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Gabon wary of Guinea-Bissau in African Nations Cup opener

Recently appointed Gabon coach Jose Antonio Camacho is wary of falling victim to tournament debutants Guinea-Bissau in Saturday's African Nations Cup opener in Libreville.

The former Portuguese colony in West Africa finished top of Group E ahead of Congo in the qualifying phase to reach the 2017 finals, which are being hosted by Gabon.

"In theory, Guinea-Bissau are the Cinderella of the group," Camacho told Cadena Ser radio. "But opening games are always dangerous.

"They pulled off a surprise by qualifying and its down to their own merit. We should be favourites because we are the hosts, but we need to prove it on the pitch.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm and we want to start in the best way."

Gabon will also take on 2013 runners-up Burkina Faso on Jan. 18 and four-time winners Cameroon four days later in Group A.

Camacho took the helm of the team after Gabon fired Jorge Costa on Nov. 4.

"It's the challenge that attracted me to the job," said the Spaniard, who had been out of coaching since being dismissed as China coach in June 2013. "I was contacted by the federation two months ago and when I saw that Gabon were hosting the tournament, I felt it was an important challenge, a different adventure and that is why I'm here.

"I signed a two-year contract but I'm not thinking about the future as my focus is on the tournament."

The former Real Madrid and Spain coach knows there will be some difficult moments that his players will face when they attempt to go beyond the first round. As the home side, Gabon will have plenty of support but also pressure.

Camacho says his bosses have not set a target, although the obvious one is to win.

"I haven't been given requirements," the 61-year-old said. "The [Gabon] Federation just wants the team to work.

"As hosts, we want to go as far as possible. We want to progress round after round but everyone is aware of the adversity."

If the FIFA rankings are anything to go by, there will be struggles for Gabon.

"We are last in the FIFA rankings in terms of the teams that are competing in this tournament," Camacho said. "But there is a lot of enthusiasm and the players are eager to compete. We have important players."

Team captain and Borussia Dortmund star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will lead the squad for the opening game of the tournament.

"He is among the best," Camacho said. "He is a true professional. We have a competitive team. From an individual standpoint we have competitive players.

"We have a lot of players competing in the French second division but we also have players like Mario Lemina of Juventus, Didier Ndong of Sunderland among others. I don't think there are two Gabon players playing in the same club."

Preparation for the tournament has been short but productive, according to Camacho.

"We haven't had much time to work together and we've only had a week to train," he said.

"We started our preparations on January 3 but six or seven players didn't arrive until the 7th.

"Aubameyang arrived late but trained very well the past two days."

Gabon, who co-hosted the tournament in 2012 alongside Equatorial Guinea, reached the quarterfinals in 1996 and 2012, but have never gone beyond the last eight.

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