Witch Doctor Calls Group B 'Interesting'

They call him the White Witch Doctor, but Claude Le Roy has simply chosen to call his DR Congo grouping for the next African Cup "interesting". Does he have any magic to work against Ghana, who he knows well?

Ghana drew Mali, Niger and DR Congo for the group stage of the 2013 African Cup of Nations after the continent witnessed the ceremony on Supersport from South Africa on Wednesday night.

The Black Stars will be in group B where they will engage old foes Mali and DR Congo as well as Niger in Port Elizabeth. It is a group laced with subplots as Ghana played Mali twice in the last Cup of Nations, winning once and losing once.

Also, the Black Stars play former coach Claude Leroy who is now in charge of DR Congo. "President Kwesi [Nyantakyi] told me yesterday before the draw told me that if there is any team he does not want to face it is DR Congo!" a bubbly Le Roy said.

Getting more serious, he gave his feeling of the way things have shaped up. "It is a very, very interesting group for us tactically, technically and psychologically, especially. Ghana were in the last competition and I think they would improve compared to the way they did in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea."

The reaction on the streets of Ghana has been mixed, with some feeling a little seriousness should see the Black Stars scale the group hurdle. Head of Sports at Metro TV in Ghana, Christopher Opoku believes the draw has been decent. "I think we have been handed a reasonable group with, but when I saw DRC in our group my heart skipped a beat at first. The last time we were in a group with them was in Burkina Faso 1998 and we failed to get to the quarters. When Niger popped out and then Mali, I felt it could be a good that's not too bad." Afcon 2013 draw

Group A (Durban): South Africa, Angola, Morocco, Cape Verde

Group B (Port Elizabeth): Ghana, Mali, Niger, DR Congo

Group C (Mbombela): Zambia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia

Group D (Rustenburg): Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Algeria, Togo