African Nations Cup

[KingoftheKop]

Can't believe there's not a thread on this already. It's only a couple of weeks away. It's a bit over shadowed by the World Cup, I suppose. I can't even find a fixture list on the BBC. Anyway, any one got any views on who will win it? Egypt or the Ivory Coast for me...

[kponkpa]

I will definitely be here with my previews and tips for the matches. The tourney starts January 10, 2010. I hope we make good money. See you all on 10 January.

[KingoftheKop]

Excellent. I hope it's on the TV over here, there should be some really good games. I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for your tips!

[KingoftheKop]

At last! News providers are starting to get interested in this tournament. A BBC match report on hosts Angola (I think we can count them out if they're losing to the likes of Estnoia) and this --link removed - which predicts Nigeria will do well. I'm sticking with Egpyt and the Ivory Coast though.

[yorkieacer]

apparently ghana have got quite a lot of injuries so i will rule them out as well

[slick]

African Nations Cup 10-13th January

[Ceirtlis]

Team news for Ghana aint good, Appiah, Paintsil and Muntari are definetly out(Muntari has been left out for a breach of discipline). Essien is injured at the moment and will only be getting back to fitness at the start of the tournament and John Mensah is also having injury problems. I definetly wouldnt have them as second favourites bearing this in mind.

Egypt are also missing Zaki, Mido and, probably most importantly based on whenever i have seen them, Abou Treika. They didnt make it to the world cup either.

Nigeria were not good in WC qualifying. They will need a big upturn in form to win this.

Ivory Coast and Cameroon look the teams for me, hardly a tip seen as though they are 1st and 3rd favourites, but of all the leading contenders they dont seem to have any significant negative team news and their recent form is good. Cameroon would probably be the better value imo. Since Paul le Guen has been hired they turned around a poor start to their WC qualifying campaign . They also have a decent record in this competition whereas Cote D'Ivoire have a reputation for underachieving in this. Nordicbet are still sticking with 3/1 on the Ivory Coast while 5/2 is the best you can get elsewhere. 6/1 is the best available on Cameroon.

[HastGill1]

Im writing up a preview to the tournament at the min covering all teams, i will post it up in the next few days prob on the other thread that has the match prices on, either that or put those match prices here? makes no sense having two threads for me..just have one thread and post up the new match odds as we progress through the tournament..

[FC Basher]

Zambia seem to have had a mix bag of results,against other african nations ansd there squad does'nt look as good as the Tunisians.Neither team qualified for the world cup,the odds for me are possibly a touch wider than they should be,so a 1X might be the value bet.

[KingoftheKop]

I fancy Egypt to do well, they have a point to prove and should be able to see off a Nigerian side who have underperformed in this competition in recent years.

[HastGill1]

Right, i've written a bit of a preview for each team in the tournament..enjoy! Most of the preview is based on the ability of the teams and doesnt take into account the geographical conditions (ie some teams perform better in some parts of Africa than others)..i'll rely on kponka for this input if he has any! ..

[HastGill1]

GROUP A: ANGOLA, MALI, MALAWI, ALGERIA

01-10-2010 Angola v Mali
01-11-2010 Malawi v Algeria
01-14-2010 Mali v Algeria
01-14-2010 Angola v Malawi
01-18-2010 Angola v Algeria
01-18-2010 Mali v Malawi

This is the first time Angola is hosting the continent’s flagship football event, the three week tourney will be held in the Angolan cities of Luanda, Benguela, Lubango and Cabinda..

Angola:

Angola made an appearance in the in the quarterfinals in 2008, and they’ll be expected to go at least that far as hosts. Former Man United striker Manucho was one of the tournament’s stars in Ghana with his four goals, but his indiscipline may cost him a starting place with coach Manuel Jose (won the ACL 4 times with Al Ahly, also coached Sporting Lisbon and Benfica) keen to inject some discipline..

They have a couple of players that will be familiar to us in Manucho and Mantorras who is at Benfica..Most of their squad is based in Portugal, Romania and the Middle East..key players will be striker Flavio and winger Gilberto, they play largely on the counter attack but are a strong solid side that wont concede many..

