Gabonese national team is no newcomer to the Africa Cup of Nations as it has made five appearances in previous editions.

Nicknamed The Panthers, the team is under the control of the Federation Gabonaise de Football and will present a tougher challenge to its rivals and might just be one of favourites to make it to the finals.

The tournament hosts will have influence in the continent this time if their 2012 record is anything to go by.In that edition the Panthers went up to quarter finals stage when they co- hosted the tournament.

History

The team has other numerous memories of AFCON that started during their debut in Tunisia 1994 edition which had 12 teams participating.

Panthers were in Group B together with titans Egypt and Nigeria where they exited the competition with zero point from the two games.A heavy 4-0 defeat in the hands of Pharaohs and a straight forward 3-0 loss to Super Eagles at the famous Stade El Menzah completed Gabon’s first time experience at the AFCON.

They bounced back to clinch the 1996 African Cup of Nations qualifiers with a successful campaign started on 13 November 1994 with an emphatic 3-0 over Mauritius in Libreville.

It was a win  witnessed by thousand of spectators at the Stade Omnisports that was capped by another famous win a week later aganist Zambia where they stunned Chipolopolo 2-1. The Zambians claimed revenge on Matchday 3 with a narrow 1-0 win but the Panthers of Gabon recovered from that setback by completed the double against Mauritius in June 1995.

With Madagascar, Seychelles and Kenya withdrawing from the qualifiers, only 4 Matchdays could go ahead. But that was perfect for the Gabonese who progressed from Group 5 as leaders.

In South Africa, Gabon fell in Group C with Zaire and Liberia. The withdrawal of giants Nigeria eased the pressure on the table’s other contenders. The Azingo Nationale used the Nigerians’ absence in their favor.

Panthers recovered bad start to the competition with a victory against DR Congo then Zaire at that time to sail through to the quarterfinals.

The Panthers unfortunately  suffered a penalty nightmare against Tunisia and failed to make it to the semi-finals.

Gabon after that, featured in two more Nations Cups where they failed to go past group stages.During the 2010 edition in Angola the Panthers kicked off the show brightly with a 1-0 upset of African giants Cameroon thanks to Cousin’s solitary goal, but the poor scoring form of the rest of the players came at a huge cost.

In the next match Gabon were held to a goalless draw by Tunisia and went on to suffer a defeat against Zambia cruelly denying them a quarterfinal ticket as they finished the group phase on equal points with Zambia and Cameroon but the tie-breaking criteria put them third in the standings.

Their next appearance was in 2012 Africa Cup of Nations , Gabon co-hosted the tournament as it won their group matches: 2–0 against Niger , 3–2 against Morocco , and 1–0 against Tunisia. The second match saw Gabon qualify for its first quarter-final since 1996 in the most dramatic circumstances. Gabon had come back to lead 2–1 only for Tunisia to tie the match in early in stoppage time. However, on the final play of the game, Gabon scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time. Eventually, Gabon lost 5–4 in penalties (1–1 after extra time) in the quarterfinal against Mali , after a penalty missed by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang , who had scored three goals in the tournament.

In January 2015 edition , Gabon was drawn along with Burkina Faso, Congo and Equatorial Guinea. However, its 2–0 victory on the opening day of the tournament were all the points Gabon achieved during the tournament as it suffered a shocking exit in the group stage.

Afcon 2017 pairing

Paired alongside Burkina Faso ,Cameroon and Guinea Bissau, Gabon stands as one of the favourites in Group A. However, the central African nation will definetly face tougher challenge from 2015 finalists the Stallions and the Indomitable Lions who appear wounded due to some of their key players pulling out of the tournament but still cant be underrated.

Team Coach

Jose Antonio Camacho , a 2004 championship-winning coach with Portuguese side Benefica, had coached China national team between year 2011-2013 but failed to meet his employers target to reach World Cup. However he has proved inspirational in his first coaching stint in Africa producing a big turnaround in attitude on the back of a desire to build a professional set-up around the team. His plans have resonated with the players who so far seem to respond by showing greed to succeed.

Key players

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borrusia Dortmund). Age: 27. Forward.

Aubemeyang has had a distinguished career including a Champions League winners’ medal with Borusia Dortmund and had success in the Gabon team since his first call up in March 2009 with a record of 21 goals for his nation.

Mario Lemina (Juventus). Age: 23. Midfielder.

Lemina is the driving force for Gabon and has considerable  experience during the past international outings. A strong, hard-working, and dynamic right-footed midfielder , with solid technique and distribution, Lemina is a box-to-box player who is usually deployed in the centre , due to his ability to start attacking plays after winning back possession.Lemina initially made his name during Afcon qualifier aganist Tunisia where he scored his first goal.

Bruno Ecuele Manga (Cardiff City). Age: 28. Centre back

Scorer of important goals for his country, he has spent most of his professional career in English Premiership soccer with Cardiff Player of the 2015 season accolade in his first season where he has scored five goals in 67 appearences.

Fifa world ranking Dec 2016: 101th

How they qualified: The earned automatic qualification as the host country.

Prospects: Gabon have a good chance of bettering their last-eight finish in 2012. They were a side in transition but now have a balanced team with exciting new prospects such as Ondo Biyoghe and Yoann Watcher.

Gabon squad:

Goalkeepers: Didier Ovono (KV Ostende/BEL), Yves Stéphane Bitséki Moto (CF Mounana/GAB), Anthony Mfa Mezui

Defenders: Lloyd Palun (Red Star/FRA), André Biyogho Poko (Karabukspor/TUR), Aaron Appindangoye (Laval/FRA), Franck Perrin Obambou (Stade Mandji/GAB), Bruno Ecuélé Manga (Cardiff City/WAL), Yoann Wachter (Sedan/FRA), Johann Serge Obiang (Troyes/FRA), Benjamin Zé Ondo (Mosta/MAL)

Midfielders: Junior Serge Martinsson Ngouali (IF Brommapojkarna/SWE), Levy Clément Madinda (Nastic Tarragona/ESP), Guélor Kanga Kaku (Red Star Belgrade/SRB), Merlin Tandjigora (Meixian Hakka/CHN), Didier Ndong (Sunderland/ENG), Samson Mbingui (Raja Casablanca/MAR), Mario Lemina (Juventus/ITA)

Forwards: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Malick Evouna (Tianjin Teda/CHN), Denis Athanase Bouanga (Tours/FRA), Serge Kevyn Aboue Angoue (Uniao Leiria/POR), Cedric Ondo Biyoghe (CF Mounana/GAB)