1. CONTROVERSIAL HOSTS
Having co-hosted the 2012 competition with Gabon, Equatorial Guinea stepped in this time when Morocco cried off staging the 2015 event due to the Ebola threat – a decision that has raised a few eyebrows. Off the pitch the country’s president, Teodoro Obiang, who seized power in a bloody coup in 1979, has a chequered history but, even for sporting reasons, the choice was a surprise given they were disqualified having fielded an ineligible player in their qualification victory over Mauritania. Hosting the tournament handed Equatorial Guinea a route back in but they have been so poor that Andoni Goikoetxea was sacked as coach three weeks ago and replaced by Esteban Becker Churukian.
2. CONGO’S GRIPES
Congo, Saturday’s opponents for the hosts, and their coach, Claude Le Roy, have not been impressed with the local facilities. “There are not enough places for my staff and it’s even difficult to find rooms for the players,” Le Roy told the BBC World Service. “The electricity is terrible, everything is exposed. I wanted to wash my hands. There was no water. I don’t want a big five-star hotel. I just want something very clean. I told the players to qualify for the last eight - some teams will leave and maybe we will have a very nice hotel.”
3. BIG GUNS MISSING
The seven-times winners Egypt and 2013 champions, Nigeria, are both missing this time. That means the competition is wide open for a number of nations to reach the final in Bata on 8 February. But the best of the rest look to be quartered in Group C: Algeria, Ghana, Senegal and South Africa all meet - with Senegal the only nation from the group yet to lift the trophy.
4. HAPPY HAMMER
West Ham’s Cheikhou Kouyaté will be lining up for the Lions of Teranga and says there was no pressure from Upton Park for him to miss the tournament. “It was a dream for me to go to the Nations Cup,” he told Senenews.com. “Above all there is my country and I put Senegal before [West Ham]. With all the respect I have for my club, they respected my decision because I was not injured. It was a dream that no one could mess up.”
5. BONY ON BIG STAGE
Now that he is Manchester City’s £25m man, expectations will be sky blue high for Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Bony. His new City team-mate Yaya Touré leads the side and Bony believes the Elephants’ captain can now help his game progress for both club and country. “I speak with Yaya every day on international duty,” Bony says. “I think he will help me to become a better player and a more clinical striker.”
6. YORKSHIRE’S FINEST
South Africa’s Dean Furman will be a familiar figure to Doncaster Rovers fans. Life in the third tier of English football may be coming to an end for the midfielder as his contract runs down and Furman has temporarily left South Yorkshire to lead his native South Africa after the previous captain, Senzo Meyiwa, was shot dead in October.
