January 8, 2010
French-born Pierre will be the one to watch alongside Daniel Cousin.
World Cup Appearances: None
AFCON Apperances: Three (1994,1996, 2000)
AFCON Titles: None
Gabon were impressive in the qualifiers, losing out on a World Cup spot to giants Cameroon, but they now have the African Cup of Nations in their sights…
Nicknamed Azingo Nationale, the Gabon national team is controlled by the Fédération Gabonaise de Football. They have never qualified for the World Cup finals, but rose to stardom in the 2010 qualifiers and almost made it to the World Cup.
All their World Cup dreams vanished into thin air as they lost to Togo in their last game, while Cameroon defeated Morocco 2-0 to progress to World showpiece. Gabon’s most successful spell in their country’s history came between 1994 and 2000, when they qualified for three out of the four African Cup of Nations finals, reaching the quarterfinals in 1996.
Gabon and Zambia last meant in 1995 in an African Nations Cup Qualifier at Independence Stadium and Kalusha Bwalya scored the winning goal in injury time.
They are something of a surprise as qualifiers for the 2010 event, but appear to have found a new lease on life and ran Cameroon close for World Cup qualification in their pool. They have managed just one win in their seven finals matches to date, with a 2-0 success against a much-fancied Zaire side in 1996, but otherwise it has been difficult for the country at the continental showpiece. They are in group D for the competition in Angola, along with Tunisia, Zambia and Cameroon.
Manager
Alain Giresse was born on 2 August 1952 in Langoiran, Gironde and the Frenchman will be looking
Former France International Alain Giresse is charge of Gabon.
to bolster his CV. He was a French professional football midfielder and played at the 1982 FIFA World Cup (fourth place) and the 1986 FIFA World Cup (third place). He was a member of the Euro 84 winning team, and alongside Michel Platini, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana formed the legendary “Carré Magique” (Magic Square) in midfield.
His managererial experience is undoubted as he has coached Paris St-Germain, Toulouse and the Georgian national team, while impressing during his time in Africa.
Road to Qualification
Their qualification road was not an easy one as they faced World Cup bound Cameroon and surprise package Togo. After a fine start in Group A, they had to settle for second spot with three wins and three loses to their name.
Star Player
The skillful Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who was nothing less than spectacular during his first major international game in Morocco will be a headache to most defenders at the Cup of Nations. The French-born player will have to confirm all the hopes vested in him at home and will probably become an overnight hero in Gabon if everything goes according to plan come the big event in Angola. Hull City Strike Daniel Cousin is another player to watch.
He is on loan at Lille from Italian giants AC Milan. This season he has scored only a goal in 10 appearances for Lille.
Objective
The last time they played in this tournament was back in 2000 and they will be looking to do well by at least reaching the 2nd round of the event, with national pride at stake.
Prediction
If they could continue with their brilliant form that nearly took them to the World Cup in South Africa, then they are assured to reach the knockout stages of the tournament in January. On paper Tunisia and Cameroon are favourites to progress, but Gabon can certainly pull a surprise.
Did You Know?
* Gabon withdrew from the African Cup of nations twice in 1974 and 1972 due to political reasons.
[Goal.com]
15 Comments on "Profile: Gabon"
| COPYRIGHT © 2007-2011 Zamfoot Sports Agency. All rights reserved. |
dot com on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 9:36 AM
nice profile ba zamfoot…
bola ni 90min tukabanyankula ba mambala!!
chiti chitundu on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 9:46 AM
we have a fairly good record wit Gabon but this must be an energised Gabon team with a lot of confidence….Personally i think zambia hasnt done well of late (thats a fact) and it would be like hallucinating to say we will do great things there and reach the final. we have to earn our place at the afcon convincingly and not rely on chances,flukes,luck like we are doing now. Forget about the draw under closed doors with Nigeria. i listened to the radio and people were saying Zambia will massacre tunisia ,Gabon,Cameroun but i if we recall last year when we drew with Egypt it raised alot of hopes around the country people said yes this is our time, but after 3 games reality dawned on us that we have alot of homework to do. And we really have alot of homework to do looking at the way we were performing just last year. Lets work on improving standards,infrastructure,quality of players,coaches and discipline in the players themselves then we can talk with confidence to say “yes we are going to reach the final” but as at now deep down we know that its a “participate and try your luck” approach. for me i love chipolopolo and i will say the truth . even your child when he is not going to school and not attending lessons you cant just support him and say hey! he will pass he will pass the exam.
