Johannesburg---Zimbabwe has been handed a tricky draw for the 2012 CAF African Nations Cup that will be held in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

In a draw conducted in Angola on Saturday, The Warriors were pooled in Group 1 alongside unpredictable Mali and minnows Cape Verde and Liberia.

His affords Zimbabwe n opportunity to make up to missing out on the last edition of the tournament, which was held in Angola in January.

This followed a disastrous qualification campaign that cost Brazilian-born coach Valinhos his job.
Meanwhile, the teams were drawn into eleven groups of four teams each and will play each other on a round-robin basis. The winners of each group will qualify for the finals as well as the three best second placed teams.
Equatorial Guinea and Gabon qualify automatically as co-hosts.
From the draw, 44 teams will take part in the qualifying series. The teams will be battling for the 14 spots for the final tournament.

FULL DRAW

Groups                                                 Countries

1.         Mali                 Cape Vert                     Zimbabwe                Liberia

2.         Nigeria            Guinea                           Ethiopia                    Madagascar

3.         Zambia           Mozambique                  Libya                       Comores

4.        Algeria            Morocco                        Tanzania                 Central Africa

5.        Cameroon       Senegal                         Rd congo                 Mauritius

6.       Burkina Faso    Gambia                        Namibia                     Mauritania

7.       Egypt                South Africa              Sierra Leone              Niger

8.       Cote d’Ivoire        Benin                      Rwanda                     Burundi

9.       Ghana                Congo                     Sudan                        Swaziland

10.      Angola              Uganda                   Kenya                        Guinea-Bissau

11.      Tunisia              Malawi                   Chad                          Botswana

By Sports reporter