Stars still hunt for maiden title as CHAN kicks off today

The Cape Town Stadium in South Africa will reverberate under the sheer might of African talents as the third edition of  the  Africa Nations Championship kicks off this afternoon in the South African city of Cape Town.

The  South Africans hope to draw inspiration from the impressive showing of Orlando Pirates at the last edition of the  Champions League to scale the challenge from Mozambique this afternoon and they have a great deal of seasoned talents, including Tsepo Maselela to achieve that feat.

But unlike the hosts who start off the 16- nation contest in Group A, Coach Maxwell Konadu’s local Black Stars arrived at the tournament reserved for home-based players with a full-strength squad that include the likes of  Premier League’s top scorer, Seidu Bancey,  and his triumph at the last West African Football Union (WAFU) Cup to draw inspiration from.

Although Ghana have been  roundly criticised and even Coach Maxwell Konadu remained unimpressed after their trial match against Namibia in Windhoek, they remain Group C favourites with Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia and Libya likely to fight for the other quarter-finals slot. It is anticipated that the  Democratic Republic of Congo, winners of the maiden CHAN tournament,  will justify being the top Group D seeds.

The Stars  begin their quest to annex the trophy at the third attempt  in Group C where they come up against Congo Brazzaville on Monday at 3pm.