Nigeria
international Yakubu Aiyegbeni believes the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations
holding in Equatorial Guinea will be the best outing for the Elephants
of Ivory Coast as he tipped them for the title ahead of Ghana and the
host nation.
The Elephants were quarterfinalists at
the last edition in 2013 where they lost to the Super Eagles, the
eventual winners of the tournament in South Africa.
Ivory Coast, who were 1992 winners when
they beat Ghana via penalties in Senegal, have reached the final two
other times in 2006 and 2012.
Aiyegbeni
told our correspondent that this year’s edition of the tournament might
be the last opportunity for Ivory Coast’s golden generation to erase
the failure of the past.
“I’ll support any team that play good
football and deserve to win. I tip Ivory Coast to win the tournament but
it’s not going to be easy for them because Ghana seem to have a good
team also,” the Al Rayyan of Qatar striker said.
“They had come close on a number of times but this is their best chance since Nigeria are not featuring (in the tournament).
“Nigeria had the chance to qualify for
the tournament but we failed. We have to support those that deserve to
be in the tournament.”
But his former teammate, Taye Taiwo,
disagreed with him on his favourites to lift the trophy in Equatorial
Guinea. The Bursaspor of Turkey defender tipped a North African team to
win the tournament.
“Ghana are not doing badly on the
continent, but Ivory Coast and Cameroon have good teams too. Ivory Coast
have always been unlucky at the Nations Cup,” the former Marseille star
said.
“The North African teams won’t do badly
at this edition. Tunisia and Algeria have good teams, but I’ll tip
Algeria to win the tournament.
“I don’t see South Africa winning it; I
was surprised they came to Nigeria to play a 2-2 draw with the Super
Eagles. It broke my heart; it wouldn’t have happened (when we were
there).”
Ivory Coast will kick of their campaign
when they take on Guinea on Tuesday in the first Group D match. They
also have Mali and Cameroon to contend with in the group.
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