Group F of 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations set to kick off on Sunday in Cameroon will see four nations battle for pride, bragging rights a place in the knockout stage.The group is comprised of Mali, 2004 champions Tunisia, debutants Gambia and Mauritania who will be making their second appearance in the tournament that returns after being delayed by a year due to coronavirus pandemic.Three of the teams; Mali, Tunisia and Mauritania were placed in the same group during the 2019 edition held in Egypt where the Carthage Eagles and the Eagles sailed to the knockout stage at the expense of Mauritania and Angola.Their matches will be staged at the Limbe Omnisport stadium save for the clash pitting Mali and Mauritania that has been scheduled for Stade de Japoma.🇩🇿🇧🇫🇨🇲🇨🇻🇰🇲🇨🇮🇪🇬🇬🇶🇪🇹🇬🇦🇬🇲🇬🇭🐦🌟🏆🏆🌟🐦🇬🇳🇬🇼🇲🇼🇲🇱🇲🇷🇲🇦🇳🇬🇸🇳🇸🇱🇸🇩🇹🇳🇿🇼Your official #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021hashtags are LIVE! pic.twitter.com/3IloLAIlSh— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 7, 2022 MaliMali won the ticket to play in the finals after emerging group A winner ahead of Guinea who finished second. They gathered thirteen points out of a possible eighteen, netted ten goals and conceded four.Mali will be making their 12th appearance in the tournament and will return to Cameroon hoping that they will be lucky this time as they finished as runner up in 1972 edition in the same country. They also reached the African Nations Championships (CHAN) finals in 2020 but lost to Morocco.The damage the West Africans can do whenever given a chance is not new to Kenyans who watched with bitterness when the star-studded team put in five unanswered goals past the Harambee Stars goalkeeper in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.It is no doubt that Mali boast of technically gifted players whose physique is also an added advantage. The 28-man squad named earlier did not have a single player from their local league.Represent! 🌍Reply with your nation’s official #AFCON2021 hashtag! 👇#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/DDvtr5OO01— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 7, 2022 The team has also incorporated players who won the African champions at Under-17 level, silver medallists at the U17 World Cup or Under-20 World Cup bronze medalists between 2015 and 2017Having European based in the Malian team is not news but the presence of players who ply their trade in Africa is worth noting.Coach Mohamed Magassouba summoned Yanga goalkeeper Djigui Diarra,Bosso Ibrahim Mounkoro of TP Mazembe and Al Ahly combative midfielder Aliou Dieng. It will be interesting to see how many minutes the trio will amass given the stiff competition they will face from their European based counterparts.TunisiaThe 2004 winners were peerless in the qualifiers, winning five of the six rounds to book a place in the finals as group J winners. They finished above Equatorial Guinea and will head to Cameroon looking to better the fourth place finish achieved in the last edition in Egypt.The Carthage Eagles have always been a force to reckon with in the tournament as they have gone past the round of sixteen eight times in the past two decades. They have failed to advance past the groups thrice within the same time frame.Apart from bagging their second continental title, Tunisia will be looking to redeem themselves from the FIFA Arab Cup final lose to Algeria last month.4️⃣ days to the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021! ⌛Bring on the action! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/R2vBcFinV0— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 5, 2022 A closer look at the Tunisia squad will expose signs of a team that is on course to plug in the gaps left by senior players who either called it a day or were not considered for the tournament.Coach Mondher Kebaier called Arsenal and Manchester United youngsters Omar Rekik and Hannibal Mejbri who are yet to be promoted to the senior team at club level. The tactician retained the experienced quartet of Wahbi Khazri, Ben Mustapha, Ali Maaloul and Hamza Mathlouthi while naming his team. MauritaniaMauritania are making their second appearance at the biannual event and have been sharpening their claws in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates for almost two weeks. The North Western state qualified for the showpiece after finishing second in group E of the qualifiers behind Morocco.Managed by former Simba head coach Didier Gomes, the Lions of Chinguetti played two test matches to assess their preparedness for the tournament where they held Gabon to a one-all draw and had previously played Burkina Faso to a barren draw.Pack your bags! 🎒WE ARE HEADING TO CAMEROON! 🇨🇲#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/Zoxioidgow— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 3, 2022 Mauritania head to Cameroon desperate to improve their last edition’s performance as they did not make past the group stages. They were humiliated 4-1 by Mali but worked their socks off to hold Tunisia and Angola to barren draws.“We are hungry to make out of the group stages and battle in the knockouts,” said Gomes on the CAF Online portal.The Mauritania team is dotted with local based players but there are also star players in the team who are will be heavily be relied upon to fire the team past the pools. They include Papa Ibnou who plays for Le Harve in France, Aboubakar Kamara, a forward who is attached to Aris Salonique of Greece among others.The youngest player in the team is a 16-year old forward Lekoueiry Beyatt while Coulibaly Ibrahima is the most experienced in the team.GambiaThe Scorpions qualified to the tournament for the first time after lording over the rest in pool D of the qualifiers. They book places in the showpiece alongside Gabon who were the group’s runner up.The debutants have not had the best preparations heading into the tournament as they had to cancel the two friendlies they had earlier organized due to unavailability of more than a dozen players.Coach Tom Saintfiet was set to test his boys against Algeria and Syria but sixteen out of the of the 28 players had not arrived in Doha where they are camping on time.🆕 HISTORICAL! 🇬🇲 Gambia are in the #TotalEnergiesAFCON for the first time ever as top of group D! 🔥@TheGambiaFF pic.twitter.com/SNaNqjwwTv— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 3, 2022 With the ill preparations and the calibre of opponents they will face in the group, the Belgian tactician will certainly need some sort of magic to win a match in the pool leave alone slithering to the knockouts.However, Saintfiet has some star players in the team who include AS Roma’s Ebrima Darboe, Musa Barrow of Bologna,Omar Colley of Sampdoria and Saidy Janko of Real Valladolid.The youngest player in the squad is Gomez James, a defender who is attached to AC Horsens of Denmark while the most experienced is Jobe Modou, a goalkeeper who plies his trade with Black Leopards of South Africa.Group FMauritaniaNickname: Lions of ChinguettiHead coach: Didier Gomes Da RosaCaptain: Abdoul BaFIFA ranking: 103MaliNickname: The EaglesHead coach: Mohamed MagassoubaCaptain: Hamari TraoreMali FIFA ranking: 53TunisiaNickname: Carthage EaglesHead coach: Mondher KebaierCaptain: Wahbi KhazriFIFA ranking: 30GambiaNickname: The ScorpionsHead Coach: Tom SaintfietCaptain: Pa Madou JagneFIFA ranking: 147FixturesVenue-Limbe Omnisport StadiumJanuary 12Tunisia vs Mali, Mauritania vs GambiaJanuary 16Gambia vs Mali, Tunisia vs MauritaniaJanuary 20Mali vs Mauritania- Stade de JapomaGambia vs Tunisia