You may remember they qualified for the world cup in 2006 only losing 1-0 to Portugal and with home advantage they will be confident of qualifying for the next round in what is a fairly open group..

Recent results:

Friendly 10/10/09 Malta 1-2 Angola
Friendly 14/10/09 Angola 0-0 Cameroon
Friendly 14/11/09 Angola 1-1 Congo
Friendly 18/11/09 Angola 0-0 Ghana
Friendly 29/12/09 Angola 1-1 Estonia

Win the Group: 3.25
To Qualify: 1.5
Win the Competition: 22


Mali

Could be a surprise qualifier from the group, they have a team littered with talented individuals but the problems may lie in the differences between these players and the rest of the team..

In Kanoute (Seville), captain Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid, only recently returned after a year out) and Keita (Barcelona) they have some of the best individuals in the competition..Sissoko (Juventus) has been working up to full fitness but im not sure whether hes going to be in the squad or not..

Defender Coulibaly plays for Auxerre but goalkeeper Sidibe is considered a weak link..if the defensive midfielders Diarra and Sissoko can provide the needed protection for the back four and get the ball to the pacy forwards based around main man Kanoute they could do some damage and get through to the next round, may struggle to beat a well organised team that can nullify their threats, could be involved in some high scoring games though..

Recent Results

WC Qual 15/11/09 Ghana 2-2 Mali
Friendly 27/12/09 Mali 0-1 Korea DPR
Friendly 30/12/09 Iran 1-2 Mali
Friendly 02/01/10 Qatar 0-0 Mali
Friendly 04/01/09 Egypt 1-0 Mali

Win the Group: 3.75
To Qualify: 1.61
Win the Competition: 26


Malawi

The weakest team in the group, this is only the second time they have qualified for the finals, the other time being in 1984..they are known to be an attacking side who lack discipline and tactical knowledge, I think they will see this as a good opportunity to gain some experience against a good quality opposition..

To be honest there is little information around about most of their players, main striker Mwafulirwa plays for Norrkoping in Sweden, coach Phiri has coached in the South African Prem League..

Recent Results:

WC Qual 05/09/09 Malawi 2-1 Guinea
WC Qual 10/10/09 Malawi 1-1 Ivory Coast
Friendly 24/10/09 Malawi 0-1 Mozambique
WC Qual 14/11/09 Burkina Faso 1-0 Malawi
Friendly 05/01/09 Ghana 0-0 Malawi

Win the Group: 34
To Qualify: 8
Win the Competition: 160


Algeria

Recently qualified for the World Cup in dramatic circumstances after losing 2-0 in Egypt in the 95th minute, a result that left them in a play-off with Egypt again as both had identical records in qualifying, they won the play-off 1-0 and went through..they actually missed out on the last two African Nations finals tournaments but this is a good chance to get the team gelling before the World Cup starts..

Changes to the FIFA statutes have allowed them to get some more quality in their side, notably Meghni (Lazio) and Yebda (Portsmouth), Bougherra (Rangers) and Belhadj (Portsmouth) also ply their trade in the UK..striker Ghezzal plays for Siena in Italy..

They are a side based on strength, power and discipline which could prove an interesting contrast with the styles of some of the other teams in the group, they don’t concede many goals and are tough to beat, the coach has though raised concerns about the climate which he doesn’t think will suit his side..

Recent Results:

Friendly 12/08/09 Algeria 1-0 Uruguay
WC Qual 06/09/09 Algeria 1-0 Zambia
WC Qual 11/10/09 Algeria 3-1 Rwanda
WC Qual 14/11/09 Egypt 2-0 Algeria
WC Qual 18/11/09 Algeria 1-0 Egypt

Win the Group: 2.5
To Qualify: 1.33
Win the Competition: 15

[HastGill1]

GROUP B: COTE D'IVOIRE, BURKINA FASO, GHANA, TOGO

01-11-2010 Cote d'Ivoire v Burkina Faso
01-11-2010 Ghana v Togo
01-15-2010 Burkina Faso v Togo
01-15-2010 Cote d'Ivoire v Ghana
01-19-2010 Burkina Faso v Ghana
01-19-2010 Cote d'Ivoire v Togo

Cote D’Ivoire

The country that most of us will know about, they have a host of premiership players and in terms of star names, the best team in the tournament. They were runners-up in 2006 and prob the best side in 2008 until they imploded against eventual winners Egypt in the semi’s.

