Afcon 2017:Group A- Gabon Team

Afcon 2017: Hosts Gabon face Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau in Group A

 

GABON:
Nickname: Panthers
Nations Cup High Point: (Quarter-finalists 1996, 2012)
How they qualified: Qualified as hosts. A solution was found for the lack of competitive matches by placing them with the three teams in Group I and categorising their matches as friendlies.
Team Guide: Gabon are the lowest-ranked team in the tournament according to Fifa (111).
The Nations Cup has been won 11 times - out of 31 - by the hosts and the Panthers will naturally have to cope with enormous expectation.
Based in the capital, Libreville, where they will get huge support, they have a chance to put down a marker when they face Guinea-Bissau in the opening match.
But a lack of depth is a huge concern, as is the absence of a defence capable of nullifying the continent's finest attackers.
The Coach: All coaches at the Nations Cup are under pressure, but there is probably more on Jose Antonio Camacho than most. The Spaniard has twice coached Real Madrid and took Spain to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup.

Key Player: Is there a more coveted African striker in world football today than Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bundesliga's Player of the 2015/16 season - the first African to win the award? The goal-scoring burden will fall squarely on the shoulders of the 27-year-old Borussia Dortmund forward.
How far can Gabon go? With a limited Burkina Faso and minnows Guinea-Bissau in this group, Gabon should be expecting to qualify - especially given home advantage. But there is also the danger of the squad crumbling under the pressure of hosting.