ghana

Uruguay vs Ghana Odds – World Cup Quarter Finals – 2nd July

Uruguay – odds: 11/10 at Bet365
Draw – odds: 9/4 at SkyBet
Ghana – odds: 16/5 at Ladbrokes

Uruguay

Uruguay were the first of the four South American teams in the Quarter Finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A 2-1 win over South Korea got them there, in a match where they always just had the edge. Now the incredibly organised and efficient Uruguayans will take on the lively Ghanaians with a place in the World Cup semi final at stake. Uruguay again conceded a lot of possession against South Korea, but they were solid enough in their defence, as they have been throughout the tournament to let it be enough. This is one very hard working Uruguayan team, who are happy to let other teams have possession and frustrate them into making mistakes. Uruguay have plenty of striking power up front, but they do not go all out in utilising it. They break forward when they can and what really works for Uruguay, is their incredibly tough midfield, with Diego Perez breaking up countless plays. The sheer disruptive nature of the South American’s midfield is what has been causing teams problems, as it is hard to establish any kind of rhythm against them. Then when you do start pushing forward, trying to find an inch of space to work with, before you know it, Uruguay are down the other end with Diego Forlan or Luis Suarez firing in to the net. Uruguay are taking on a different approach to the game compared with the other semi finalists, but they are making their way and importantly making progress by playing to their strengths.

It is a little unclear as to whether we have really seen the best out of Uruguay yet, as they have not particularly come out of their shell at all as an attacking force. They have the talent to be a more attacking side, but it doesn’t appear to be their main priority. They seem to know their boundaries and stick well within them. But then they have not been short of goals at all, and after South Korea had equalised against them, you did see a small change in mentality, a shift up in a gear until they had gotten their noses in front again. Uruguay are courageous kind of team, in that they are understated in their work and their solidarity in protecting and working for each other. It is some surprise that they are in Quarter Finals, as they were the last team to qualify for South Africa 2010, and they have not drawn much attention to themselves at all. Looking at the glamorous list of combatants in the last eight, such as Brazil, Germany and Holland, then they will continue to get overlooked. You can see the team spirit in the Uruguayan players and they are powerful enough to frustrate even the best teams in the tournament, and they will need to be at their hard working best to shut down the threat from the Ghana midfield. Ghana may well have the edge over the South Americans in terms of tempo of game, but as Uruguay have shown, particularly against Mexico and South Korea, they are comfortable against faster teams, as they simply sit back and give themselves time by pushing opposition to the outside. Perez is the epitome of the unsung hero of the team, and he will be a key figure in stopping Ghana. The chances are, you are not going to see a different approach from Uruguay, and why fix something if it’s not broken? They can score when they need to, and put up defensive walls which teams are having a very hard time in breaking down. A counter attacking style against Ghana will be perfect, and with Uruguay so good at it, they have every chance of edging this one.

Ghana

Africa’s last hope. They were the only nation from the continent to get themselves out of the group stages, as the reality about the quality levels of African football have been really shown up. Ghana are one of the youngest teams in attendance at South Africa 2010, but they are producing so much young talent, they should be a force to be reckoned with on the world stage for some time to come. You can see some of the inexperience in their play, perhaps pushing forward with a little too much haste, but on the whole, Ghana have struck the ball around confidently and have not been afraid to take on teams. The Ghanaians themselves look very relaxed and comfortable, and that again is something which comes from the benefit of youth. They could make history by becoming the first African nation to reach the semi finals of the World Cup, after being only the third team from the continent to make it to the Quarter Finals. One of the strengths Ghana have, is that Serbian Coach Milovan Rajevac is known for being a strict disciplinarian. While the players themselves look relaxed, the celebrations behind the scenes have apparently been kept to a minimum, with players being demanded to stay focus instead of getting inflated egos about their achievements so far.