They were unbeaten in their 10 qualifiers, and with Drogba particularly in such strong form currently they will be considered favourites for the crown..although Kalou is often favoured up front alongside him but they have options with Kone and Lille frontman Gervinho..Drogba is likely to play a bit deeper than he does for Chelsea, in midfield they have Zakora who has impressed in Spain since his move from Spurs and Yaya Toure who is at Barca who is likely to play in a more offensive role..Romaric at Seville has been left out the squad due to his poor discipline..in short they have a strong side in all areas of the pitch probably bar the goalkeeper Barry who may prove to be a handicap in the latter rounds of the comp.

It has been said that they play as a team of individuals but there is no doubt that the Ivory Coast have the strongest team on paper and they should win the group but from a betting point of view they will be poorly priced in the early games certainly, the supporters have become used to them letting them down on the big stage but they have an opportunity to warm up for the World Cup here with a strong showing.

Recent Results:

WC Qual 05/09/09 Ivory Coast 5-0 Burkina Faso
WC Qual 10/10/09 Malawi 1-1 Ivory Coast
WC Qual 14/11/09 Ivory Coast 3-0 Guinea
Friendly 18/11/09 Germany 2-2 Ivory Coast
Friendly 04/01/09 Tanzania 0-1 Ivory Coast

Win the Group: 1.72
To Qualify: 1.06
Win the Competition: 3.6

Burkina Faso

Surprise Package of the first round of Qualifiers, they emerged with an unbeaten record including an away win over Tunisia they were expected to run Ivory Coast close in the second round of matches but lost disappointingly 5-0 in June.

Coach Duarte took up a coaching position at Le Mans at the start of the season, which didn’t please the local press, and although he will be solely coaching Burkina during the tournament you wonder what impact his dual coaching rules have had on the side..Striker Dagano was a flop in France and is now with Al Khor in Qatar finished as the top scorer in the qualifiers with 12 in as many games..Charles Kabore of Marseille and Pitroipa of Hamburg are also key players..they have had a good set of results over the last two years generally but will struggle against Ghana and Ivory Coast as their defence has a big question mark hanging over it, they are likely to be fairly cautious but it’s a question of whether they have the players and tactics to carry it off..

Recent Results:

WC Qual 20/06/09 Burkina Faso 2-3 Ivory Coast
Friendly 11/08/09 Mali 3-0 Burkina Faso
WC Qual 05/09/09 Ivory Coast 5-0 Burkina Faso
WC Qual 11/10/09 Guinea 1-2 Burkina Faso
WC Qual 14/11/09 Burkina Faso 1-0 Malawi

Win the Group: 21
To Qualify: 4.5
Win the Competition: 67

Ghana

Despite being shy in front of goal Ghana were the first African side to qualify for the World Cup..Asamoah Gyan’s return to fitness after injury and his goals for Rennes since his return have been a big plus, another bonus is that Stephen Appiah who played in the qualifiers despite not having a club has joined Bologna (now going to miss thefinals through injury)..Essien has recently been injured for Chelsea and although he should be ready for the start of the tournament he may not be in prime physical condition..they had one of the tournaments best midfields, they will be a solid side that will be hard to break down although it may be the lack of sufficient attacking threat that will be their undoing..Muntari of Inter has been excluded from the squad for indiscipline and despite the best efforts of Essien who wrote to the FA to try and secure his inclusion..

The defense has suffered two big blows with captain John Mensah (Sunderland) and Paintsil (Fulham) both going to miss the tournament through injury, they are both first choice players and are a big loss..in these two players Muntari and Appiah they have 4 important players missing which will prob have a big bearing on how far they go in the competition, it puts a lot of pressure on Essien..they should qualify but could be the first big name side to fall in my eyes..

