By Mark Gleeson
JOHANNESBURG, July 5 (Reuters) – Heavyweight contenders
Ivory Coast and Senegal have been drawn together in the final
round of qualifying for the next African Nations Cup finals.
The draw means at least one more of the continent’s top
contenders will miss out on next year’s tournament in South
Africa, joining record winners Egypt on the sidelines.
The Ivorians host the first leg of the knockout clash in
September and then travel to Dakar for the return in October.
For a golden generation of Ivorians players, who have been
to two successive World Cups and reached the final of two of the
last four Nations Cups, it presents a tough test.
It is also arguably the last chance for the likes of Didier
Drogba, Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora to live up to their role as
kingpins in Africa’s top-ranked team and win an elusive
continental championship.
The Ivorians did not concede a goal at the finals in
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon earlier this year, but still
contrived to lose the penalty shoot-out in the final against
Zambia.
A highly fancied Senegal, boasting a number of
European-based players, went to the 2012 finals as best
performer in the preliminaries, only to lose all three group
games and suffer the embarrassment of being the first team
eliminated.
Despite that setback, they were expected to provide another
credible challenge at the 2013 tournament, but to do so now will
first need to get past the Ivorians.
Continued…
