OWN CORRESPONDENT, Gabon | Saturday 6.30pm.
NO qualifiers for the 16-team African Nations Cup know each other better than former champions SA and Gabon, who set Group B rolling on Sunday at Asokwa Stadium.
SA triumphed 4-1 at home and lost 1-0 away in qualifiers for the 2000 finals, and the manner of the defeat in Libreville still hurts one of the favourites for the title.
A Congolese referee disallowed a seemingly legitimate first-half goal by the visitors before awarding a harsh last-minute penalty that Dieudonne Londo converted.
Bafana Bafana are expected to top the pool with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Algeria and Gabon fighting for the other qualifying spot. Coach Trott Moloto, a former schoolteacher and slick dresser, has shunned publicly during a low-key build-up that produced a win and draw with Saudi Arabia and a win over Sweden.
While accepting that co-hosts Ghana and Nigeria are the teams to beat, the man who once played for a club called Stonebreakers says his experienced outfit can crack any opposition. Nations Cup-winning teams are built around outstanding defences and Lucas Radebe from English Premiership pacesetters Leeds United marshals a powerful unit including goalkeeper Andre Arendse, Pierre Issa and Mark Fish.
If Benni McCarthy was the seven-goal revelation of the 1998 finals, much is expected this time of young midfielder Quinton Fortune, who scored twice for Manchester United in the World Club Championships two weeks ago.
The Gabonese come from more humble backgrounds with Brazilian coach Antonio Dumas combining 11 local players with three each from France and Tunisia and one from Portugal, Morocco and South Africa. The other two have no clubs.
Shiva Nzighou, 16, from French club Nantes, is set to become the youngest participant in the finals. The record is held by Mohamed Kallon of Sierra Leone, who was also 16 when he featured in the 1996 Nations Cup.
But it is more seasoned stars like defender Guy-Roger Nzeng, midfielder Francois Amegasse and striker Theodore Nzue-Ngumea to whom Dumas will bank on as he plots a shock success.
“Gabon are afraid of no one and we are capable of reaching at least the quarter-finals,” boasted the coach who won a 50 percent pay rise just two weeks ago. — AFP