South Africa's national soccer coach, Gordon Igesund is a happy man after what he considered a fair 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals draw held on Wednesday.
The country's national team popularly known as Bafana Bafana will open their chase for the title with a game against Cape Verde, a small island nation off the west coast of Africa in January.
South African President Jacob Zuma pulled AFCON debutants, Cape Verde Islands, out of Pot 4 to hand Bafana Bafana what, on paper, looks like an easy opener for the host nation.
The tournament will be held from January 19 to February 10 in five cities - Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit and Rustenburg.
Bafana Bafana, one of the four seeded teams, were included in Group A with 2010 hosts Angola, 1976 champions Morocco and Cape Verde.
West African giants Ghana were drawn alongside Mali, Niger and Democratic Republic of Congo in Group B.
Defending champions Zambia will face Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia in Group C.
Afcon/CAN 2013 Groupings
Group A – South Africa, Cape Verde, Morocco, Angola.
Group B – Ghana, DR Congo, Niger, Mali.
Group C – Zambia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Nigeria.
Group D – Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia, Togo.
Ivory Coast, seeded in Group D would be up against Tunisia, Algeria and Togo.
Cape Verde caused shockwaves when it beat Cameroon to knock the West African giants out of the tournament.
Cape Verde have improved markedly in recent months.
Igesund said he was confident of securing the "much-needed first win" which would set the tone for a successful attempt at winning the Nations Cup again.
According to soccer analysts, Bafana have played Cape Verde twice before, and it should help to know that the South Africans emerged victorious on both occasions, winning 2-0 in Bloemfontein and 2-1 in Praia in 2006 World Cup qualifiers.
Libya originally won the hosting rights, but the tournament was moved to South Africa due to political unrest in the North African country.
South Africa have hosted the tournament once before, in 1996, when Bafana Bafana defeated Tunisia 2-0 in the final to lift their only African Cup of Nations title.
