Libreville.  Zambia,  Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon and Ghana appear the likely winners of the 2012 Cup of Nations quarter-finals across central Africa this weekend.

The football feast begins tomorrow with two fixtures in Equatorial Guinea -- Zambia and Sudan in mainland port city Bata followed by the co-hosts and Cote d’Ivoire in island capital Malabo.Gabon stages both Sunday showdowns with the co-hosts playing Mali in coastal capital Libreville before Ghana tackle Tunisia in south-eastern city Franceville.

Ghana have won the biennial African football showpiece four times and Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan and Tunisia once, Zambia and Mali were runners-up, Gabon reached the last eight once before and Equatorial Guinea never.
While title co-favourites Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana are still on course for the February 12 final, Morocco and Senegal failed to match expectations that they would go far and were the biggest first-round casualties.

Equatorial Guinea provided the biggest surprise, defeating Libya and Senegal to secure a knockout place despite changing coaches less than three weeks before the tournament began, and lacking any big-name footballers.
Few pundits or bookmakers gave Sudan much chance either, but the Jediane Falcons have shown gradual improvement with a narrow loss toCote d’Ivoire followed by a draw with Angola and a victory over Burkina Faso.

Gabon, whose only previous last-eight appearance came 16 years ago, are revelling in the fanatical support of the central African nation, led by President Ali Bongo and the First Lady.Host nations have won two of the last four Cup of Nations tournaments and another finished third so Gabon going all the way and lifting the trophy is not beyond the bounds of possibility.

However, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana have done nothing to suggest they cannot deliver a rematch of the 1992 final with the Elephants winning all three group games and the Black Stars two before drawing with Guinea. Ivorian coach Francois Zahoui has proved the ultimate pragmatist as he seeks to banish memories of recent Cup of Nations failures -- stressing that victory is all that matters and if it comes from a last-minute goal, so be it. (AFP)

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