2020 African Nations Championship (CHAN) kicked off on Saturday, 16th January 2021. Defending champions Morocco will play in Group C alongside Rwanda, Uganda and Togo.
Morocco will square out with debutants Togo in their opening match. First held in 2009 in Ivory Coast, CHAN is the competition of the best national teams of Africa. Exclusively featuring players who are active in the national championships and qualified to play in the ongoing season.
Group C is one of the most homogeneous in CHAN 2020 and it will attracts attention.
Morocco
Defending champion Morocco will play their 4th participation this year. Moroccan selection has very big ambitions. The coach Houcine Ammouta aims at continuing with a new title in this competition. Before heading to Cameroon, the Atlas Lions recorded two wins in as many games against Guinea as warm-up. The team is ready to start the competition.
Uganda
The Cranes will be taking part in their fifth consecutive Chan tournament after featuring in the 2011, 2014, 2016, and 2018 editions. Uganda will face Rwanda on 18th January at the Stade de Unification in Douala. Ugandan cranes will then tackle Togo on 22nd January at the same venue. The final group game will be on 26th January against Morocco.
The Cranes have never progressed past the group stage of the competition and it is their ultimate goal this time round. With Northern Irish coach Johnny McKinstry (former coach of Rwanda at CHAN 2016), the selection wants to end this bad series and finally qualify for the second round for the competition.
Rwanda
CHAN 2016 host country, Rwanda was eliminated in quarter finals by the future winner, DR Congo. This was the team’s best performance in the tournament. The Amavubi will be in their fourth participation this year. And they will surely aim at doing better than in 2016.
Togo
Togo qualified for their first ever CHAN after beating 2018 finalists Nigeria in the final qualification round against all expectations. Togo is taking part in the competition with a wonderful generation coming from clubs like Asko, ASCK, Gbohloe-su, AS OTR, AS Togo Port… Local Sparrowhawks could create a sensation in Cameroon. With coach Abalo Dosseh, former captain of Selection A, the local team has an experienced technical staff. This should be an advantage for the selection despite being novice in this tournament.
The tournament, which exclusively features players from each nation’s respective national championships, was supposed to be hosted by Ethiopia but was moved to Cameroon after the Ethiopian football authorities admitted the country was not ready to hold the event.
Yaounde, Douala, and Limbe are the cities to host the event. This competition will also serve as a warm-up for Cameroon ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Players to follow in Group C:
Ayoub El Kaabi: Top scorer of CHAN 2018 with 9 goals, Wydad Casablanca’s forward is again in the list of Atlas Lions. Having scored in the last friendly match against Guinea, the 27-year-old is confident before the start of challenges.
Omar Namsaoui: He is the other asset of the Moroccan selection. He is a right back at the Renaissance Sportive de Berkane. At 30 years old, he already played several very high level matches.
Tchakéi Marouf: The star player of the Togolese selection. Technical, skillful, outstanding playmaker, the midfielder of Asko de Kara could be the revelation of the competition.
Schedule of Group C games:
Day 1: Monday, January 18, 2021
16h GMT: Morocco – Togo
19h GMT: Rwanda – Uganda
Day 2: Friday, January 22, 2021
16h GMT: Morocco – Rwanda
19h GMT: Uganda – Togo
Day 3: Tuesday, January 26, 2021
19h GMT: Uganda – Morocco
19h GMT: Togo – Rwanda.