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African Cup of Nations 2010: Gabon Team Guide

One of the most inexperienced teams at this level, Gabon may fancy their chances of causing an upset at the 2010 African Cup of Nations after surprising a few better known sides in qualification.

It’s been a decade since Gabon last featured at the African Cup of Nations after making it through to the tournament finals in 2000 for only the second time in their history. Much of the credit for the significant improvement in the fortunes of the side known as the Black Panthers must go to former French international Alain Giresse.

Steady improvement

The former PSG and Toulouse boss took over with Gabon languishing below the 100th-place mark in the FIFA World Rankings, having at one point slipped to as low as 125th in May 2003. Since then the results have improved steadily and that has been more than reflected in the rankings, with Gabon’s highest point coming over the summer of last year when they peaked at an impressive 30th position, higher than the like of South Africa and Senegal.

Whilst Gabon may not yet have featured at a World Cup final, they gave a decent account of themselves in qualification for the 2006. Qualification for the 2008 African Cup of Nations was less satisfactory when it descended into farce for them after the withdrawal of Djibouti from their group and the poor showing by Madagascar. That left Gabon as the only effective challengers to the might of the Ivory Coast. Despite holding The Elephants to a draw in what was effectively a play-off at home, an earlier 5-0 hammering in Abidjan had already done the damage for Gabon and an appearance in Ghana two years ago was denied to them.

An unknown quantity

First stage qualifying for the 2010 African Cup of Nations and the World Cup started badly back in June 2008 with an away defeat in Libya, but things soon improved when they overcame a practically full-strength Ghana in their first home match giving an indication of their potential.

Their solid form at home would prove to be the foundation for their second place in the first group stage, and their record in the head-to-head rankings with the other second placed teams was enough to see them through to the second round.

There they gave further flashes of their potential by beating Morocco both home and away, but couldn’t quite do enough to prevent Cameroon taking top spot and wrapping up qualification to the World Cup. However they did cling onto the coat tails of Eto’o et al until the final round of matches, and it wasn’t until a last round defeat to Togo, combined with Cameroon’s win against Morocco, that Gabon were finally ruled out. Nevertheless second place was enough to confirm their place in Angola, so their threat shouldn’t be taken too lightly.

The majority of the squad hail from the French game, although only four ply their trade at Ligue 1 clubs. Furthermore there are a smattering of players from other European leagues such as the English Premiership and the Turkish Superlig, so Gabon’s achievement of performing so well against some better known sides is worthy of recognition.

Inexperience at this level is a potential concern for Gabon, with only a couple of the players still remaining from the 2000 team that finished bottom of their group with just one point from their three games on that occasion. Nevertheless participation at such tournaments is the only way to improve the overall quality of the side, and with matches against Cameroon and Tunisia to look forward to in Angola, Gabon should be able to take much from this tournament regardless of their performance.

Squad

Goalkeepers � Didier Ovono (Le Mans), Yves Bitseki Moto (Bitam), Boris Nguema (USM Libreville)

Defenders � Rodrigue Moudounga (AS Mangasport), Georges Ambourouet (Makedonija), Bruno Ecuele Manga (Angers), Moise Brou (Brest), Aymard Moro Mve (Mechelen), Ernest Akoussaga (Nantes), Arsene do Marcolino (Les Herbiers), Erwin Nguema Obame (Bitam)

Midfielders � Alexander Ndoumbou (Marseille), Paul Kessany (Istres), Thierry Issiemou (Monastir), Cedric Moubamba (Dhofar), Arsene Copa (Gyor), Bruno Zita (Sivasspor), Alain Djissikadie (Mazembe)

Attackers � Daniel Cousin (Hull City), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Lille), Fabrice do Marcolino (Stade Laval), Eric Mouloungi (Nice), Willy Aubameyang (Eupen)

Players to Watch

Captain of the side and veteran of Gabon’s last appearance at the African Cup of Nations back in 2000, Daniel Cousin will have a vital role to play if Gabon are to succeed in pulling off a shock. On loan with QPR after failing to find his best form at Hull City in the Prmeiership, on his day Cousin can be not only an outstanding leader of the attack but also lethal goal-scorer. In Scotland he scored at a rate of nearly 1 in every 2 matches in the SPL, and has a respectable record in France prior to his move across the Channel in 2007.

With two goals during the successful qualifying campaign, Bruno Zita will be one of many hoping to make a good impression at the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Currently plying his trade in Turkey with Sivasspor after the surprise packages of last season swooped for him in the summer after he impressed in Belarus with Dinamo Minsk, Zita has been unable to bring his best form to the Superlig, An early goal in his second league appearance against Bursaspor is all he can show for nine appearances, and a strong tournament for Gabon may help him get his best form back.

Fixtures

13th Jan � Cameroon

17th Jan � Tunisia

21st Jan � Zambia

Prediction

The draw for the tournament could have been far worse for Gabon, and they find themselves in a position to potentially challenge for a place in the quarter finals, although equally Zambia and Tunisia will fancy their chances of taking the second spot behind Cameroon as well. Gabon will need to keep themselves in contention over the course of the first two games, and then look to seize their chance in their final group match against Zambia. A quarter-final place is more than an outside chance, but a potential quarter-final against Nigeria or Egypt from Group C is probably as far as they can realistically hope to get at the tournament.

Posted by Walter Townsend on Wednesday, 6th January 2010

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