Wednesday, November 18, 2009              

Eagles knows opponents on Friday
By Olalekan Okusan

THE Super Eagles will know their opponents for the 2010 Nations Cup in Angola on Friday when the draws for the championship will be made in Luanda.

After the 16 teams expected to feature at the championship were confirmed over the weekend, all is now set for the draws holding at the Talatona Convention Centre in Luanda.

According to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the 27th edition of Africa's showpiece football event will see 16 teams divided into four groups for the tourney that takes place from January 10 to 31. The three-week tourney, the first to be hosted by the Southern African country, would take place in four cities - Luanda, Cabinda, Benguela and Lobango.

The teams to be drawn include host - Angola; Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroun, Tunisia, Ghana, Mali, Gabon, Togo, Mozambique, Algeria, Egypt, Zambia, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso and Malawi. From the calendar released by CAF, Group A teams will base in the Angolan capital, Luanda, Group B in Cabinda, Group C in Benguela and Group D in Lubango.

The group phase matches will hold from January 10 to 21, followed by the knockout stages from January 24 to 25. The semi-finals have been fixed for January 28 in Luanda and Benguela, with the third place match also slated for Benguela two days later.

Luanda will host the final on Sunday, January 31. In all, 32 matches would be played.