chiti chitundu on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 9:47 AM
we have a fairly good record wit Gabon but this must be an energised Gabon team with a lot of confidence….Personally i think zambia hasnt done well of late (thats a fact) and it would be like hallucinating to say we will do great things there and reach the final. we have to earn our place at the afcon convincingly and not rely on chances,flukes,luck like we are doing now. Forget about the draw under closed doors with Nigeria. we may think we will spring surprises but if we recall last year when we drew with Egypt it raised alot of hopes around the country people said yes this is our time, but after 3 games reality dawned on us that we have alot of homework to do. And we really have alot of homework to do looking at the way we were performing just last year. Lets work on improving standards,infrastructure,quality of players,coaches and discipline in the players themselves then we can talk with confidence to say “yes we are going to reach the final” but as at now deep down we know that its a “participate and try your luck” approach. for me i love chipolopolo and i will say the truth . even your child when he is not going to school and not attending lessons you cant just support him and say hey! he will pass he will pass the exam.
Zima Ndola on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 9:49 AM
We have not forgoten our National team who died in Garbon and Jean Fidel DIRAMBA who dinied us a place at the world cup.Tukamidiba bamambala.
Billy on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 10:46 AM
Ba Zamfoot. I am so impressed by how fast it is to get to your website. Or maybe its just my computer.
It has been reported that actually Cameroun are more warry of Gabon than the other two teams, Tunisia and Zambia. The Azingo Nationale have tremendously improved. From what I see, the easiest game we came come with good results will be the game against Tunisia. I mean for now we are well aware of North Africans having played most of them of late.
monk p on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 11:32 AM
Gabon might be the surprise package. For Zambia they must make sure they try to win the first game against Tunisia, which also won’t be easy.
Muta on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 1:18 PM
We all know that Zambia wont make it past the group stages.
DaMwiinger on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 1:55 PM
I agree 110%. We will be lucky to even get a draw in any of the games. Let’s just start thinking of getting our house in order for 2012 and 2014. First of, FAZ exec must resign. We usher in people who know what they are doing. Government should be serious about running the country. We need infrastructure. We are the only country in the region who are not benefiting from having the AFCON next door and the World Cup two hours away. This is not acceptable!!!! We need proper policies (fiscal and otherwise) in place aimed at encouraging investments in Sport. Regulations and laws around the running of football need to be revised oparticularly in respect of who can hold positions in associations and how accountable they should be. Fan need to be more involved as stakeholders in the game. We can’t have so-called fans bodies that are just good at talking in newspapers. Fans need to put their money where there mouths are. These are some of the things we need
DaMwiinger on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 1:56 PM
*particularly*
demesi on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 2:11 PM
we just have to be strong and focus,no jokes,no vokambakamba
Sibs on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 3:21 PM
Billy i had a chance of watching Tunisia twice during the last W.C qualifiers. First away against Nigeria where the got a draw (2-2) .They were mainly playing a counter attacking game very quick off-the break and quiet impressive.
Though Nigeria looked off that day, they should have “killed” the Nigerians. The other game away to the Maambas which the lost 1-0, they did not look so convicing. Mozambique outplayed them. I also checked the hightlights Tunisia vs Maambas in Tunis which they won 1-0. That game was headed for a draw ,the got their goal towards the end.
Based on what i saw Tunisia will struggle to make it out of this group. I agree with you in this group it’s either Gabon or Zambia to come out with Cameroun .
Sibs on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 3:23 PM
We will see about that !!
daniel on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 3:47 PM
@demesi </
How can we be focused and strong when we do not have the squad we needed.
Justice Kafusha on Fri, 8th Jan 2010 5:22 PM
Even Gabon must make sure they win their first game Vs a team that beat twice in the world cup qualifiers
rememberporterfield on Sat, 9th Jan 2010 5:33 AM
The fact of the matter is Gabon had nothing to do with the death of the gallant conquerors. its dissappointining that some people still think like that.