Sports / Soccer
Warriors' 2013 Afcon road starts with Burundi
31 Oct 2011 at 05:21hrs | Views
ZIMBABWE have been drawn to face The Swallows of Burundi in their opening match of the African Cup of Nations soccer qualifiers for the 2013 finals that are set for South Africa.
The Warriors, who failed to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, will make an entry for the South African edition during the second preliminary round.
According to the draw that was conducted in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Friday, all the teams that have booked a berth for the 2012 final have been handed byes in the preliminary rounds.
A sub-committee of the Nations Cup organising committee considered 47 teams for the 2013 finals with South Africa getting an automatic berth after replacing Libya as hosts.
With South Africa getting their place as hosts, 46 countries will be involved in the qualifiers.
The preliminary matches will kick-off during the first half of 2012 on dates yet to be confirmed while the final round will be played in September and October.
Four of the lowest ranked teams in the qualifiers - Swaziland, Sao Tome and Príncipe, Seychelles and Lesotho - will play in a preliminary round.
Seychelles will play Swaziland with Sao Tome meeting Lesotho on a home and away basis with the two winners progressing to the second stage where they will join the 26 teams, including Zimbabwe.
From this stage, 16 teams will qualify for the final draw where they will be joined by the 16 teams playing at the 2012 finals.
Hosts Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Senegal and Zambia are playing in Pool A at the finals while Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola make group B.
Gabon leads pool C that has Niger, Morocco and Tunisia while Ghana, Botswana, Mali and Guinea are teams in group D.
Draw
Preliminary Round 1: Seychelles v Swaziland (Win 1/2), Sao Tome v Lesotho (Win 3/4)
Preliminary Round 2: Burundi v Zimbabwe, Ethiopia v Benin, Rwanda v Nigeria, Congo v Uganda, Algeria v Gambia, Kenya v Togo, Win 3/4 v Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau v Cameroon, Chad v Malawi, Win 1/2 v RD Congo, Tanzania v Mozambique, Central Africa v Egypt, Madagascar v Cape Verde, Liberia v Namibia
The Warriors, who failed to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, will make an entry for the South African edition during the second preliminary round.
According to the draw that was conducted in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on Friday, all the teams that have booked a berth for the 2012 final have been handed byes in the preliminary rounds.
A sub-committee of the Nations Cup organising committee considered 47 teams for the 2013 finals with South Africa getting an automatic berth after replacing Libya as hosts.
With South Africa getting their place as hosts, 46 countries will be involved in the qualifiers.
The preliminary matches will kick-off during the first half of 2012 on dates yet to be confirmed while the final round will be played in September and October.
Four of the lowest ranked teams in the qualifiers - Swaziland, Sao Tome and Príncipe, Seychelles and Lesotho - will play in a preliminary round.
Seychelles will play Swaziland with Sao Tome meeting Lesotho on a home and away basis with the two winners progressing to the second stage where they will join the 26 teams, including Zimbabwe.
From this stage, 16 teams will qualify for the final draw where they will be joined by the 16 teams playing at the 2012 finals.
Hosts Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Senegal and Zambia are playing in Pool A at the finals while Cote d'Ivoire, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Angola make group B.
Gabon leads pool C that has Niger, Morocco and Tunisia while Ghana, Botswana, Mali and Guinea are teams in group D.
Draw
Preliminary Round 1: Seychelles v Swaziland (Win 1/2), Sao Tome v Lesotho (Win 3/4)
Preliminary Round 2: Burundi v Zimbabwe, Ethiopia v Benin, Rwanda v Nigeria, Congo v Uganda, Algeria v Gambia, Kenya v Togo, Win 3/4 v Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau v Cameroon, Chad v Malawi, Win 1/2 v RD Congo, Tanzania v Mozambique, Central Africa v Egypt, Madagascar v Cape Verde, Liberia v Namibia
Source - TH
