Africa Cup of Nations 2017: the setting, the nicknames, and the big names
What’s host country Gabon like? Who are the Eagles of Carthage, the Sparrow Hawks, and the Wild Dogs? Which big-name players are there, and who’s likely to win in the end? Some things to know about the Africa Cup of Nations
What’s host country Gabon like? Who are the Eagles of Carthage, the Sparrow Hawks, and the Wild Dogs? Which big-name players are there, and who’s likely to win in the end? And why are Ugandan politicians taking a pay cut in the name of soccer?
Some things to know about the Africa Cup of Nations, which kicks off on Saturday:
GABON AGAIN
The Africa Cup is getting pretty familiar with Gabon, returning to the former French colony on the west coast of Africa for the second time in four tournaments. Gabon did a good enough job as co-host with Equatorial Guinea in 2012 to be given this year’s event alone when war-torn Libya decided it couldn’t stage it.
A nation of Atlantic Ocean beaches in the west, deep tropical jungles in the north and east, and petroleum plants in the south, Gabon financed its two Africa Cups through its oil wealth.
This time there’s an uneasy feel in the seaside capital of Libreville after deadly clashes in the streets last year following president Ali Bongo Ondimba’s disputed re-election by a razor-thin margin. Still crying foul, opposition parties say they want to use the tournament, with international journalists present, to protest Bongo’s rule. In this part of Africa that’s normally met with force by the national police force, which is run by the military in Gabon.
