Big moment. . . Zebras of Botswana make their Africa Cup of Nations debut. Their captain Dispy Selolwane is first from left in the squatting row.
After Mali confirmed last minute selection of Jomos Cosmos' defender Ousmane Berthe on Wednesday, South Africa's horror for not qualifying for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nation was hugely intensified. Cosmos are a struggling club in SA's premier league, PSL, and has been sitting at the bottom of the table for the entire first half programme of the league.
However, Berthe is good enough for the Afcon, while Cosmos, PSL and the rest of the country are left pondering what had become of South African football. The pain of not being in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon will intensify tomorrow for SA when the Afcon kicks off. It is a great pity that after having his tactics exposed for their ineffectiveness during the qualifying tournament, SA's coach Pitso Mosimane chose the week of the big kickoff to blow his trumpet about his coaching ability.
Now, that should rank as one of the lowest points of Mosimane's tenure as Bafana Bafana coach. Logic dictates that he should have commisserated with the stressed soccer-loving public in SA for his own contribution for us not being where the best of African soccer have gathered.
Anyway, as a great lover of African football, I will be following the tournament closely. My heart and mind will be with the three countries from the southern region - Angola, Botswana and Zambia. The latter are in action on the opening day tomorrow, against Senegal. In my book the Teranga Lions are hot favourites, alongside Ghana, and I rate their squad higher than the No1 ranked Cote d'Ivoire. I hope Angola exploit these weaknesses and score another win against either Sudan or Burkina Faso in group B and advance.
The problem with the Elephants is that their strength is in attack only, and lack someone who would give their team shape and direction in the midfield. Cote d'Ivoire must also deal with their psychological limitation which saw them choking in the last two editions, where they were hot favourites.
Senegal on the other hand boast a massive attack in the shape of Moussa Sow, Demba Ba, Papiss Demba Cisse and the veteran but still deadly Mamadou Niang. Their midfield is rather thin bust boast England based Mouhamed Diamé (Wigan) and Guirane N'Daw (Birmingham City). Senegal's defence conceded just two goals in the qualifiers, which meant France-based stalwarts - Kader Mangane (Rennes) and Souleymane Diawara (Marseille) - have found a winning formula in a defence which includes dependable veteran Omar Daf, who at 34, the 2012 edition could be his swansong.
As impressed as I am with Senegal, I still hope Zambia will go farther but a lot depends on how they shape up against the resurgent Lions in the opening match. The Copper Bullets contain many familiar faces as a third of their squad is based in South Africa, including my favourite Isaac Chansa of Orlando Pirates. Some squad members are former PSL stars, such as Chris Katongo and his younger brother Felix, and James Chamanga.
With group A including weaker teams such as the co-hosts E Guinea and Libya, I tip Zambia to progress to the next round with Senegal.
Botswana are clearly one of the minnows as they make their Afcon debut, ironically against overwhelming favourites Ghana. This is one match Stan Tshosane and his unsung heroes should prove their time has come to be counted among the big boys. I am saying a little prayer for the Zebra to produce a mighty kick, and an early shock of the tournament when they meet the Black Stars in group D on Tuesday.
Effectively the Group of Death, this pool includes other Afcon powerhouses, Mali and Guinea, who are always lurking as the dark horses. So, coming out of this group alive will be like tournament victory for Botswana. They did good by just qualifying, considering the limited pool of players they had to depend on to sail through the qualifiers.
Let the games begin!
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