Guinea are looking to progress as far as possible at the 2012 Africa Nations Cup, but French coach Michel Dussuyer believes that they find themselves in a difficult group.
Former Benin Republic coach Dussuyer wants to put the results in qualifying, where they finished ahead of giants Nigeria, firmly behind them so that they are able to work hard and focus on the tournament.
“It was a great performance to finish ahead of Nigeria. Guineans were proud of the team, but all that is now in the past,” said the Frenchman.
“We therefore have to continue to work hard, give our 100 per cent always, because we are not in an easy group.
Speaking about Group D, where Guinea will be faced with Ghana, Mali and Botswana, the trainer expressed his views on the opponents.
“Our first objective is to get past the first round. Ghana and Mali will be our major rivals, but we will also not take for granted Botswana, who were the surprise team in the qualifiers.”
The fact that some of Dussuyer’s men have not been getting as much game time as possible at their clubs is a worry ahead of the competition, and it has left the coach sounding less than confident about the outing.
“I would have been a lot happier were my players playing regularly at their clubs. But that is not the case,” he added.
“We have tried to deal with this problem during the preparation for the competition and now hope for the best.”
The Syli National kick off their campaign against Mali on January 24.