Star striker Asamoah Gyan picked up a knock on his ankle during training, but reports from the camp of the Black Stars is that he will be fit and ready to go for Uruguay. There is more of a worry over Kevin Prince Boateng though, as his hamstring problem may well keep him out of the clash, and defenders Samuel Inkoom and John Mensah are both dealing with injuries of their own. Coach Milovan Rajevac has problems already in filling in the missing pieces due to suspension, as Rajevac cannot call upon Jonathan Mensah or Andrew Ayew who are both suspended. Rajevac will be seriously hoping that the injury worries clear up over the next couple of days, as Ghana tries to get ready. There is hope that defender Isaac Vorsah will be fit again after only taking part in Ghana’s opening match. The Africans will need all of their craft and ability to take on the Uruguayans, as Ghana will be expected to control the tempo of the match, and have a lot of possession. The South Americans will literally invite the Africans to come and attack, and then look to hit them on the break. Ghana will be fully aware of this, and while they have not looked overly potent in front of goal, Ghana have taken their chances well when they have come along. They have a quality in midfield in passing around small triangles quickly, and then getting down the flanks in behind defences. Gyan patrols up front most of the time on his own, and gets through an incredible amount of work, relying on his lighting pace to get him into goal scoring positions. With the inexperience around him, one of the most important players could be 29 year old midfielder Stephen Appiah to show a calm, wise head. With Michael Essien missing, Appiah knows the importance of his role. Ghana will pull the strings and the one thing they will have to display, is patience. Will their young heads have that? They will face their most defensive opposition so far, and it will be interesting to see how well they cope.

Uruguay vs Ghana Prediction / Betting Tips

Prediction (who will win) – Uruguay win – Odds: 11/10 at Bet365

Uruguay have proven to be a tough cookie to crack, and they should have the confidence in their own abilities to stop Ghana. They will stick to their game plan in being relatively defensive, and that plays to their own strengths of playing quickly on the counter attack. Ghana will need their full complement of defenders, which is a bit up in the air at the moment with injuries. Ghana can look an exciting side, but there is more of an element of control and quality about the South Americans. Uruguay’s tough tackling midfield and tight defensive lines, should suffocate Ghana’s approach to the game, and Uruguay look a very calm and composed team which do not panic. They generally play below their top gear, and step up only when needed. Uruguay set up in a basic 4-3-3 which keeps things narrow, forcing opposition to go wide.

Uruguay vs Ghana Prediction – Betting Tip – Diego Forlan Anytime Scorer – Odds: 6/4 at Bet365

Although Milovan Rajevac and Oscar Tabarez won’t want this marvellous World Cup adventure to stop, neither could surely have imagined that their respective teams would have such a glittering opportunity to reach the semi-final. The draw has played its part by putting Germany and Argentina in one quarter, with Holland and Brazil featuring in another, with the winner of this tie likely to meet the Selecao in Cape Town next Tuesday.

It’s Uruguay who are strong favourites, just as they were when beating South Korea last Saturday although anyone who watched that game would struggle to argue that La Celeste where wholly convincing. While Diego Godin having to retire at half-time upset the balance in defence a little, there was definitely an element of the south Americans trying to hang on to their slender advantage which allowed the Koreans back into the game. Even so, it won’t stop Tabarez’s team being popular at odds of 11/10 (Paddy Power), especially as they will be included in several doubles with Brazil (who play earlier that day).

However, Ghana will feel as though their destiny is written in the stars after a dramatic (and slightly undeserved) win over the USA on Saturday night. The Black Stars have now etched their names in African football folklore, joining Senegal and Cameroon as the only teams from the Dark Continent to have reached the quarter finals of a World Cup. Not that they will be resting on their laurels at Soccer City and patting themselves on the back. Ladbrokes offer 10/3 that they are victorious in normal time.

The big problem for Rajevac is that two of his best attacking players are going to miss this match. Andre Ayew is suspended and Kevin Prince-Boateng will surely not recover from the injury incurred against America in the previous game. Isaac Vorsah could also be missing from central defence and that could see nineteen-year-old Jonathan Mensah slot in at central defence, although the Ghanaians will still have the fabulous Asamoah Gyan leading the line.

The Rennes striker is carrying the hopes of Africa on his shoulders and Paddy Power offers 15/2 that he scores either first or last during normal time. It was a blistering strike that helped his team reach the quarter final, although it was noticeable how Ghana started to fade in the second half of the match in Rustenburg. Therefore, perhaps the Uruguayans will keep things tight in the first period of the game and look to turn the screw after the break. Paddy Power offer 4/1 that the game is level at half-time but it’s the south Americans that are through by the final whistle.

One advantage that Uruguay have is their twin strikeforce, or perhaps we are being unfair to Edison Cavani (10/1 Victor Chandler), who was scoring regularly for Palermo last season. Even so, it’s Diego Forlan (5/1 William Hill) and Luis Suarez (11/2 Blue Square) that have been grabbing the headlines and they could just help the Uruguayans have the edge.

There’s plenty of hype surrounding the England v Germany and Mexico v Argentina matches on Sunday, although this match has the makings of a more entertaining clash. The Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg recently played host to an exciting match in the form of Denmark v Japan and there could be plenty more goals on show for the locals when these two teams take to the pitch.

