African Cup Of Nations 2010
This Sunday (January 10th) the 27th African Cup of Nations kicks off in the capital of Angola, Luanda.
And what a fabulous tournament it is, featuring players from some of Europe’s top sides and players who… well aren’t. Bonkers kits (Cameroon’s vests and one-piece suits spring to mind), dodgy keepers, Marcel Desailly’s excited ramblings, Garth Crook’s piercing yet sexy stare and plenty of goals, the African Cup of Nations is a real highlight in the football fanatics calendar.
You may have heard football folks talk about the tournament this season in not-exactly-enthusiastic tones. Managers across Europe have, since the influx of African players in the early 90s, bemoaned the timing of the tournament. Occurring biennially, in even-number-years, slap-bang in the middle of European season, it couldn’t be more awkwardly scheduled for these managers.
And I love it for it.
The managers and FIFA too point out that holding the tournament in World Cup years is silly, that the arguments around the weather in the summer being impractical for football (either searing heat or biblical rain) are annulled as the qualifiers are often played in summer and that a bigger TV audience could be garnered in odd-number-years.
Piffle!
Managers know when they sign African players that they’ll be absent for a few games every two years and if the Confederation of African Federations wants to hold it in January, then it’s their decision.
Fifteen teams will be present at this year’s tournament, alongside the hosts Angola. The format is four groups of four, top two go through and it’s knockout football from there. Here are the runners and riders.
-----------------------------------------
Group A
Angola
Nickname – The Black Antelopes
Player You Might Know – Manucho (ex-Manchester United)
Previous Best – Quarterfinals (2008)
FIFA Ranking - 95
Odds – 25/1
Egypt
Nickname – The Pharaohs
Player You Might Know – Amr Zaki (ex-Wigan)
Previous Best – 6 Time Winners (1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, 2008)
FIFA Ranking - 24
Odds – 10/1
Cameroon
Nickname – The Indomitable Lions
Players You Might Know – Samuel Eto’o (Internazionale), Alexandre Song (Arsenal), Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham Hotspur)
Previous Best – 4 Time Winners (1984, 1988, 2000, 2002)
FIFA Ranking - 11
Odds – 11/2
Ivory Coast
Nickname – The Elephants
Players You Might Know – Didier Drogba (Chelsea) Kolo Touré (Manchester City), Yaya Touré (Barcelona), Emmanuel Eboué (Arsenal)
Previous Best – Winners (1992)
FIFA Ranking - 16
Odds – 5/2
-----------------------------------------
Group B
Tunisia
Nickname – The Eagles Of Carthage
Player You Might Know – Does Radhi Jaïdi (ex-Brimingham) still play for them?
Previous Best – Winners (2004)
FIFA Ranking – 53
Odds – 16/1
Nigeria
Nickname – The Super Eagles
Players You Might Know – Joseph Yobo (Everton), John Obi Mikel (Chelsea), Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth), Yakubu (Everton), Obafemi Martins (ex-Newcastle & Internazionale)
Previous Best – 2 Time Winners (1980, 1994)
FIFA Ranking - 22
Odds – 10/1
Ghana
Nickname – The Black Stars
Players You Might Know – Michael Essien (Chelsea), John Mensah (Sunderland),
Previous Best – 4 Time Winners (1963, 1965, 1978, 1982)
FIFA Ranking - 34
Odds – 11/2
Mali
Nickname – The Eagles
Players You Might Know – Frédéric Kanouté (ex-Tottenham Hotspur)
Previous Best – Runners-up (1972)
FIFA Ranking - 47
Odds – 28/1
-----------------------------------------
Group C
Zambia
Nickname – The Copper Bullets
Players You Might Know – err… pass
Previous Best – Runners-up (1974, 1994)
FIFA Ranking - 84
Odds – 100/1
Benin
Nickname – The Squirrels
Player You Might Know – Réda Johnson (Plymouth Argyle)
Previous Best – Round 1(2004, 2008)
FIFA Ranking - 59
Odds – 100/1
Algeria
Nickname – The Desert Foxes
Players You Might Know – Nadir Belhadj (Portsmouth), Hassan Yebda (Portsmouth)
Previous Best – Winners (1990)
FIFA Ranking - 26
Odds – 14/1
Togo
Nickname – The Sparrow Hawks
Players You Might Know – Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City), Moustapha Salifou (Aston Villa)
Previous Best – Round 1 (1972, 1984, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006)
FIFA Ranking - 71
Odds – 70/1
-----------------------------------------
Group D
Burkina Faso
Nickname – The Stallions
Players You Might Know – umm… nah.
Previous Best – Fourth Place (1998)
FIFA Ranking - 49
Odds – 66/1
Mozambique
Nickname – The Mambas
Players You Might Know – You must of heard of Simão, plays for Panathinaikos, no? What about Tico-Tico, so good they named him twice?
Previous Best – Round 1 (1986, 1996,1998)
FIFA Ranking - 72
Odds – 200/1
Gabon
Nickname – Black Panthers
Player You Might Know – Daniel Cousin (Hull City)
Previous Best – Quarterfinals (1996)
FIFA Ranking - 48
Odds – 50/1
Malawi
Nickname – The Flames
Players You Might Know – Sorry…
Previous Best – Round 1 (1984)
FIFA Ranking - 99
Odds – 150/1
-----------------------------------------
You can catch all the action on British Eurosport (if you don’t have Sky etc. but do have broadband you can stream it from their website for £3.99 for the month. You’ll also get the Winter Olympics this month if that’s your bag). The BBC usually covers the tournament but are being a bit sheepish this time around, but the word on the street is they’ll cover the semi-finals (January 28th and 29th) and the final (January 31st).
