Long before the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations winds up in South Africa on Sunday (10 Feb), the tournament had recorded many firsts. The 2013 tournament is the first to be held in an odd year since 1965, when organisers Confederation of African Football (CAF) changed the tournament hosting to even years.
CAF has again switched the tournament hosting to odd years to stave off any clash with the four-yearly FIFA World Cup.
The first edition of the odd-year tournament is the ongoing tournament in South Africa, coming closely on the heels of the last even-year tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in 2012.
Also, the 2013 tournament marked the first time that all the four semi-finalists have come from one region, the West African sub-region.
The semi-finalists at the tournament in South Africa were Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria.
The 2013 tournament in South Africa also marked the first time ever that Burkina Faso has reached the final of the tournament, and the first time that Cape Verde, a country of 500,000 people, will participate.
Pana 10/02/2013