Nigeria and Egypt who failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations along with Tanzania and Chad were yesterday drawn in Group G of the 2017 edition whose qualification matches are slated to begin in June.

By this arrangement, either of Super Eagles or the Pharaohs will be missing again when the finest of Africa’s football nations gather on Gabon for the kick off of the biennial continental showpiece.

Although there is still a faint chance for the two teams to qualify with the winner of the group picking the automatic ticket while the group runners up can still sneak into the tournament as one of the two over all best runners up.
The Pharaohs have clashed with Nigeria 17 times at full international level with the Egyptians winning six and drawing six of these meetings.
Egypt beat the Eagles 3-2 in their last clash in April 2012.

However, Super Eagles caretaker coach, Daniel Amokachi, was unfazed by Nigeria’s pairing with Egypt. "By his grace, we will qualify for AFCON 2017 from this group," stressed Amokachi who handled Eagles in two international friendlies against Uganda and South Africa a fortnight ago.

Another Ex international, Garba Lawal in his reaction yesterday was not worried about Egypt, insisting that the Pharaohs have the same problems that made it impossible for them to qualify for the last AFCON.

“Egypt will always be a great team. They have had their problems partly because of the political problems affecting the country. They appear to be overcoming these problems and will push Nigeria for top spot,” he noted.

He however refused to go with the general impressions that both Tanzania and Chad will be easy prey for the Eagles.
“Both Tanzania and Chad will not be pushovers as every country now knows how to play football.
“We can’t afford to play for one of the ‘second-best’ spots. We have to top this group and as such we have to be fully prepared to do battles,” warned Lawal.

The tough road to the final was not a tough one for both Nigeria and seven-time champions Egypt alone.
South Africa and Cameroun are to similarly battle for Group M’s lone ticket in another tough duel. The Bafana Bafana are a far lesser force than they were in 1996 when they trounced the Indomitable Lions  3-0 in the opening match en route to conquering Africa in Johannesburg.
Defending champions Cote d’Ivoire will face Sudan and Sierra Leone in Group I, which also includes host Gabon. However, matches against automatic qualifiers Gabon count as friendlies with no points awarded.
The Yaya Tours inspired Ivorians lifted a trophy that symbolises African national-team supremacy for the second time two months ago by edging Ghana 9-8 in a penalty shootout.
The Black Stars who won the last of four Cup of Nations titles 33 years ago, are in Group H with Mozambique, Rwanda and Mauritius.

THE DRAW
Group A: Tunisia, Togo, Liberia, Djibouti
Group B: DR Congo, Angola, CAR, Madagascar
Group C: Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, South Sudan
Group D: Burkina Faso, Uganda, Botswana, Comoros
Group E: Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Guinea Bissau
Group F: Cape Verde, Morocco, Libya, Sao Tome
Group G: Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Chad
Group H: Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Mauritius
Group I: Cote d’Ivoire, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Gabon
Group J: Algeria, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Seychelles
Group K: Senegal, Niger, Namibia, Burundi
Group L: Guinea, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Swaziland
Group M: Cameroun, South Africa, Gambia, Mauritania