Africa Cup Of Nations 2012: Team Previews

Spearhead of the “Arab Spring” on the political/sociological scene, The Eagles of Carthage are back to the Africa Cup of Nations after failing to make it pass the group stage in the 2010 edition. Not a stellar African power since winning the ACN in 2004, Tunisia qualified to the competition by finishing 2nd in its group behind Botswana, against whom they lost twice. It’s not a strong foundation to build on to conquer a difficult tournament like the ACN. The good news is that, since 1994, Tunisia has always been present in thee Africa Cup of Nations.

A Rich Local Football

Information on the team isn’t exactly abundant, but their best player is a well-known quantity, as is their manager. Alain Giresse was an extremely successful player and turned Gabon into a respectable side that was competitive with the rest of Africa during his four-year tenure as the manager of that side.

Sissoko and Diarra are gone, but the country is loaded with similar players. There are no shortage of quality defensive or box-to-box midfielders with fantastic athleticism in this team. Between the age of Diarra and the form of Sissoko, they will lose very little. Keita is still an excellent player and will be one of the most accomplished players at this tournament. The biggest question stems from whether their group of forwards can replace what Kanoute did.