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Five Ghana v Uganda facts
Five facts for the Africa Cup of Nations Group D match between Ghana and Uganda in Port-Gentil Tuesday:
— The only previous Cup of Nations game between the countries was the 1978 final which hosts Ghana won 2-0 in Accra thanks to a brace from Opoku Afriyie.
— They did clash, though, in a 2018 World Cup qualifier just three months ago with Uganda forcing a surprise 0-0 matchday 1 draw in Ghana.
— Ghana hosted and won the Cup of Nations in 1963 and 1978 and also triumphed in 1965 in Tunisia and 1982 in Libya. Uganda came closest to glory in 1978 by finishing runners-up.
#can2017 : Friends but fierce rivals on the pitch. Tomorrow no friendship. #Ghana coach Avram Grant & #Uganda boss Micho in Port Gentil. pic.twitter.com/P4ozeOppqA
— Ghana FA (@ghanafaofficial) January 16, 2017
— Both teams have foreign coaches with Israeli Avram Grant, the former Chelsea and West Ham manager, coaching Ghana and Serb Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic handling Uganda.
— The Black Stars of Ghana are ranked ninth in Africa and 54th in the world while the Cranes of Uganda are 18th in Africa and 73rd in the world.
Egypt returns after Uganda group opener
The match will be the first of two on Tuesday at the new, incongruous-looking stadium with 20,000 seats in scrubland to the south of Port-Gentil, the home of Gabon’s oil industry.
Egypt and Mali meet at 1900 GMT with the Egyptians making their return after failing to qualify for any of the last three tournaments, having won three in a row between 2006 and 2010.
The record seven-time champions, they are now coached by Hector Cuper and skippered by veteran goalkeeper Essam El Hadary, who celebrated his 44th birthday on Sunday.
He will become the oldest player ever to appear at the Cup of Nations if selected, beating the previous mark of 39 years set by compatriot Hossam Hassan a decade ago.
“For Egypt it means a lot for us to be back after we missed the past three editions,” said El Hadary.
“We are here to compete again and Egyptians are looking forward to winning an eighth title.”
The goalkeeper has won the Cup of Nations four times before, including in 1998, when his current team-mate Ramadan Sobhi was only a year old.
Egypt may be an African superpower, but they are likely to have the crowd against them on Tuesday.
A large Malian community in Port-Gentil will give their team enthusiastic backing as Alain Giresse’s side look to cause an upset.
Gabon is a happy hunting ground for Giresse, who coached their national team with some success for four years and then took Mali to the semi-finals of the last Cup of Nations to be held in the country in 2012.
Giresse has fitness concerns over Monaco midfielder Adama Traore and goalkeeper Soumaila Diakite.
*Additional reporting by AFP
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editor@independent.co.ug
