Ghana Miss Out On African Nations Cup Seeding

African giants, Ghana have failed to make the top seeding in the upcoming draw for the 2010 African Cup of Nations and they will have to face one of their arch rivals.

CAF regulations stipulate that seedings are based on performance criteria from the last three African Cup of Nations competitions.

The four-time AFCON winners and bronze medalist at the 2008 CAN would avoid arch-rivals Nigeria, Tunisia and Mali in the Group stages as they are all placed in Pot 2.

The draw takes place on Friday at the Talatona Convention Centre in Angola’s capital Luanda. CAF President Issa Hayatou and Angolan President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos would be in attendance.

Local media reports say representatives from the 16 qualifiers have already arrived in Luanda to oversee the splitting. The group winners and runners-up would advance to the quarter-finals.

Pot 3 includes Zambia, Benin, Algeria and Togo, with Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Gabon and Malawi filling Pot 4.

Angola will occupy the top position in Group A and will be based in Luanda while Egypt will be the Group C top seeds in Benguela. Cameroon and Ivory Coast, the remaining seeded teams, are placed in Group B at Cabinda and Group D at Huila respectively.

Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, defending champions Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Togo, Tunisia, Zambia and Angola have all qualified for the much-awaited tournament from January 10-31 next year.

Four new Chinese-built stadiums in Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda and Lubango will host the 32-fixture tournament.

K.N.S. Mensah, Goal.com