46 Friday Sports Friday, June 14, 2019 Hosts Egypt favoured to win Africa Cup of Nations JOHANNESBURG: Hosts Egypt are favoured United. Verdict: Could be heading home after not only to win Group A at the 2019 Africa Cup first round, or reach the quarter-finals of Nations this June, but to go on and lift the tro- phy a record-extending eighth time. EGYPT They possess in serial Liverpool scorer Mo- As Egypt prepare to stage the Cup of Na- hamed Salah an African superstar and can ex- tions a record fifth time, they can draw confi- pect passionate support as they seek a first title dence from an outstanding record when they since edging Ghana in the 2010 final. play host to the best African national teams. Egypt have faced all their group rivals, the They won in 1959, 1986 and 2006 and finished Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and third in 1974 after coming up short in a five-goal Zimbabwe, before at the Cup of Nations, win- semi-final thriller against World Cup-bound Zaire ning seven matches and losing only one. (now DR Congo). Fanatical support has always While the hosts are poised to top the stand- been a key factor with numerous visiting coaches ings, there is little to choose between the other complaining that the endless noise from the three teams with the top two finishers guaran- stands prevents their touchline instructions being teed round-of-16 places. Here, AFP Sport as- heard. While Salah is the talisman, he will be sur- sesses the prospects of the Group A sides ahead rounded by vastly experienced internationals like of the June 21 tournament opener between Tarek Hamed, a tireless midfield enforcer and Egypt and Zimbabwe in Cairo. often an unsung hero. Verdict: Salah, home ad- vantage and history makes them favourites DR CONGO The two-time champions struggled to qualify UGANDA with a nervous 1-0 last-match win over modest After going 39 years without qualifying since Liberia in Kinshasa squeezing them through as finishing 1978 runners-up to hosts Ghana, MADRID: File photo shows Liverpool’s Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah raises the European Champion runners-up beneath Zimbabwe. Uganda will make back-to-back appearances in Clubs’ Cup after winning the UEFA Champions League final football match between Liverpool and Tot- An experienced squad, the Congolese are the Cup of Nations. They had a comfortable qual- tenham Hotspur at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 1, 2019. — AFP extremely unpredictable when it comes to the ifying passage under French coach Sebastien Cup of Nations as their last two appearances Desabre, not losing nor conceding in five matches demonstrated. Outsiders in 2015, they finished before a dead-rubber defeat in Tanzania. Winless ZIMBABWE have cast his net wider and found places for the third behind the Ivory Coast and Ghana in Equa- in Gabon two years ago, the Cranes are banking The lowest ranked of the four teams will rely best local talent,” said ex-national team de- torial Guinea, then made a timid last-eight exit on veteran South Africa-based goalkeeper heavily on stars based in South Africa as they fender David Kutyauripo of a squad lacking any two years ago in Gabon when more was ex- Denis Onyango to inspire a better showing this aim to progress beyond the group stage for the home-based stars. Coaches emphasise the im- pected of them. time. “Denis is utterly dependable and his expe- first time in four attempts. portance of not losing their first match in a tour- Cedric Bakambu brings stealth and Yannick rience will hopefully rub off on the other play- But the reliance of coach and former national nament, but it is the probable back luck of Bolasie and Elia Meschak pace to the attack ers,” says Desabre. “Our target is decent results, team captain Sunday Chidzambwa on those op- Zimbabwe that they must face Egypt and Salah while the defence is likely to include Arthur Ma- especially in our opener against DR Congo.” erating in their neighbouring country has drawn on opening night. Verdict: Capable of making suaku from Premier League club West Ham Verdict: Will do well to reach knockout phase criticism from a former star. “The coach should second round for first time. — AFP “Goulart, Fernando and others are rumoured and three days later, after a senior Brazilian fed- Lippi eyes Brazilian to be naturalised, but their procedures are rela- Neymar rape eration official had said he would “bet” that tively lagging behind and it will be difficult for Neymar would pull out of the Copa, the PSG them to make the (initial) qualifiers.” The Italian forward injured ankle ligaments in a 2-0 friendly strikeforce as China