ACTUALITE |
17.09.2001
Top Mali seeds get head start
Bamako stadium will be one of the host venues in Mali
Follow the draw live from 1430gmt on Saturday
Defending champions Cameroon and hosts Mali are one step ahead of their rivals for next year`s African Cup of Nations - they already know where they will be playing.
Mali, the top seeds in group A will be based in the capital Bamako, playing at the newly-completed, 60,000 seater 26th of March stadium.
While Cameroon will head group C and be based in Sikasso, one of four other provincial venues being used for the finals.
The other two seeds for the tournament, Egypt and South Africa will not know their base until the draw on Saturday but both will head the remaining two groups.
Group B is the better of the two groups as it is also based in the capital Bamako, which offers comfort and facilities unmatched by the southern town of Segou, host to matches in group D.
Top sides could clash
Saturday`s draw will also determine the other teams in the opening round groups, who have all been pre-seeded according to performances in the past three Nations Cup finals.
DR Congo, Ghana, Nigeria and Tunisia are on the second tier of the seeding and will each be drawn into one of the four groups.
Algeria, Burkina Faso, the Ivory Coast and Zambia are in the third group of seeds.
The final quartet is made up of Liberia, Morocco, Togo and Senegal, surprise qualifiers for next year`s World Cup finals.
In theory, the draw could produce a group including three World Cup finalists competing against each other in the first round.
Cameroon, South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia and Senegal have all qualified for next year`s finals in Korea and Japan and three of the four could be drawn together in one group.
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Hits: 1 | Source:BBC | |
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