Ghana's national football team (Photo: Reuters)
Ghana will get a chance to live up to their status as favourites for the African Nations Cup when they open their campaign against a beleaguered Democratic Republic of Congo in Port Elizabeth on Sunday.
The match at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium marks the start of the Group B campaign, after which Mali will take on Niger in the second game of the day.
It follows the opening day action in a wet Johannesburg on Saturday where the two Group A matches failed to deliver any goals.
Cape Verde held hosts South Africa in the opener followed by a draw between Angola and Morocco.
The Congolese have had a turbulent build-up after players refused to train on Thursday and Friday in order to force bonus payments for coaching staff that had not been paid for their participation in the tournament.
Furious coach Claude Le Roy has slammed the chaotic preparations.
It means Ghana start as even firmer favourites after impressive wins in warm-up matches over Egypt and Tunisia in Abu Dhabi.
They scored seven goals in the two internationals, coming from 2-0 down against Tunisia to win 4-2.
Mali also boast strong credentials, although they had to leave several key injured players out of their squad. They are fancied to beat Niger, who are making their second appearance at the finals.
Niger lost all three games in their maiden appearance at the 2012 finals.
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