Both Ghana and USA have already played at this ground during the group stages, drawing with Australia and England respectively. Indeed, the scoreline on both occasions was 1-1 and that’s on offer at odds of 5/1 (William Hill) for anyone thinks the same thing might happen here. There might be little to separate the two teams, who have shown lots of guts and character to reach this stage and both will want to go far for very different reasons.

The Black Stars are the only remaining African team left in the competition, with the hosts, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ivory Coast all falling by the wayside. However, Ghana’s 1-0 win over Serbia in Pretoria was ultimately enough to ensure they finished second in Group D behind Germany and Milovan Rajevac’s team are 19/10 (William Hill) to beat the Americans and reach the last eight.

The lion’s share of the support is likely to be for the Ghanaians, who might have got a decent result against Germany if they had shown more composure in front of goal. Indeed, the manager has called for the team to convert their chances and their main danger man when it comes to scoring is surely Asamoah Gyan. The Rennes forward has scored twice from the penalty spot and he’s 7/1 (Victor Chandler) to crank the vuvuzelas up to high volume by scoring the opener.

The United States of America have shown themselves to be very united in this World Cup! Bob Bradley’s team fell behind against England before drawing 1-1, while they were two goals down at half-time in their match against Slovenia but ended the match unfortunate not to win after pegging back the opposition to 2-2. It looked as though this bad refereeing decision was going to prove costly until Landon Donovan’s late strike won the match against Algeria and ensured they finished top of Group C.

Therefore, we should expect a never-say-die spirit from the Americans, who are marginal favourites to win at odds of 13/8 (Sky Bet). However, the 23/10 at Ladbrokes that the match ends all square looks infinitely more attractive. We know that both teams have the spirit to come from behind and you can never rule out a tense encounter with neither side wanting to make any mistakes. However, captain Donovan has scored in the last two matches for his side and he’s a tempting 11/4 (bet365) to be on the scoresheet in this clash.

Soccer City in Johannesburg is the 2010 World Cup’s biggest stadium and it’s a perfect setting for a match where it could be a case of ‘winner takes all’ on Wednesday night. Germany and Ghana were in the Group D driving seat after victories over Australia and Serbia respectively, although Joachim Low’s team stumbled against the White Eagles on Friday and now face the prospect of having to beat the Black Stars to make completely sure of a place in the last sixteen.

Despite the fact that Ghana have taken four points compared to Germany’s three, it’s the latter who are very strong favourites to bounce back with victory. Some of us might expect a closely-fought contest, although firms like Sporting Bet and Victor Chandler go as short as 2/5 that the 2006 World Cup semi-finalists land the three points and go through as Group D winners.

However, if you are thinking of backing the Germans, Paddy Power and Ladbrokes both have 1/2 available just hours ahead of the match. Perhaps it might be better to consider backing the favourites on the Half Time / Full Time market if you think that Low’s team will prove too classy for their African opponents. Klose and Podolski helped them into a 2-0 interval lead against the Aussies and William Hill offer 6/5 that they lead at the break and the final whistle in this one.

It’s difficult to understand why Ghana have been given such big odds by the bookmakers. Although they are missing star player Michael Essien, it still didn’t stop them from reaching the African Nations Cup final and they have looked fairly impressive in their matches to date. Serbia barely got a goalscoring opportunity in Pretoria and Victor Chandler’s odds of 15/2 about a Ghanaian win are simply too big. While Milovan Rajevac’s team only need a draw, to set up defensively for the entire ninety minutes is asking for trouble.

Bet365 offer 7/2 that the game finishes all square, something which could spell trouble for Germany if Serbia manage to beat Australia in Nelspruit. The Germans will be missing the suspended Miroslav Klose after his red card in the last match, something which is a big blow when you consider how much big tournament experience the Bayern Munich striker has. Much will now be expected of Lukas Podolski, especially after the Cologne striker missed a penalty against Serbia which proved very costly. William Hill offer 6/1 that he scores the first goal in Johannesburg.

Interestingly, Ladbrokes have a Lukas Podolski promotion running which is well worth checking out. Place a single bet of €/£10 or more on the first goal scorer, last goalscorer, correct score or scorecast markets on the Germany v Ghana game and they will give you a €/£10 free bet every time the striker scores.

