Ghana 2008 - Team Profile - Benin

Africa Cup of Nations Statistics P W D L GF GA 3 0 0 3 1 8 Qualifiers Statistics P W D L GF GA 46 14 10 24 46 75   NICKNAME Les Ecureuils   COACH Wabi Gomez (Benin)   CAPTAIN

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Benin will be playing in only their second MTN Africa Cup of Nations final tournament after qualifying as one of the three best runners-up.

They came from an outside position in their qualifying group to finish second behind Mali, ending with 11 points and join South Africa and Tunisia in the ‘lucky losers’ berths.

Benin’s only previous appearance was in the 2004 tournament in Tunisia, where they lost all three matches and conceded eight goals in the process.

There are likely to be many survivors from that team in the squad that competed in the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals tournament, which will make ‘Les Ecureuils’ a much more dangerous prospect.

The team will also enjoy considerable support giving the relatively short distance from Benin to host nation Ghana.

Benin’s small size and population has made it difficult for them to be a regular contender in African competition but they have made better use of their growing contingent of foreign-based players.

Benin also hosted the 2005 African Youth Championship and their under-20 side qualified for that tournament in third place for the World Youth Championships in the Netherlands the same year.

Benin used two local coaches through the qualifiers, firing Edme Codjo after the first two matches and then appointing Wabi Gomez for the rest of their campaign. At the 2004 finals, they had Ghana’s Cecil Jones Attuquayefio in charge.