Lions, Antelopes, Sharks, and Horses make up Group A of the 2021 AFCON divisions for the tournament set to kick off on Sunday, with the whole continent watching, and the globe to some extent.Perhaps, the A in Group A is for Animalia. Kingdom Animalia.Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions, Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks, Burkina Faso’s The Stallions, and Ethiopia’s Walias Antelopes will battle it out for the two tickets in Group A to the knock out stage of the 33rd edition of the competition.The Indomitable Lions will set the ball rolling at the continental showpiece when they come up against The Stallions whose coach has already assumed the dark horses title ahead of kick-off.AFCON GROUP ACameroon has won five titles, The latest was won in 2017 after beating Egypt in the final staged in Gabon. Burkina Faso-Their highest finish came in 2013 when they reached the final which they eventually lost to Nigeria. They finished 3rd in 2017.#ShowmaxPro pic.twitter.com/ryXL6snH0l— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) January 3, 2022 Their matches will be staged at the Olembe Stadium, Yaoundé except the last match pitting Burkina Faso and Ethiopia that will be played at Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam.CameroonOnce again, Cameroon get to host AFCON and will be hoping that they can make good use of the home advantage perhaps to go all the way and right their round of 16 exit three years ago.As the hosts of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon participated in the qualifiers with the team guaranteed a spot in the finals regardless of its ranking in the group.Still, they went on to top the group, with Cape Verde coming second to seal the other ticket.The five-time Champion will be looking to make it six on home soil, in their 20th appearance in the competition.🇨🇲 Cameroon🇧🇫 Burkina Faso🇪🇹 Ethiopia🇨🇻 Cape Verde Take a look at the final squad lists for every team in Group A 📝#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | @FecafootOfficie | @FBF226 | @footballethiop | @fcfcomunica pic.twitter.com/CW2uuu23uk— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 5, 2022 Portuguese Antonio Conceicao has been in charge of the Indomitable Lions since September 2019 and has seen Cameroon revert to a high-intensity game where the wing-backs are expected to defend and attack in equal measure.Cameroon’s strength is spread across the whole team, with all players in the squad plying their trade in foreign leagues, mostly Europe.Napoli’s Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa is expected to pull the strings in midfield while Bayern Munich’s speedy man Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is expected to lead the attack alongside Lyon’s Karl Toko Ekambi.🇨🇲 The Indomitable Lions ready to roar 🦁#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | @FecafootOfficie pic.twitter.com/sR7dAwkAlU— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 6, 2022 The return of Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana from a lengthy suspension will, without doubt, be one of the greatest highlights for Cameroon heading into the tournament, and the 25-year-old will most likely be the first-choice keeper if his heroics during the 2022 World Cup qualifier against Ivory Coast recently are anything to go with, of course on top of his performance before.EthiopiaEthiopia will be making a return to the continental showpiece after nine years in the cold, having last graced the 2013 editionThe Wubetu Abate-coached side overcame a bad start to their qualifying campaign that had seen them lose their opening game to Madagascar, and instead went on to finish second in Group K and settle for the other ticket, with Ivory Coast picking the other.Abate has assembled almost an all-local-based team, with only two players being the exception in the 25-man squad that has 23 players plying their trade in Ethiopia. Shimelis Bekele who plays for Egypt’s El Gouna and JS Kabylie’s Mujib Kassim are the only foreign-based players in the squad.Ready for another Histroy 🇪🇹 #Ethiopia#Afcon#TotalEnergiesAFCON #Caf#AFCON2022 pic.twitter.com/RKwNjvwM4v— Kidus Yoftahe 📷📸🇪🇹 (@KYoftahe) January 1, 2022 21-year old Abubeker Nasir who was the top scorer in the 2020-21 Ethiopian Premier League will be among the players to watch in this squad, with Getaneh Kebede also being a player of interest for Walias.Despite being in a tough group, Abate is upbeat that they are in the tournament with hopes of making it to the next round and proceeding as far as they can get.