The African Cup of Nations bows out, in what is hoped will be a classic final between Egypt and Ghana. Kick Off is at 4pm on Sunday, and with the strength that Egypt have displayed throughout the tournament, they will start as favourites against the young Ghanaians. Egypt’s path to the final has been relatively untroubled, as shown in the semi final match where they demolished Algeria 4-0. Algeria finished the match in some disgrace, with three players having been sent off, and their goalkeeper lucky to have played as much as he did after apparently head-butting the referee. Chaouchi had been incensed in the way Egypt’s opening goal, a penalty was scored.

Algeria have shown nothing that should cause any worry to their World Cup Group opponents, which include England. In fact, their game looked to be based on a lot of physical endeavour without much skill. Egypt on the other hand, who were beaten in the World Cup Qualifying Play Off by Algeria, look quite the flowing technically gifted unit. This will put them in good stead against an enthusiastic Ghana, who are short of a lot of their best players. Although Ghana have been riddled with injuries to starting players, it is with some credit they have reached the final, especially after losing their opening group match so badly to the Ivory Coast. Egypt go into the final with a full squad at their disposal, apart from Mahmoud Fathalla who is serving a suspension.

This is the first time that the two sides have ever clashed at the African Cup of Nations and the Pharaohs look to have all the aces in their pack. But, as shown, Ghana simply will not lie down. One positive aspect which they can take from the tournament, is that the crop of youngsters which have been playing, have gained some invaluable experience ahead of the World Cup, which should only ensure that the African side have a lot of strength in the depth to rely upon. Their progress has largely been built upon success, as they have been sneaking narrow wins thanks to the clean sheets they have been managing to achieve.

Egypt have won the African Cup of Nations six times out of seven appearances in the Final. This is the seventh final that the Black Stars of Ghana have appeared in, with four titles under their belt. Egypt will be expected to add a seventh African Cup of Nations title to their honour role. It should be a matter of how long it takes their sharper experience and creativity to break down the young guns of Ghana.

Match Prices
Egypt to win: 21/20 at Boylesports
Draw: 23/10 at Totesport
Ghana to win: 10/3 at Ladbrokes

It is all about major rivalries in the semi finals of the African Cup of Nations, both of which takes place on Thursday, January 28th. The first of the two rivalries, stem from the Western African clash between Ghana and Nigeria. This is one of the most fiercest, passionate rivalries in world football, and adds extra spice to the semi final encounter. Nigeria won through their Quarter Final match against Zambia on a penalty shoot out, and it is fair to say that they weren’t the better of the two sides over the 120 minutes. Time and time again the plucky Zambians simply tore the Nigerians apart, they just couldn’t find the back of the net unfortunately. Nigeria are a shadow of their former selves, which entertained so at World Cups past, and whilst Ghana on paper are a lot stronger, they have their own problems to concern them.

Ghana have been plighted with injuries which has hampered their play at the African Cup of Nations. Still, they have made it to the semi finals, and with the Ivory Coast out of the way, who knows? They don’t have the influential Michael Essien though, as the Chelsea man is back in London recovering from an injury which should keep him out of action for at least 6 weeks. But the young Ghanaians are giving things a go, if not quite living up to the expectations of the full, strong starting eleven. Naturally the two sides have come up against each other before in the tournament, and it was Ghana who triumphed in the Quarter Final stage in 2008 over Nigeria. There is a place in the final awaiting the victor on Thursday, and many are leaning towards it being Ghana.

Ghana to win: 9/5 at Bet365
Draw: 21/10 at SkyBet
Nigeria to win: 2/1 at Stan James

The other semi final rivalry needs no introduction at all, but it’ll get one. Egypt v Algeria draws recent memories of the bitter rivalry, which over spilled into violence between the two sets of supporters, as the nations battled each other to reach the World Cup Finals. The Algerian team bus was pelted with stones when it showed up in Egypt for the final group match of qualifying. On that day, Egypt scored a 2-0 victory, which meant that both nations finished with identical records. There was no way to separate the two of them, so things had to be decided by a one- off play-off match. Naturally this was held on neutral territory, and it was to some surprise that it was the Algerians which came through.

In the World Cup draw, Algeria landed themselves in England’s Group, but at the African Cup of Nations, they have looked a long way short of the kind of quality that Egypt have showed. Egypt demolished one of the tournament favourites, Cameroon 3-1 in their Quarter Final match, while Algeria finally rose to the occasion, beating favourites Ivory Coast 3-2 in extra time. The Ivory Coast had their chances, but Algeria stuck to their guns, scoring an incredibly late equaliser in normal time, only to surprisingly snatch the lead and the victory afterwards. Before that showing, Algeria had only managed one goal in their three group matches. Egypt are the better side, and they are showing it. If things go to form, then they will be in the final on Sunday.

