The Trophy of Africa’s most prestigious football tournament is headed to Port Elizabeth, where Standard Bank and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) are offering fans the opportunity to see and be photographed with the coveted prize.
The Orange Africa Cup of Nations, SOUTH AFRICA 2013 Trophy will be at the Greenacres Mall in Port Elizabeth on 17 November from 11:00 to 15:00, accompanied by two Bafana Bafana legends in Neil Tovey and Brian Baloyi.
This follows the success of the Trophy Tour stop-over in Durban last month, where hundreds of fans got to see and be photographed with the Trophy. They also interacted with Neil Tovey and Brian Baloyi.
“We had a great time in Durban, it was fun to meet the fans and see the excitement on their faces for the upcoming tournament. Taking the Trophy to the people like this is a wonderful idea from Standard Bank and they should be applauded for the initiative,” Tovey says.
Baloyi agrees and says it helps to build a sense of occasion ahead of the 2013 event.
“The eyes of the continent will turn to South Africa in January next year and we want to show them what fantastic hosts we are and what a great footballing country this is. That is why we want to create a positive vibe among South African fans and really help them get behind the tournament. Standard Bank has gone a long way in achieving this,” Baloyi says.
Port Elizabeth is known as the Friendly City and it is gearing up to hosts fans from across the continent for the tournament that runs from January 19 to February 10. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be a major host of matches, with seven games to be played at the venue, including the third-place play-off.
The city will be hosting Group B, which includes the Black Stars of Ghana, bronze medalists in 2012 Mali, DR Congo and Niger. Both Tovey and Baloyi think it will be a tough pool.
“On the face of it you would say Ghana and Mali should advance, but the DR Congo has Coach Claude LeRoy in charge and few people know more about African football than him. I think he is appearing at his eighth Africa Cup of Nations as a coach. And Niger have proven to be a stubborn opponent before too,” Tovey says.