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African Cup of Nations draw set for Friday

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The draw for the African Cup of Nations will be conducted at the Talatona Convention Centre, Luanda, on Friday. Following three rounds of competition beginning on October 13, 2007, and involving 53 nations, the 15 to join hosts Angola in the African finals next year was determined after a tense finish over the weekend.

Going into the last round of matches, eight teams were still in contention for the four remaining qualification berths after Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Benin and Mali had all confirmed their Angola status with matches to spare.

Mozambique just edged out Kenya to third spot in Group Two after beating Tunisia 1-0 in Maputo to collect seven points. Kenya, who lost 3-2 at home to Nigeria, remained on three points. Stars had needed a win and a Mozambican loss to squeeze through to the African finals.

Harambee Stars’ case was not done any favours after coach Antoine Hey refused to train the team a week before the clash following a row with Football Kenya Limited over player selection. Hey’s assistant, Twahir Muhiddin, was elevated to stand in assisted by a technical committee of six local coaches.

Malawi also secured their spot in the finals despite losing their last qualifying match 1-0 away to Burkina Faso 1-0. The southern Africans finished third in Group Five one point ahead of Guinea who tumbled out after losing 3-0 to Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan. Malawi qualified for only the second time in their football history. They last featured in the Nations Cup in 1984 when they picked a single point in their preliminary matches.

Togo also made sure of a finals appearance, collecting eight points after beating Gabon 1-0 in Lome in a Group One tie. The win did not matter in the end after Nations Cup-chasing Morocco, playing at home, went down 2-0 to Cameroon to remain rooted at the bottom of the table with three points.

As qualifications concluded, hosts Angola warmed up for the tournament with a 1-1- draw against Congo-Brazzaville in Luanda. Angola took the lead in the second minute of the match through Flavio before Ladislas Douniama equalised for Congo.

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