They will have an uphill task to hop out of the group stage with heavyweights like Cameroon and Cote d’Ivoire.

Though Guinea has been a regular visitor to the final round of the Africa Cup of Nations, they have not been able to rise to the top of the firmament in African football. In nine participations, the best showing of the Syli Nationale or ‘national elephant’ was the runners up position clinched in 1976 when they lost to morocco in the final.

From 2004 to 2008 the Guineans reached three successive AFCON quarterfinals but they failed to qualify for the 2010 tournament in Angola. They however have some good talents at their disposal such as experienced Fode Mansare and AC Milan‘s former left back Kevin Constant. Under the guidance of Michel Dussuyer, a 55-year-old Frenchman who is having his second spell in charge of the country, the Syli Nationale emerged second in group E of the qualifiers with 10 points. They will have to be at their absolute best if they want to surprise opponents like Cameron and Cote d’Ivoire considered as pre-tournament favourites.

To prepare for the 2015 AFCON, Ebola-hit guinea decided to go and train in Morocco who had turned down the hosting of the tournament for fear of the spread of the deadly virus. The squad, whose players come almost exclusively from clubs in Europe, will play Morocco’s under-23 side in El Jadida on Jan. 10 and fellow Nations Cup finalists Senegal in Casablanca three days later.

They leave Morocco for Equatorial Guinea the next day to take up their base in Malabo where they will be playing their groups matches. Guinea enters the competition on June 20^th with the encounter against Cote d’Ivoire. Their second outing in the tournament will be against Cameroon on January 24. They travel to Mongomo top play their last group game against Mali.