African Cup of Nations – Angola host the best of the Continent

The African Cup of Nations is often rife with controversy because of the timing of the tournament. The loss of top African players does have a major impact at clubs around Europe in the month of January, but the African Cup of Nations kicks off on January 10th, awash with a wealth of top talent. Group B is arguably the most interesting, as it contains Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast, and Michael Essien’s Ghana. Both nations are tipped to provide a lot of strength at power at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and following this tournament will give a good impression of what the rest of the world can expect.

England will have some vested interest in the tournament, as World Cup 2010 group opponents Algeria are contesting. Egypt are also involved, and England will be playing a friendly match against them at Wembley on March 3rd. But it is the big names which will grab all of the highlights, with the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt and Cameroon looking amongst the strongest contenders to lift the trophy. If, for example, the Ivory Coast make it the final, then Chelsea will be without strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou for pretty much the entire month of January. With other players from the Premier League such as Emaneul Adebayor, Song, Eboue, Yakuba and Toure, there is plenty of well known names to watch out for.

The tournament is being held in Angola, and all of the teams are there, ready to go. As hosts, Angola open the African Cup of Nations on January 10th, with a match against Mali. The 16 teams will be looking to make a final appearance on January 31st. January 15th could be the big day to watch out for in the group stages of the African Cup of Nations, as that is when the two power houses of the Ivory Coast and Ghana go head to head. There will no doubt be some interest in the possibility of another Egypt v Algeria clash, which was so hotly contested in World Cup Qualification. The two teams had to go to a play-off after finishing their group with identical records. Algeria, amidst scenes of crowd troubles, won the day, making it to the World Cup.

Egypt will look to do better in the quest for the African Cup of Nations trophy, which looks not too unlike the World Cup. Held every two years, the tournament has grown in stature on the world stage, and it is the Egyptians who are the current holders, after beating Cameroon 1-0 in the 2008 Final. The football played is often attack minded and open, and because of the rivalries from the continent, are very passionate. The current holders open their account against Nigeria on the 12th. The top two from each of the four groups, progress into the quarter final stage.

GROUP A: Angola, Mali, Malawi, Algeria
GROUP B: Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo
GROUP C: Egypt, Nigeria, Mozambique, Benin
GROUP D: Cameroon, Gabon, Zambia, Tunisia

African Cup of Nations Betting

Outright Winner:
Ivory Coast – 5/2 at Stan James
Ghana – 5/1 at Bet365
Cameroon – 11/2 at BetFred
Egypt – 9/1 at Paddy Power
Nigeria – 10/1 at Stan James

Top Goalscorer
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) – 9/2 at Paddy Power
Samuel Eto (Cameroon) – 5/1 at Blue Square
Matthew Amoah (Ghana) – 12/1 at 888Sport
Frederic Kanoute (Mali) – 14/1 at Blue Square
Emauel Adebayo (Togo) – 14/1 at 888Sport

Betting Advice: Make no mistakes, the Ivory Coast are a strong side, and should cause problems at the World Cup, despite being lumped in the Group of Death along with Brazil and Portugal. But as strong and as powerful as the Ivory Coast are, the same can be said of Ghana. They are a fluent, fast moving and free scoring team, with players from all over Europe. They may not have the big names stars much beyond Michael Essien, but they are a force to be reckoned with, both in the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup 2010. Their star striker Matthew Amoah is worth a good bet, even each way on finishing as top scorer.