Algeria to win: 12/5 at Coral
Draw: 9/4 at Totesport
Egypt to win: 6/4 at Stan James

African Cup of Nations Outright Winner
Egypt to win: 7/4 at Expekt
Ghana to win: 10/3 at Boylesports
Nigeria to win: 4/1 at Coral
Algeria: 4/1 at Ladbrokes

The Quarter Finals of the African Cup of Nations start on Sunday, with two of the pre-tournament favourites in action. The African Cup of Nations, marred by the terrible attack on the Togo team bus, has managed to turn towards the positive, and live up to expectations by providing some thrilling footballing action. Right from the opening match which finished in an exhilarating 4-4 draw, there has been plenty of action to enjoy, largely fuelled by some upsets. The Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana have all had their difficult matches, with Egypt looking by far the strongest team in the competition so far.

Angola v Ghana
The first of the Quarter Final Matches on Sunday, sees host nation Angola, who won their group, play Michael Essien’s Ghana. Sadly though Essien has been ruled out of action for about six weeks after picking up an injury during training, and that has just compounded the injury problems which the nation has. They are fielding a largely young side, with so many players sitting on the sidelines. While the can’t field their strongest side, they will probably take positives that their back up players are getting some action and experience ahead of the 2010 World Cup later in the year. If they can field a full side there, they should be a handful for any team. Fortunately this draw has been kind to them, and they have a great chance to progress against Angola.
Angola to win: 6/4 at SkyBet
Draw: 11/5 at Totesport
Ghana: 12/5 at Bet365

Ivory Coast v Algeria
This should be a banker for Didier Drogba and his Ivory Coast side. They had a slow start to the competition, where they only managed a 0-0 draw against Burkina Faso, but their strong victory over Ghana ensured that they progressed. Many believe that this is the time for the Ivory Coast to come good, having had a consistent team for the past few years. This really does represent their best chance of lifting the trophy. Their opponents Algeria really haven’t shown anything of note in the tournament, and have only managed one goal. If Fabio Capello has been studying the tapes, he will be confident that they are not going to cause any kind of surprise threat at the World Cup where they are in the same group as England.
Ivory Coast to win: 4/6 at BetFred
Draw: 11/4 at Bet365
Algeria: 5/1 at Coral

Egypt v Cameroon
The Egyptians, who somehow didn’t qualify for the World Cup against what appears to be a much weaker Algeria side, are looking in red hot form. They are the current African Cup of Nations champions, after upsetting Cameroon in the final of the last competition. Now Cameroon have a chance at revenge, but to be honest, they haven’t been as good as had hoped really. They have struggled for fluency and consistency, losing to Gabon and struggled to beat Zambia after going behind, and then could only manage a 2-2 draw against Tunisia. Not in great form, but still a serious threat if they can get their act together. Unfortunately, by them not winning their group, they have landed themselves a very tough quarter final draw.
Egypt to win: 17/11 at Expekt
Draw: 9/4 at Totesport
Cameroon to win: 2/1 at Ladbrokes

Zambia v Nigeria
Zambia, surprise winners of the group, after coming from bottom to top after the last round of group matches, will now fancy their chances against Nigeria. The Nigeria that are playing here, are not of the same quality as which some will remember from World Cup’s past. They simply have fallen a long way back from that sort of quality, and that will give Zambia some good heart to make it through to the last four of the competition. Their last group match victory over Gabon saw them steal top spot in the group, but Nigeria, who seriously got given a football lesson by Egypt in their group, will be favourite. They bounced back well after that and should on paper be stronger than Zambia. The winners of this match will play either Angola or Ghana, so there is even more incentive to progress, as they’ll avoid Egypt and Ivory Coast until the final.
Zambia to win: 4/6 at Coral
Draw: 13/5 at SportingBet
Zambia to win: 5/1 at Stan James

*Note that “Draw” will usually represent the score at the end of 90 minutes of play. As this is a knock-out stage, drawn matches will go to extra time and then penalties.

The African Cup of Nations is rapidly heading towards the Quarter Final stages, with Sunday’s two matches already lined up. As expected, the Ivory Coast and the injury stricken Ghana are through, while England’s World Cup 2010 opponents Algeria have managed to qualify from their group. Algeria, in all honesty, have not looked like any kind of threat throughout their group stage matches at all, and come the big tournament in South Africa in June, England should not have too much to worry about.

