Egyptians expressed their relief on Sunday, after being let off lightly in the African Cup of Nations (ACN) 2012 draw. The Pharaohs have been drawn in Group Seven with South Africa, Sierra Leone and Niger. Egypt's players and coaching staff, who won the Pharaohs' seventh ACN title last month in Angola, described the draw as being balanced and reasonable. However, Egypt's assistant coach Shawqi Gharib siad after the draw that Egypt's coaching staff would not underestimate any of the other teams in Group Seven. Egypt will be seeking a record fourth consecutive title when Gabon and Equatorial Guinea co-host the next version of the biennial African footballing showpiece. The Pharaohs are now getting ready for the friendly on March 3 against England. It's an important clash for England, who are preparing for the World Cup finals in South Africa in June. Meanwhile, Rwanda's coach Sellas Tetteh's quest to qualifying for the ACN finals looks Herculean, as the Amavubi Stars have been drawn in the same group as giants Côte d'Ivoire. Tetteh, who agreed a two-year contract on Friday, has the daunting task of trying to qualify for the continent's flagship footballing event, but they must first scale Benin and Burundi in Group Eight as well. The draw was for 11 groups containing a total of 44 countries. The 11 group winners qualify for the 2012 finals, along with the three best runners-up. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will also qualify automatically as co-hosts. The preliminaries will begin in September. The groups are as follows: 1- Mali, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, Liberia 2- Nigeria, Guinea, Ethiopia, Madagascar 3- Zambia, Mozambique, Libya, Comoros 4- Algeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Central Africa 5- Cameroon, Senegal, DR Congo, Mauritius 6- Burkina Faso, Gambia, Namibia, Mauritania 7- Egypt, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Niger 8- Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Rwanda, Burundi 9- Ghana, Congo, Sudan, Swaziland 10- Angola, Uganda, Kenya, Guinea-Bissau 11- Tunisia, Malawi, Chad, Botswana
