Gabon.
Angola versus Mali will be the opening game of the tournament.
Group A will be based in Luanda, Group B will be in Cabinda in the north of the country, Group C will play in Benguela, and Group D will be based in Lubango.
Former Angolan football legend Akwa said he thought all the groups looked difficult.
"It's not just Algeria and Angola that could go through, Mali have a good national team and they can give us a lot of problems" he said.
However, when asked how far Angola can go, he said "I believe we can reach the final".
Group B is being touted as the group of death with the prospect of Ghana and Ivory Coast renewing their rivalry.
The Chairman of Ghana's Football Association said "there is no better description of this group".
"Ivory Coast and Ghana are two of the best teams in Africa".
"The group is interesting because Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo are all our neighbours".
"Togo has Adebayor, one of the best players in the world, and Burkina Faso's Moumouni Dagano is the top scorer of the World Cup qualifying campaign," he said.
However history favours Ghana as they've met seven times and the Ivorians have won just one of those encounters.
Egypt versus Nigeria looks like an exciting fixture to open Group C with on January 12th in Benguela.
Nigeria's coach Shaibu Amodou was present at the draw and said that on paper Nigeria should emerge from Group B, but he added a word of caution.
"There are no small teams in football any more" he said.
Nigeria's former captain Sunday Oliseh described Nigeria's group as a "delicate" one.
"Mozambique gave us a lot of hassle during qualifying" he said.
Oliseh also thanked Mozambique for helping Nigeria qualify for the World Cup.
They scored a lone goal against Tunisia in the final qualifying game which helped to put Nigeria through to South Africa 2010.
Mozambique's most capped player and record goal scorer Tico-Tico said he thought it was a tough draw for his side.
"We'll just have to compete and see what happens" he said.
"Egypt are the champions of Africa so that won't be easy but if we believe in ourselves maybe we can spring some surprises," he says.
"Nigeria and Egypt would seem the obvious teams to qualify but anything can happen" he said.
Former Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma said that Group D will be no pushover either.
"We've only recently seen what Gabon can do" he said.
However he predicted that the Indomitable Lions would reach the semi-finals, after which anything can happen.
"We have a new Indomitable Lions, a new captain, a new coach and hopefully a new reality, and I hope we can start the new year in the best way," he said.
Group A: Angola, Mali, Algeria, Malawi.
Group B: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso.
Group C: Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Mozambique.
Group D: Cameroon, Tunisia, Zambia, Gabon.
Angola versus Mali will be the opening game of the tournament.
Group A will be based in Luanda, Group B will be in Cabinda in the north of the country, Group C will play in Benguela, and Group D will be based in Lubango.
Former Angolan football legend Akwa said he thought all the groups looked difficult.
"It's not just Algeria and Angola that could go through, Mali have a good national team and they can give us a lot of problems" he said.
However, when asked how far Angola can go, he said "I believe we can reach the final".
Group B is being touted as the group of death with the prospect of Ghana and Ivory Coast renewing their rivalry.
The Chairman of Ghana's Football Association said "there is no better description of this group".
"Ivory Coast and Ghana are two of the best teams in Africa".
"The group is interesting because Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo are all our neighbours".
"Togo has Adebayor, one of the best players in the world, and Burkina Faso's Moumouni Dagano is the top scorer of the World Cup qualifying campaign," he said.
However history favours Ghana as they've met seven times and the Ivorians have won just one of those encounters.
Egypt versus Nigeria looks like an exciting fixture to open Group C with on January 12th in Benguela.
Nigeria's coach Shaibu Amodou was present at the draw and said that on paper Nigeria should emerge from Group B, but he added a word of caution.
"There are no small teams in football any more" he said.
Nigeria's former captain Sunday Oliseh described Nigeria's group as a "delicate" one.
"Mozambique gave us a lot of hassle during qualifying" he said.
Oliseh also thanked Mozambique for helping Nigeria qualify for the World Cup.
They scored a lone goal against Tunisia in the final qualifying game which helped to put Nigeria through to South Africa 2010.
Mozambique's most capped player and record goal scorer Tico-Tico said he thought it was a tough draw for his side.
"We'll just have to compete and see what happens" he said.
"Egypt are the champions of Africa so that won't be easy but if we believe in ourselves maybe we can spring some surprises," he says.
"Nigeria and Egypt would seem the obvious teams to qualify but anything can happen" he said.
Former Cameroon striker Patrick Mboma said that Group D will be no pushover either.
"We've only recently seen what Gabon can do" he said.
However he predicted that the Indomitable Lions would reach the semi-finals, after which anything can happen.
"We have a new Indomitable Lions, a new captain, a new coach and hopefully a new reality, and I hope we can start the new year in the best way," he said.
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