Recent Results:

Friendly 01/10/09 Argentina 2-0 Ghana
WC Qual 11/10/09 Benin 1-0 Ghana
WC Qual 15/11/09 Ghana 2-2 Mali
Friendly 18/11/09 Angola 0-0 Ghana
Friendly 05/01/10 Ghana 0-0 Malawi

Win the Group: 2.9
To Qualify: 1.22
Win the Competition: 7

Togo

One of the weakest teams in the comp for me, they only scraped through qualifying and the team, both on and off the pitch, seems to be controlled way too much by Adebayor..Togo used 4 different coaches during qualification, among the casualties was Belgium Jean Thissen who was bizarrely sidelined after feeling unwell before a qualification game, despite him saying he would still be able to prepare the team, why they didn’t just fire him is prob best answered by speculation that they did not want to pay out the remaining length of his contract..Little known French coach Hubert Velud is now at the helm, but depending on what you read and believe, its Adebayor who is calling most of the shots..they are likely to be weak at the back, but have better players going forward, in all honesty they will need a fully fit Adebayor to have a great tournament if they are to get beyond the first round..they wont in my opinion, and have looked very weak whenever I’ve watched them..

Recent Results:

WC Qual 06/09/09 Togo 1-1 Morocco
WC Qual 10/10/09 Cameroon 3-0 Togo
Friendly 14/10/09 Japan 5-0 Togo
Friendly 05/11/09 Bahrain 5-1 Togo
WC Qual 14/11/09 Togo 1-0 Gabon

Win the Group: 23
To Qualify: 5.5
Win the Competition: 70

[HastGill1]

GROUP C: EGYPT, NIGERIA, MOZAMBIQUE, BENIN

01-12-2010 Egypt v Nigeria
01-12-2010 Mozambique v Benin
01-16-2010 Nigeria v Benin
01-16-2010 Egypt v Mozambique
01-20-2010 Egypt v Benin
01-20-2010 Nigeria v Mozambique

Egypt

They have won the last 2 tournaments, but there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of optimism that Egypt can get the hat trick either from the press or their own supporters..the loss to Algeria in the highly charged WC qualifiers will either give the Egyptians a hangover they cant come back from or spur them on to have a real go at the tournament, most seem to think the former..they are an ageing side, so for some this may be their last AN finals tourn but as we’ve seen before at World Cup tournaments this isn’t necessarily a negative thing, and experience can count for a lot when Finals tournaments come along..

Coach Shehata has won the last two AN tournaments with Egypt so he knows whats required..Mohamed Aboutrika is a key player who has been ruled out through injury but another key player is Zidan (Dortmund) who has overcome a few disciplinary problems to become a fixture in the side..Zaki and Mido have not made the squad..do they have the ability to win it? Sure, but if you go along with popular opinion they don’t have it in the locker..it will be interesting to see how they fare in the opening games as they are in a winnable group and may be able to gain strength as the tournament progresses, which as we’ve seen in the past is all important..

Recent Results:

Friendly 01/10/09 Egypt 4-0 Mauritius
WC Qual 10/10/09 Zambia 0-1 Egypt
Friendly 04/11/09 Egypt 5-1 Tanzania
WC Qual 14/11/09 Egypt 2-0 Algeria
WC Qual 18/11/09 Algeria 1-0 Egypt

Win the Group: 2.35
To Qualify: 1.12
Win the Competition: 10

Nigeria

Another side that is not particularly fancied to do well in the tournament, coach Shaibu Amodu knows a bad tournament will cost him his job, despite the fact he has led them to the WC in the summer..Nigeria haven’t won the trophy since 1994 though they have been consistent campaigners, and given their large playing resources they are usually amongst the realistic challengers..the aura around the Eagles seems less than it was years ago and they are not expected to go far in the tournament..

Nigeria have shuffled their starting line-up consistently and that is part of the criticism of the coach, that and being too defensive..this may be because he has no real midfield playmaker to go with Mikel (Chelsea) and Olofinjana (Hull), expect Martins (Wolfsburg) to start up-front if hes fit which im not sure about, possibly alongside Yakubu (Everton), been unable to find a final squad list..they will expect to get out of this group but will probably struggle to get far beyond that..

