SA hoping for favourable cup draw

SOUTH Africa will be in pot three when the draw is made tonight for the African Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have changed the way they determine the seedings for these finals, adding extra layers of complexity to what they have done in the past.

Previously they used only performance in the last three Nations Cup finals, but have now added the last three quali- fication campaigns as well, along with performances in the qualifiers for this year’s World Cup.

It matters little to Bafana – they were destined to be in pot three whichever criteria were used – but they now know they will not be pooled with Cameroon, Gabon and Cape Verde, who are in the same pot as them.

The seeds in pot one include hosts Equatorial Guinea, 2012 champions Zambia, Ivory Coast and Ghana, with Shakes Mashaba no doubt keen to avoid the latter two.

Pot two comprises Burkina Faso, Mali, Tunisia and Algeria, with none of those an appetising prospect, not least Africa’s top-ranked side the Algerians.

Pot four has some menace in it, too, as Guinea, Senegal, DR Congo and Congo make up the four. The Senegalese are the team to be avoided there.

The toughest possible outcome – and draws have been unkind to Bafana in the recent past – would likely be Ivory Coast, Algeria and Senegal in South Africa’s pool, where Mashaba would need to draw on all his experience to get Ba- fana through. The best pool they could hope for would be Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso and old foes Congo, whom they have already ousted in the qualifiers.

Equally important will be to see which venues South Africa will play at.

They will be hoping for the better infrastructure and facilities of either Malabo or Bata.

South Africa were one of four sides to come through the qualifiers unbeaten, along with Cameroon, Tunisia and Gabon.

The draw will take place from 8pm South African time.