ANC Briefs

In style

SPECTACULARLY, Tunisia kicked off the African Nations Cup (ANC) in Parisian style with a dramatic high-tech light show. In front of 60,000 at Rades Stadium, Tunisia put on a sensational display of North African colour and culture.

The most spectacular moment was the launching of a giant canoe into the sky above the stadium. The display was organised by the same people responsible for the opening ceremony at the 2002 World Cup. The ceremony started and finished with a powerful blast of fireworks.

Hundreds of dancers filled the stadium moving to a heavy North African beat, depicting Africa as the cradle of humanity. That was followed by a portrayal of Tunisia's history, "The Carthage", with its hero Hannibal who fought against the Roman invasion.

The ceremony, which was attended by the president of Tunisia, Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, the Confederation of African Football head Issa Hayatou and FIFA President Sepp Blatter, ended with the launch of the ancient canoe. The vessel which disappeared in the dark skies and in a blaze of laser lights and fireworks, signified the high hopes of Africa's future and development.

Many agree it was one of the best ceremonies the Nations Cup has seen in years. Around 2,500 participants from Tunisia and the rest of Africa took part in the pageant.

Thinking ahead

TUNISIAN defender Hatem Trabelsi says he is aiming to be fully fit for the quarter- finals, assuming his team qualify from the group stages.

The Ajax Amsterdam defender made a comeback appearance, taking part in the last five minutes of his side's 2-1 defeat of Rwanda.

The roar as he took to the pitch in the national jersey for the first time in three months was one of the loudest of the night.

Every subsequent touch was greeted with glee as he underlined his popularity and also showed he was almost back to full fitness.

"My knee is a 100 per cent now, but I am not strong enough to play a whole game. I still need to find my fitness," Trabelsi said.

The player then went on to explain that he wanted to use the remaining group games as preparation for the latter stages of the competition. "Tunisia normally make the quarter-finals of this competition and I want to play maybe 30 or 45 minutes of the next game so I can be ready for the next stage," he added. That next game is against DR Congo but optimistic Trabelsi is already thinking far ahead. "It would be great for everyone in this country if we could make it to the final," he said.

20-year presidency

ISSA HAYATOU has been retained as president of the Confederation of African Football. At the CAF Congress in Tunis, the 57-year-old Cameroonian won a landslide victory against challenger Ismail Bhamjee of Botswana.

Hayatou won by 46 votes to six, and his new four-year mandate will extend his leadership of African football until 2008, giving him 20 years in the job.

"Thank you for re-electing me," Hayatou said shortly after his victory. "I am at your full disposal to serve African football. CAF should remain what it is, an African organisation run by Africans," Hayatou added in apparent reference to his opponent's Indian ancestry.

South Africa-born Bhamjee, the former president of the Botswana Football Association, had earlier called for an end to cliques and racism in CAF in a last-minute appeal to the 52-member congress but to no avail.

"Only by working together can we best defend African football," Hayatou then explained in his victory speech. "And now on to football!" the president declared in reference to the Cup of Nations.

Hayatou, who was first elected CAF president in 1988, also took time to assure Bhamjee of his long-lasting friendship

In spite of his comprehensive defeat, the 60-year-old Bhamjee still has two more years to serve on the FIFA executive committee.

Priceless seat

THE PRESIDENCY was just one of many elections taking place at the congress in the Tunisian capital. Tunisia's Slim Chiboub won a seat on the FIFA executive committee as one of Africa's four representatives in a boost for his own country's 2010 World Cup ambitions. Chiboub will now be one of the 24 committee members who will decide the host nation for the 2010 World Cup bid on 15 May.

Meanwhile, Ghana's Abedi Pele, a former African Footballer of the Year, failed in his bid to get elected to the CAF executive committee. The incumbent for the Zone West B area, Amos Adamu, won the contest by 32 votes to 20.

In a further development, both the Comores and Zanzibar have been accepted as associate CAF members.

Egypt's Hani Abu Reida became a member in the CAF executive committee representing Zone North.

Underdogs? Thanks

COACH Christian Chukwu said he is excited that Nigeria's Super Eagles are not one of the favourites at the ANC as this will take the pressure off his team.

"It is very good that we are not one of the teams popularly tipped to win the cup. That way we are relaxed and we will come out to play our normal game," Chukwu said at the team's Kuriat Palace Hotel in Monastir, which he praised as "very conducive" for the Eagles. Nigeria is grouped with Morocco, South Africa and Benin in what is probably the toughest group. Morocco and Nigeria have clashed four times at this tournament in the past with the Eagles losing the first two encounters and then winning their last two clashes including a convincing 2-0 victory four years ago in Lagos

Nigeria's build-up to the Nations Cup has been heavily criticised back home after several top foreign-based players stayed away due to club engagements but Chukwu said he is hopeful his team had done enough to perform as well as it did 10 years ago in the same Tunisia when it won its second Nations Cup.