Mali and Egypt will begin their AFCON 2017 campaign when they clash in a Group D second match at Stade de Port Gentil on Tuesday.

The two sides will be looking for a good start of the tournament and will be a priority to avoid a defeat.

The Pharaohs will be coming to this game as the favourites basing on their past records in this tournamnent having won it a record seven times including three in a row between 2006 and 2010.

Their squad is a blend of young and the old talent with Pharaohs also having been in semi finals 14 times there are very much a side looking to rediscover their old magic.

Political turmoils in recent years in Egypt have been a major undoing for the country that last witnessed success in 2010.

They will be meeting Mali for third time in their history.The two previous marches were won by Egypt by a lone goal and will be hoping to achieve the similar kind of success.

In their journey to Gabon,Mali topped their qualifying group comfortably, winning five and drawing one of their matches in a group which also contained Equatorial Guinea, Benin and South Sudan.

At AFCON 2015 they failed to get out of the tightest of groups after drawing all three matches against Guinea, Ivory Coast and Cameroon whilst in 2013 in South Africa they finished third. Mali look up against it in World Cup 2018 qualifying after losing their first match 3-1 away to Ivory Coast and then drawing 0-0 at home to Gabon.

Anticipation of  Eagles of Mali game has not been this fevered in a while – one has to go back to the final of the last African Cup to get a sense of the buzz. Admittedly, Malians are generally watching with an eye open and an eye closed, just to make a point that they are not really interested in the game.

But don’t be fooled. They are. And the Eagles face must know that their country is behind them ahead of this huge test against the Pharaohs.

Mali must avoid to drop points in their first group match. This game is widely believed to be the one to decide who goes to to top the group that also have Ghana and Uganda.

A victory for Egypt will see them extend roar and inflict some fear to othe teams in the group but they should not underestimate Mali who have played only nine Nations Cups.

The Eagles were runners-up in 1972 and semi-finalists in 1992,2002 when they hosted the tournament.

Coached by Alain Giresse the side will be depending on Bakary Sako, the attacking midfielder who plays for Crystal Palace in the English Premier League.

Giresse is now having his second stint with the Eagles.He lend them to third place in the 2012 edition.The Frenchman has also coached in Senegal,Ivory Coast,Morroco and Gabon.

The Pharaohs are in this years tourney under stewardship of former Valencia coach Hector Cuper who is best known for steering the Spanish side to European Champios League final in 2000 and 2001.

His other coaching job with a national side was between 2008-2009 when steadied struggling Georgia into calmer waters.

Cuper is expected to bring the ever young Essam El Hadary who celebrates his 44th birthday on 15th January.He will be competing at this level as the most experience player who has won three Nations Cup and he is expectes to stand tall when it matters most for Pharaohs.