7 February 2011
No less than 28 African national teams will play international friendlies this midweek as they prepare for the resumption of the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers next month.
That all but two of the fixtures see sides from the continent take on one another makes it clear that getting match practice against African opponents is the aim for the majority of teams in this bank of FIFA-sanctioned dates.
Two West African derbies will be played in Europe on Tuesday evening, with Cote dIvoire and Mali meeting in Valence in France, while Ghana and Togo will clash in Antwerp in Belgium. Mozambique will host Botswana in Maputo as the Zebras gear up for their potentially decisive qualifier against Chad next month which could see them book their place at the 2012 AFCON.
The action then shifts to Wednesday night, with South Africa hosting Kenya in Rustenburg as they prepare for a crunch double header against Egypt in the 2012 qualifiers, while Burkina Faso, the team Bafana Bafana were originally scheduled to play, are away to the Cape Verde Islands.
There will be two further West African derbies, as Senegal host Guinea in Dakar and Nigeria welcome Sierra Leone to Lagos; Morocco and Niger meet in Marrakech; and Congo DR take on Gabon in Rouen.
New Equatorial Guinea coach Henri Michel will have his first game in charge of Nzalang Nacional when they host minnows Chad in Malabo, while Cameroon are one of just two African sides to play a friendly against a team outside of the continent when they travel to Skopje to face FYR Macedonia. Tanzania, meanwhile, host Palestine in Dar Es Salaam.
The political unrest in North Africa, particularly in Egypt and Tunisia, has seen the cancellation of two proposed matches. Egypt was set to host the USA and Algeria would have travelled to Tunisia, but both matches were called off last week.
African midweek friendlies:
Tuesday, February 08
Cote dIvoire v Mali Valence
Ghana v Togo Antwerp
Mozambique v Botswana Maputo
Wednesday, February 09
Morocco v Niger Marrakech
Senegal v Guinea Dakar
Congo DR v Gabon Rouen
Guinea-Bissau v Gambia Amadora
Cape Verde v Burkina Faso Obidos
Tanzania v Palestine Dar Es Salaam
Libya v Benin Tripoli
Equatorial Guinea v Chad Malabo
FYR Macedonia v Cameroon Skopje
Nigeria v Sierra Leone Lagos
Namibia v Malawi Windhoek
South Africa v Kenya Rustenburg
