Libya, Uganda, Malawi, Zimbabwe lead charge for seven group places

Today Malawi vs Tchad Sao Tome vs Benin Namibia vs Congo Mauritania vs Equatorial Guinea Sunday Libya vs Rwanda Mozambique vs South Sudan Madagascar vs Uganda Central Africa vs Guinea-Bissau Swaziland vs Sierra Leone Burundi vs Botswana Liberia vs Lesotho Kenya vs Comoros Tanzania vs Zimbabwe Gambia vs Seychelles Gambia suspended from all CAF activities. Seychelles Qualify to the next round REIGNING CHAN KINGS, Libya’s Mediterranean Knights lead the assault of 26 national competitors on an African weekend packed with anticipated top class action as the race gets underway for the seven places in the main qualifying group phase of the 30th Orange Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2015. The royals of Mediterranean Knights have their pride at stake as they take their skirmish with Rwanda’s stinging Wasps to neighbouring Tunisia over the two-day continental match period that will also see the Flames hope to glow brighter and scorch the field under the feet of Chad’s Les Sao; on a weekend that Warriors will seek huge advantages, various Stars will desire brilliant luminosity, Squirrels and Cranes will seek to soar, Zebras will hope to gallop faster than Flamingos, Mambas will pack their venom and aim to strike; Crocodiles will lie in wait; Kings Shield will stand ready to protect a kingdom; Wild Beasts will be fierce-less and Red Devils will have no mercy. As exciting as the monikers that the various African national sides carry, so are the encounters across the continent, with focus on how Javier Clemente would have strengthened his Knights since their first continental triumph at the CHAN in South Africa in January. Their visitors are the Wasps who are by no means a push-over. An exciting exchange awaits Rades. In another potentially explosive fixture, a tense and tight battle is what is expected at the National Stadium in Dar where Tanzania’s Taifa Stars engage a hugely confident contingent of Zimbabwe Warriors led by Ian Gorowa – the man who surpassed expectations by leading them to the semi-finals at the last CHAN in South Africa. A top of the bill fixture and one of the matches of the day waits. The Uganda Cranes fly-over the Mozambique Channel for a date against Madagascar. Uganda have not returned to the Nations Cup since their last appearance in 1978 and coach Milutin Sredojovic Micho says everything is possible but has demanded unity from all stakeholders as he leads his charges in the first hurdle on a long road to sealing that passage to Morocco. Over the land of the Cranes flight to the Malagasy’s territory, the Mambas will fancy their chances against South Sudan’s Bright Stars. The Flames of Malawi revive their rivalry against Tchad who they faced in the last series of Afcon qualifiers. After a period of uncertainty surrounding their participation in the qualifiers, Malawi received a massive boost with a US$600,000 sponsorship from Carlsberg; a development the Flames hierarchy has hailed and will hope can revive the squad and see them blaze their way to the group stage and eventually Morocco. Gambia’s Scorpions were dealt a debilitating blow, struck out of the running for Morocco for the detested bites of their ‘young’, granting passage to the Pirates of Seychelles free reign at sea and an effortless sail to the next stop. Return legs will be played two weeks from the weekend fixtures with the aggregate winners contesting the second round of elimination which would produce the final seven to be spread across the groups.