Recent Results:

WC Qual 07/06/09 Nigeria 3-0 Kenya
WC Qual 20/06/09 Tunisia 0-0 Nigeria
WC Qual 06/09/09 Nigeria 2-2 Tunisia
WC Qual 11/10/09 Nigeria 1-0 Mozambique
WC Qual 14/11/09 Kenya 2-3 Nigeria

Win the Group: 2.1
To Qualify: 1.06
Win the Competition: 11

Mozambique

Mozambique’s qualification for the finals was largely built on an unbeaten home record and they finished third in their group behind Nigeria and Tunisia, they have a Dutch coach Mart Nooij who became a bit of a folk hero after a 1-0 win over Tunisia in their last group game ensured their qualification and knocked Tunisia out of the WC..most of their players play in the South African league, one of their key men is Tico Tico who is playing in his third finals and is retiring after the tournament, centre back Simao has Champions League experience with Panathinaikos and midfielder Domingues was voted the best player in the South African league in 2008, but in truth they are not expected to do much in the tournament and I would expect them to finish bottom of the group..

Recent Results

WC Qual 06/09/09 Mozambique 1-0 Kenya
WC Qual 11/10/09 Nigeria 1-0 Mozambique
Friendly 24/10/09 Malawi 0-1 Mozambique
Friendly 28/10/09 Mozambique 0-2 Zambia
WC Qual 14/11/09 Mozambique 1-0 Tunisia

Win the Group: 26
To Qualify: 9
Win the Competition: 201

Benin

The smallest nation to qualify in terms of player resourses and land mass, Benin’s close proximity to Nigeria means many players have ‘jumped the border’ and gone on to play for the national team, making Benin far more competitive in recent times..Razak Omotoyossi who has been their more consistent recent goalscorer in recent years is one example, although since he left Sweden his form has apparently dipped, Benin’s best known and most talented player is Stephane Sessegnon (Paris St Germain paid £7mill for him in 2008 from Le Mans) although he is not the most popular player due to his perceived lack of dedication to the cause (he is originally Ivorian which may play a part in this)..French coach Michel Dussuyer has good experience of African football and is a good asset, striker Omotoyossi is a pacey outlet and their game plan will prob involve a tight backline and midfield playing through Sessegnon, they are a reasonably decent side that are most likely to trouble Egypt and Nigeria for a qualifying place..

Recent Results

WC Qual 21/06/09 Mali 3-1 Benin
Friendly 10/08/09 Benin 1-1 Gabon
WC Qual 06/09/09 Benin 1-1 Mali
WC Qual 11/10/09 Benin 1-0 Ghana
WC Qual 14/11/09 Sudan 1-2 Benin

Win the Group: 15
To Qualify: 4.5
Win the Competition: 101

[HastGill1]

GROUP D: CAMEROON, GABON, ZAMBIA, TUNISIA

01-13-2010 Cameroon v Gabon
01-13-2010 Zambia v Tunisia
01-17-2010 Gabon v Tunisia
01-17-2010 Cameroon v Zambia
01-21-2010 Cameroon v Tunisia
01-21-2010 Gabon v Zambia

Cameroon

Definitely one of the favourites for the crown, Cameroon may well have come good at the right time having won their final 4 fixtures of the qualifying campaign..Paul Le Guen was appointed in June and is credited with being the mastermind being this turnaround after Cameroon previously looked uncertain of qualification, one thing he did was promote Samuel Eto’o to captain and he responded well to the added responsibility..one thing that Cameroon have in their favour is a solid goalkeeper (which cannot be said for many of their rivals) Idriss Carlos Kameni (Espanyol) is possibly the best African goalkeeper around, the stage also seems set for Stephane M’bia to become one of the outstanding performers in the Cameroon team he is hard running and along with Song (Arsenal) they will be getting plenty of possession to playmaker Emana (Betis)..we all know what Eto’o can do upfront..

For me they are one of the contenders for the crown, they surprisingly left Bassong (Tottenham) out of the squad and teammate Assou-Ekotto is going to miss the tournament through injury but they have a very good side and anything less than the semi-finals will be a big disappointment..