“We are in a tough group including hosts Cameroon. We are coming to the tournament aiming to qualify to next stage and to go to as far as we can. Almost 99% of our squad is based in the local league but mostly they are young and promising,” told CAFonlineIf the tactician keeps to his 4-3-3 formation used in the qualifiers, a forward line consisting of Nasir, Kebede, and Dawa Hotessa could send waves across the group.Burkina FasoThe Stallions are back for their 12th appearance at the AFCON after missing out in the last edition in 2019, coming in as Group B winners in the qualifications, ahead of Malawi who clinched the other ticket.Kamou Malo, a former national team player, will be the man in charge of Burkina Faso in Cameroon, with his team having only three local-based players.The former RC Kadiogo tactician will fancy his pressing style of football to work at the tournament the same way it did for Kadiogo as they won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.Malo, could at some point have to rely on his own blood in his son Patrick Malo, a utility defender who can slot in any of the four positions in defence, but whose strength lies in central defence.🇧🇫 The Stallions of Burkina Faso posing for the #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🐎@FBF226 | #AFCON2021 pic.twitter.com/RTOujJ4Pw5— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 7, 2022 Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traoré has worked his way in the team since the tender age of 12 when he featured for the U17 side at the Under 17 World Cup in 2009, scoring against Costa Rica as they won 4-1 to finish second in their group and advance to the knockouts where they were eliminated by Spain. he will be hoping that he can have an indelible mark in Cameroon and will definitely be one to watch.Coach Malo has further termed the team the ‘dark horses’ ahead of the tournament’s kick-off on Sunday, saying they can cause surprises.”Our team is one of the dark horses. We have a young but very talented squad. An ambitious group of players with great solidarity and unity. Taking these values into consideration, we can cause surprises,” he is quoted by CAFonlineCape VerdeCape Verde find themselves in the same group as Cameroon, with whom they shared a qualifying group where they finished second after the host nation.The Blue Sharks collected four points from Cameroon in the qualifying phase and will be hopeful that they can replicate the same at the main event and pick points from the indomitable Lions.Coached by former international Pedro Leito Brito ‘Bubista’ Cape Verde will be looking to go beyond their record quarterfinal finish in their debut appearance in 2013. They have to battle with hosts and five-time winners Cameroon, 2013 runner-up Burkina Faso, and 1962 champions Ethiopia to achieve thatFact of the day: a group of sharks are called a shiver. 🦈 Second fact of the day: avoid sharks. 🇨🇻#TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 | #AFCON2021 | @fcfcomunica pic.twitter.com/5XVj9WRyK6— #TotalEnergiesAFCON2021 🏆 (@CAF_Online) January 7, 2022 Marco Soares will be one of the two oldest players at the tournament, the other one being Sierra Leonne’s Kei Ansu Kamara, both at 37 years. He will be making his second appearance at the AFCON main event, having been part of the squad that made Cape Verde’s maiden appearance in 2013 in South Africa but missed on the 2015 squad.The Sharks have a mixed squad of both young and experienced, including an uncapped goalkeeper in 20-year old Kevin Ramos.Cape Verde’s squad is mostly made up of foreign-based players, with only the uncapped Ramos who plays for Clube Sportivo Mindelense being the only local-based player in the team.Group ACameroonNickname: Indomitable LionsHead coach: Toni ConceiçãoCaptain: Vincent AboubakarFIFA ranking: 50EthiopiaNickname: WaliasHead coach: Wubetu AbateCaptain:Getaneh KebedeFIFA ranking: 137Burkina FasoNickname: The StallionsHead coach: Kamou MaloCaptain: Issoufou DayoFIFA ranking: 60Cape VerdeNickname: Blue SharksHead Coach: Pedro Leitão Brito ‘Bubista’Captain: Ryan MendesFIFA ranking: 73FixturesJanuary 9Cameroon vs Burkina Faso – Olembe Stadium, YaoundéEthiopia vs Cape Verde – Olembe Stadium, YaoundéJanuary 13Cameroon vs Ethiopia – Olembe Stadium, YaoundéCape Verde vs Burkina Faso – Olembe Stadium, YaoundéJanuary 17Cape Verde vs Cameroon – Olembe Stadium, YaoundéBurkina Faso vs Ethiopia – Kouekong Stadium, Bafoussam
