MALABO, Equatorial Guinea - Ghana, Algeria, South Africa and Senegal were drawn together Wednesday in one of two extremely tough groups for next years African Cup of Nations. Nathan Gerbe Jersey .In the other, its Ivory Coast, Mali, Cameroon and Guinea.New host Equatorial Guinea will play Republic of Congo in the opening game of the four-group, 16-team African Cup on Jan. 17. Gabon and 2013 finalist Burkina Faso are the other teams in Group A and also meet on the first day.Group B has 2012 champion Zambia, Tunisia, Cape Verde and Congo.Group C will surely be the hardest of the four. It brings together two former World Cup quarterfinalists in Ghana and Senegal, top-ranked African side Algeria and former Cup of Nations winner South Africa, which was unbeaten in the final round of qualifiers to help eliminate defending champion Nigeria.Star-studded Ivory Coast and four-time champion Cameroon will renew their rivalry in Group D at the finals after they were in the same group in qualifying. They were joined by Mali, a semifinalist and the third-place team at the last two Cup of Nations.The draw for the 2015 Cup of Nations was held in the Equatorial Guinea capital of Malabo after the central African country replaced Morocco as host at short notice. Morocco had requested a postponement of the championship because of the West African Ebola outbreak. Organizers the Confederation of African Football refused and announced last month they were moving the Jan. 17-Feb. 8 cup to Equatorial Guinea.On Wednesday, CAF President Issa Hayatou thanked Equatorial Guinea for stepping in just two months ahead of kickoff to rescue the continents showpiece soccer event.CAF will never forget this gesture by Equatorial Guinea, Hayatou said at the draw ceremony before passing the golden Cup of Nations trophy to Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.But the focus now will be on the state of the oil-rich nations preparations after no other country appeared willing to step in as host, apparently forcing CAF to go with its only option.Equatorial Guinea co-hosted the African Cup with Gabon in 2012 and will use existing facilities in two of the four host cities for 2015; the capital Malabo and Bata, the largest city. However, it plans this time to also hold games in the more remote cities of Mongomo and Ebebiyin, where it is rushing to complete new stadiums in time for the start, which is around six weeks away.This week, a government delegation expressed concerns over delays to stadium construction work in the far eastern cities of Mongomo and Ebebiyin, according to the government news agency. CAF has not released details on the size or readiness of the planned stadiums in those two cities.Group C games will be in Mongomo, with Ghana opening against Senegal and South Africa playing Algeria in the first round.Ivory Coast starts its quest for a long-awaited first title since 1992 against Guinea, while Cameroon plays Mali. In Group B, Zambia faces Congo and Tunisia plays Cape Verde first. Jaccob Slavin Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens goaltender has won three of his four games since returning from a lower-body injury that kept him out from the end of the Olympic break until March 15. Elias Lindholm Jersey . Austin Watson, Scott Ford, Filip Forsberg and Mark Van Guilder had the other goals for the Admirals (30-21-12). Scott Darling made 30 saves for his 10th win of the season. http://www.hockeyhurricanes.com/jordan-staal-hockey-jersey/ . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday.ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Jared Spurgeon spent a month watching the Minnesota Wild from the press box. When he returned to action Tuesday night, he didnt waste any time making an impact. Spurgeon had two assists in his return from injury, Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves and the Wild defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1. One of Minnesotas top defencemen, Spurgeon was placed on injured reserve Jan. 4 after he hurt his left foot against Buffalo. While the Wild went 8-4-2 in his absence, they were eager to get him back in the lineup -- and he was eager to get back into the flow. "I think theres lots of adrenaline that helps you," Spurgeon said. "At the start I was a little nervous being off for a month, but they threw me right out there for the opening shift and that helped me really calm down and get my feet wet for that first one." Spurgeon got started early, setting up Nino Niederreiter for his fifth goal of the season 9 seconds into a power play in the first period. Early in the third, Spurgeon helped the Wild double their lead when he fed Dany Heatley in the slot for his 11th. Spurgeon ended up playing 21:12, third-most among Minnesota defencemen. "Hes taken really good care of himself while hes been out," Wild coach Mike Yeo said. "To be able to come in and play at the level that he did tonight just shows you how smart of a player he is." The Lightning pulled within a goal with just more than 6 minutes to play when Valtteri Filppula tipped in Martin St. Louis pass at the goalmouth for his 20th of the season. Tampa Bay buzzed around the net the rest of the way, but Kuemper stopped Alex Killorn and St. Louis from in close, and Tyler Johnsons shot hit the post in the final 40 seconds. Lightning coach Jon Cooper was hoping to see a little more fire out of his club at the end of a 1-3 road trip. "I dont know how much courage we had going to the net tonight, until the end," Cooper said. "Hence, its shocking wherre our goal was scored, standing right in front of the net. James Wisniewski Jersey. " While the Lightning are still clinging to second place in the Atlantic Division, goalie Ben Bishop said theyll welcome a return home for two games before the Olympic break. "I dont know if you want to say were tired, but its been a long road trip," Bishop said. "We dont want to make excuses, but weve got to be better." Bishop, who finished with 24 saves, was tested often throughout the first two periods, stopping Zach Parise on a breakaway with 5 minutes to play in the first period and stoning Mikael Granlund on a point-blank backhand early in the second. Bishop was shaken up midway through the second when Parise fired a slap shot that hit the goalie in the head, but he remained in the game. Meanwhile, Kuemper made a nifty glove save to stop Johnson on a breakaway late in the second and stood tall all night in his 11th straight start, a franchise record for rookie goalies. The Wild are 6-3-2 in that span, but Yeo was impressed with how Kuemper rebounded from his last two starts, a loss at Colorado in which he was pulled and an overtime defeat at Calgary. "How do you come back to the rink the next day and be mentally tough enough to come in and perform at the level that you need to? Thats what was very impressive about him tonight," Yeo said. "I liked his game an awful lot." While the Wild got Spurgeon back, they had another setback on the blue line 2 minutes into the game when defenceman Marco Scandella got tangled up with Johnson. Scandella skated off the ice with assistance, favouring his right leg, and did not return. Yeo labeled him "doubtful" for Minnesotas pre-Olympics finale Thursday against Nashville. NOTES: Filppula returned after missing Saturdays game at Montreal with a lower-body injury. ... St. Louis assist gave him 966 points, moving him past former Canadiens great Maurice Richard into 85th place on the NHLs career list. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Disocunt Football Jerseys White NFL Jerseys Cheap Discount Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Wholesale NFL T-shirts NFL Jerseys China ' ' '