Recent Results

WC Qual 05/09/09 Gabon 0-2 Cameroon
WC Qual 09/09/09 Cameroon 2-1 Gabon
WC Qual 10/10/09 Cameroon 3-0 Togo
Friendly 14/10/09 Angola 0-0 Cameroon
WC Qual 14/11/09 Morocco 0-2 Cameroon

Win the Group: 1.7
To Qualify: 1.07
Win the Competition: 6.5

Gabon

Gabon were still in with a shout of WC Qualification with 3 games to go which was no small achievement for a country of under 2 million, coach Alain Giresse has built the team but they face an uphill task to qualify..they co-host the tournament in 2012 and with a little patience they could have a competitive side for the tournament but it is thought that this tournament may come a little soon for them..

The skillful Pierre Emerick Aubameyang was a consistently good performer during the qualifying stages and will be looking to keep that going into the finals, Hull striker Daniel Cousins has also returned to the international fold after ignoring call-ups for a few years, expect him to be one of their better players..a problem they may have is that many of their players have been without club football recently, expect them to struggle..

Recent Results

Friendly 10/08/09 Benin 1-1 Gabon
WC Qual 05/09/09 Gabon 0-2 Cameroon
WC Qual 09/09/09 Cameroon 2-1 Gabon
WC Qual 10/10/09 Gabon 3-1 Morocco
WC Qual 14/11/09 Togo 1-0 Gabon

Win the Group: 10.5
To Qualify: 3.4
Win the Competition: 51

Zambia

They play more international football than most other countries, a benefit of having only a few players playing abroad, which therefore makes it easier to set aside more dates for potential fixtures, but any advantage seems to be lost with their high turnover of players..Coach Herve Renard foolishly made his target of the quarter finals public before the draw was made and will probably have regretted it when they were drawn with Cameroon and Tunisia..Zambia are very consistent in qualifying for the finals but it has been 14 years since they last made it out of the group stage and that is unlikely to change this time around..

In terms of the players, the pace of the Katongo brothers is a weapon going forward but they are likely to be poor at the back again and lightweight in midfield, goalkeeper Mweene is fairly highly thought of though..

Recent Results

Friendly 28/10/09 Mozambique 0-2 Zambia
Friendly 31/10/09 Zimbabwe 3-1 Zambia
WC Qual 14/11/09 Rwanda 0-0 Zambia
Friendly 20/11/09 Zambia 4-1 Korea DPR
Friendly 27/11/09 Kenya 0-2 Zambia

Win the Group: 17
To Qualify: 5
Win the Competition: 101

Tunisia

Tunisia surprisingly lost out on WC qualification after a hugely disappointing 1-0 loss away to Mozambique, a result that cost coach Humberto Coelho and his entire backroom staff their jobs..they secured their African Nations finals place with ease but it is almost an afterthought after the WC failure..Coach Faouzi Benzarti has replaced Coelho, and he has arrived in similar circumstances before in 1994 when Tunisia lost the opening game of the Nations Cup they were hosting, and it looks like he has again inherited a team in transition..

Many of the Tunisia national squad is now based in Europe and the production line of players is good, however they never travel well outside of North Africa and there is a chance they will struggle to progress too far in Angola..midefielder Ousemma Darragi has attracted interest from Europe and will be looking to put himself in the shop window during the tournament, Ben Saada is another exciting talent in the side..

Tunisia are an interesting team in that they are quite solid and conservative (which probably cost them WC qualification) but have players that could get them into at least the semi’s, but it will depend on how they recover from the WC disappointment..they should qualify from what is a difficult and tight group, and if they gather some momentum they could go far, they certainly have the talent..

Recent Results

Friendly 12/08/2009 Tunisia 0-0 Ivory Coast
WC Qual 06/09/09 Nigeria 2-2 Tunisia
WC Qual 11/10/09 Tunisia 1-0 Kenya
Friendly 14/10/09 Tunisia 0-1 Saudi Arabia
WC Qual 14/11/09 Mozambique 1-0 Tunisia

Win the Group: 4
To Qualify: 1.36
Win the Competition: 20