THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 SPORTS Nigeria, Egypt paired in Cup of Nations draw JOHANNESBURG: Nigeria and Egypt were domestic football with many matches can- last of four Cup of Nations titles 33 years drawn together and so were Cameroon and celled and other fixtures played held in ago, are in Group H with Mozambique, South Africa in the highlights of the 2017 spectator-less stadiums. Retirements of stars Rwanda and Mauritius. Morocco were origi- Africa Cup of Nations qualifying draw made like midfielders Mohamed Abou Trika and nally barred from the 2017 qualifiers after yesterday in Cairo. Mohamed Barakat and defender Wael refusing to host the tournament this year The Nigerians and Egyptians are in Group Gomaa and the ageing of goalkeeper Essam because they feared supporters could bring G with Tanzania and Chad, and the El-Hadary also diluted the power of the the deadly Ebola virus into the country. But Cameroonians and South Africans in Group Pharaohs. The countries last clashed com- the north African kingdom successfully M with Gambia and Mauritania. petitively at the 2010 Cup of Nations with appealed against the ban to the Egypt have won the biennial Cup of Egypt winning a group game 3-1 in Angola. Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Nations tournament a record seven times, South Africa were also second seeds, and Sport (CAS). The Moroccans were placed in Cameroon four times, Nigeria three times are a far lesser force than in 1996 when they Group F with the Cape Verde Islands, Libya and South Africa once. trounced Cameroon 3-0 in the opening and Sao Tome e Principe. Only the 13 group winners are guaran- match en route to conquering Africa. Tunisia were another country whose teed places at the January-February 2017 Defending champions Ivory Coast face participation was in doubt after accusing tournament in Gabon with just the best two Sudan and Sierra Leone in Group I, which African governing body CAF of bias follow- runners-up also going through. also includes Gabon. ing a controversial 2015 Cup of Nations Nigeria and Egypt are more accustomed However, matches against automatic quarter-finals loss to hosts Equatorial to playing at the finals, but a dramatic fall qualifiers Gabon count as friendlies with no Guinea. They eventually apologised to CAF from power by the Pharaohs meant they points awarded. Ivory Coast lifted a trophy president Issa Hayatou and are in Group A were only among the second seeds. that symbolises African national-team with Togo, Liberia and Djibouti. Zambia, After winning three consecutive titles in supremacy for the second time two months shock winners of the 2012 title when co- 2006, 2008 and 2010, Egypt failed to qualify ago by edging Ghana 9-8 in a penalty hosts Gabon staged the final in Libreville, CAIRO: The African Cup of Nations trophy is on display during the announcement that for the next three tournaments. The Arab shootout. The all-west Africa final in face Congo Brazzaville, Kenya and Guinea Gabon is the winner of the draw to host the 2017 African Cup of Nations during a meeting Spring political upheaval in Egypt and relat- Equatorial Guinea city Bata had ended goal- Bissau in Group E. Qualifying begins in of the Confederation of African Footballís executive committee. — AP ed security problems severely affected less after extra time. Ghana, who won the June. —AFP Gabon to host 2017 Africa Cup of Nations CAIRO: Gabon won a three-country contest against Algeria and Ghana yesterday to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations football tournament. The result of a vote among 14 Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive committee members was announced mid-afternoon in a Cairo hotel after the three candidates made short presentations. The Gabonese were co-hosts with neighbors Equatorial Guinea of the 2012 Cup of Nations. A Gabonese Football Federation official said maches would be staged in capital city Libreville, Franceville, Port Gentil and Oyem. Stadiums in Libreville and Franceville were used for the 2012 tournament and the other two venues are expected to be ready by mid-2016, the official added. They will be the second successive central African country to host the championship after Equatorial Guinea this year. Choosing Gabon ended a 1,529-day saga over who would host the next edition of the biennial African football show- piece. South Africa were selected as 2017 hosts four years ago, but traded tournaments with 2013 hosts Libya because of post-Moamer Kadhafi-era violence in the north African state. As deadly Libyan inter-militia fighting intensified, the oil- rich country were forced to withdraw as 2017 hosts as well. Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Sudan and Zimbabwe then applied to stage the 16-nation, three-week tournament. But CAF dropped Kenya, Sudan and Zimbabwe from the bidding contest, saying they did not meet the criteria to host the tournament. Kenya (1996) and Zimbabwe (2000) had pre- viously been selected as Cup of Nations hosts only to pull out due to lack of finance. Egypt later withdrew, saying they did not wish to compete against fellow Arab nation Algeria. However, security was probably also a factor as the deci- sion came just days after 20 football supporters where killed in a Cairo stampede following clashes with police. Before the selection of Gabon, north and west African countries staged 10 tournaments each, east Africa five, central Africa four and southern Africa three. —AFP Bhutan praying for dream Japan clash KUALA LUMPUR: When the second round draw for Asian World Cup qualifying takes place in Kuala Lumpur next week, fans, players and officials in the tiny Himalayan king- dom of Bhutan will be praying for one outcome. “The people here want Japan because most of the youth out here are fans of Kagawa because he played for Manchester United,” Bhutan Football Federation official Phutsho Wangdi told Reuters. “Japan would be the first choice and especially our play- ers too. They said if we play them, its like a dream come true for them because they are their heroes. We grew up watching them.” There is another reason to want Shinji Kagawa, Keisuke Honda and the rest of the record four- times Asian champion’s squad to play at the picturesque Changlimithang Stadium - money. The world’s worst side at 209th in the FIFA rankings, Bhutan received no funding from the government and played only two matches in two years. Those matches, though, were against Sri Lanka in the first round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which resulted in a miraculous 3-1 aggregate win on their tournament debut. Only their fourth and fifth victories ever. They now await Tuesday’s draw where 40 teams, including Asian champions Australia and Japan, will be drawn into groups of fiveguaranteeing eight matches. “If we get Australia or Japan or maybe South Korea, we will get the TV guys coming from there and we will make some money,” said Wangdi, who oversees marketing at the federation. “If Japan comes here we are going to make a hell of a lot of money,” he laughed. The jovial spirit is flowing through Bhutanese football since last month’s stunning 1-0 win in Colombo and nervy 2-1 success in Thimphu, where around 20,000 people packed into the high altitude stadium with many more outside the gates willing their side to victory. Football rivals Archery for popularity in Bhutan, a Buddhist nation wedged in the Himalayas between India and China, but local fans look to English teams for their fill. The Sri Lanka results have changed things, though. The local league, which features seven clubs, used to get only 100 fans but over 6,000 have turned up after Wangdi and his team ramped up promotional efforts in a country where television was banned until the late 1990s. The gov- ernment have now provided funding and the Changlimithang Stadium is being renovated ahead of the four home World Cup qualifiers. “It’s a huge achievement for Bhutan and I think the foot- ball is really picking up a furious pace right now,” he said. Expectations of a young team made of students and work- ers- their captain is a fulltime pilot for the national carrier- remain in check, however. Only striker Chencho Gyeltshen plays outside of the country in Thailand. “We know we can never make it through to the World Cup but we want to face some of the big Asian names, like Japan, Australia, South Korea. This is a one-time opportunity for our team and the people of Bhutan,” Wangdi said. “Even if we face a team like Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore they are pretty much far more advanced than our boys.” But before Tuesday’s draw in the Malaysian capi- tal comes another important date in the calendar, the release of the updated FIFA rankings on Thursday. Bhutan are expected to rise to a record position of 163rd.Wangdi is just looking forward to avoiding the name calling. “The most hurtful was the basement boys. The numbers don’t really matter, we know our strengths, we can beat India or Bangladesh also. Its just that we don’t get enough matches.” —Reuters.