World Cup winner Lippi returned as China accusations victory over tournament invitees Qatar. coach last month, just four months after leaving Even so, Brazil’s ability to concentrate on the pursue quick fix following his side’s exit in the quarter-finals of overshadow task at hand has been hampered by the Neymar the Asian Cup. rape soap opera. After the debacle of Brazil’s 7- The 71-year-old has long complained that, Copa America 1 semi-final humbling at the hands of Germany in SHANGHAI: Marcello Lippi’s China side could aside from Espanyol forward Wu Lei, he has few their home World Cup five years ago, and the fall soon boast an all-Brazilian attack as the ambi- attackers at his disposal. Bringing in overseas- out from the huge amount of money wasted on tious country ramps up efforts to reach the born players to quickly plug the gap was central RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil should have been hosting both the global football showpiece and World Cup for just a second time. Lippi last to conditions laid out by Lippi for his return, the gearing up for another major home sporting the Olympics in the space of two years, the coun- week gave a debut to former England youth in- Beijing News and other Chinese media say. spectacle with renewed optimism that star for- try could have done without such a sordid affair. ternational Nico Yennaris, the London-born “In the future it is likely that more naturalised ward Neymar would help bring to an end a 12- Coach Tite insists that Brazil are still in fine fettle midfielder making a piece of history as China’s players will appear in the national football team,” year trophy drought. ahead of the tournament, which they haven’t won first naturalised footballer. said the Beijing News. The 26-year-old Yennaris, But instead, the Selecao’s golden boy is dom- since 2007 when a team inspired by former Real But China, who under football-fan President a former Arsenal reserve, was given a warm wel- inating the build-up to a tournament he will miss Madrid and AC Milan forward Robinho out- Xi Jinping have grand designs of hosting and come by Chinese fans when he made his land- due to an ankle injury for all the wrong reasons. classed Lionel Messi’s Argentina 3-0 in the final. even winning the World Cup, are not done with mark debut in Friday’s 2-0 home friendly win Neymar is embroiled in a rape scandal in which Tite admitted Neymar would be missed, say- drafting in players from other countries. Shang- over the Philippines. he has been accused of forcing himself on a ing “it’s a shame to not have one of the three best hai SIPG’s Brazilian striker Elkeson is expected Unlike the trio of Brazilians, he gained citizen- model he met through social media in a hotel players in the world.” “After Messi and Cristiano to gain Chinese citizenship in time to play in the ship through his mother, who is Chinese. room in the French capital, where he plys his club Ronaldo, he’s comparable only to (Eden) Hazard, autumn qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Elkeson, Goulart (of Guangzhou Evergrande) trade for Paris Saint-Germain. with one advantage: he’s quicker. That’s the the Beijing News said yesterday. and Fernando (Chongqing Lifan) have no Chi- It’s tarnished the festive atmosphere of South player we’re missing,” said Tite last week. But he He could later be joined in a new-look attack nese ancestry and would attempt to qualify America’s footballing showpiece with an ugly af- said that rather than reflect on what they’re by his fellow China-based Brazilians Ricardo under FIFA rules saying they must reside in their fair that shows no sign of going away, despite missing, “inside the squad we’re much more fo- Goulart, also a striker, and the winger Fernando, adopted country for five years. None of the Najila Trindade Mendes de Souza’s rapidly un- cussed on working hard, training well, preparing the state media publication said. “It is understood three has represented Brazil in a competitive raveling case. It all blew up on June 2 when Ney- for matches, which has been our main focus.” that Elkeson’s naturalisation procedures are match, leaving them free to play for China. How- mar published a seven-minute video on The Selecao’s last warm-up match was a 7-0 being processed and it is expected that he will ever, many fans have expressed deep reserva- Instagram, where he had first been in contact thrashing of 10-man Honduras in which Ney- be able to join the qualifiers that begin in Sep- tions about having non-Chinese origin players with Trindade, revealing that he had been ac- mar’s absence certainly wasn’t felt, with his sub- tember,” Beijing News said.