Nigeria will return to the Africa Nations Cup final tournament with the first match against Burkina Faso after the Super Eagles were drawn in Group C alongside defending champions Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia. The draw ceremony was held Wednesday night in Durban, South Africa ahead of the 2013 event.

The grouping may have become a prayer answered for many Nigerian fans that prefer to avoid Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana in the early round. Nigeria failed to qualify for the 2012 edition held in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea.

Eagles captain Joseph Yobo told MTNFootball.com, “It’s a fair draw; Zambia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia? Well that’s not bad. But I’m not saying it’s going to be easy because football in Africa has vastly improved. No team is a minnow anymore, but looking at the group on paper, I want to say it’s a fair one.”

Debutants Cape Verde, who upset Cameroon to make their first finals, will play host South Africa in the opening match of the biennial competition.

Morocco, due to host the tournament in 2015, and Angola complete Group A. On paper, it is a fair deal for the hosts who are expected to qualify for the next stage from that group. South Africa won the competition as hosts in 1996 – an edition boycotted by Nigeria as defending champions.

Ghana, who last won the trophy in 1982, face DR Congo, Niger, Mali in Group B. The seeded Ghanaians are favourites of the group with the other having fair chances to qualify as the second team from the group.

The most respected team in Africa this period, Cote d’Ivoire are leading Group D already dubbed the ‘Group of Death’ as the other three teams are balanced in their makeup. Togo, Tunisia and Algeria who complete the group will battle each other hard to scale through. Only the Togolese are yet to win the African cup from this group.

Cape Verde, with a population of about 500,000, shocked the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon 3-2 on aggregate to book their place in the tournament and there were cheers as they were drawn out by South African president Jacob Zuma last night to form the other half of the event’s curtain-raiser.

The tournament will be held in Durban, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth and Rustenburg between January 19 and February 10.

Groups in full:

Group A: South Africa, Angola, Morocco, Cape Verde

Group B: Ghana, Mali, Niger, DR Congo

Group C: Zambia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia

Group D: Cote d’Ivoire, Tunisia, Algeria, Togo