Algeria finish on level points with Mali, but qualified in second spot, simply because they won the head to head battle against Mali, who they defeated 1-0. Mali may be feeling a little hard done by, as they were at least entertaining in front of goal, hitting seven in their three matches. How many did Algeria score? Just the one in three games, but it proved to be a crucial one. Now we will see how they fare against the tournament favourites, Ivory Coast, and it will give a good indication of just what level they are at.

Ironically, the team which Algeria beat in the World Cup Qualifying Play-Off, Egypt, have looked one of, if not the, strongest team in the tournament, and have produced far better quality than what Algeria have. The current holders do pose a real threat to Ivory Coast’s hopes, as they look good enough to go and reclaim the title. Egypt won their group easily, by three victories from their three matches. In their somewhat abridged group after Togo‘s withdrawal, the Ivory Coast finished top ahead of Ghana. Both of those fancied teams though, did struggle to get a result against stubborn Burkina Faso, with Ghana’s 1-0 victory over them, enough to get them through. Ghana, who are missing a lot of first team choices, got hit with further bad news, when Chelsea’s Michael Essien was ruled out for the rest of the tournament through injury.

But Ghana’s reward for their triumph over Burkina Faso, is a quarter final tie against host nation Angola. Angola won their group, looking very entertaining for both good and bad reason, ahead of Algeria. Not even the fancied Cameroon have been producing to their expected level, and some of the performances by the top African teams, will have cast a little doubt over how competitive they just may be at South Africa 2010.

In Group 4, the last one to be settled, Cameroon’s defeat in their first game to the Gabon, means that there is the potential of them playing Egypt if they finish as runners up in their group. If Cameroon can get ahead of the Gabon in the final round of group matches, then they will have the slightly easier task against Nigeria. Cameroon had to scrape out a 3-2 win over Zambia in their second match, so just a point in their final match against Tunisia, who have looked surprisingly dull, will get them through to the Quarter Finals.

January 21 Group Matches
Cameroon to win: 10/11 at BetFred
Draw: 13/5 at Stan James
Tunisia to win: 15/4 at Stan James

Gabon to win: 8/5 at Expekt
Draw: 9/4 at Boylesports
Zambia to win: 2/1 at Stan James

January 24th Quarter Finals
Angola to win: 17/10 at ExtraBet
Draw: 9/4 at Coral
Ghana to win: 13/8 at Blue Square

Ivory Coast to win: 11/17 at Bwin
Draw: 11/4 at 888Sport
Algeria to win: 9/2 at SportingBet

African Cup of Nations Outright Winner
Ivory Coast – 2/1 at ExtraBet
Egypt – 4/1 at Extrabet
Cameroon – 6/1 at Ladbrokes
Nigera – 8/1 at Totesport
Ghana – 9/1 at Ladbrokes

Despite all the tragic surroundings involving the Togo team ahead of the African Cup of Nations, the tournament is still pressing ahead, with its opening game on Sunday between hosts Angola and Mali. The events may be a little overshadowed by the horrific scenes at the border, on which gunfire fatally opened up on the Togo team bus, which has led to the Togo team withdrawing from the competition. They would have opened their account against Ghana on Monday, but it is not to be. The tournament pressing ahead, seems to be a positive move in the face of adversity. It would be all too easy to cancel everything, but, as the old axiom goes, the show must go on. While a lot of thought will spared for the victims involved, positivity comes from moving on and the tournament now has a big chance to unite everyone.

Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast will be strong favourites to lift the cup, and the draw has thrown together in a group with team mate Michael Essien’s Ghana, though in Group B. They place a nice style of football, and with Togo’s withdrawal, it leaves them and the Ivory Coast as clear favourites to qualifying, with Burkina Faso being the only other team. The African Cup of Nations does provide some great football, and hopefully it will not just be remembered as the tournament which Togo pulled out of for tragic reasons. The colourful Cameroon side will be entertaining and dangerous as well, and they should have a comfortable qualification from group D, with on Tunisia who should be able to challenge them.

While a winner of the tournament is not going to come from Group A, which includes the hosts Angola, Egypt and Nigeria square off in Group C, which should be entertaining. Egypt are the current holders of the African Cup of Nations trophy, and will be looking for a big tournament again, seeing as how they have nothing to do in the summer, after losing out on qualification to the World Cup to bitter rivals Algeria. Algeria are of course, in England’s World Cup 2010 group, and it will be a good chance to assess the unknown quantity, and there will be members of the England management watching them at some point (though it won’t be Fabio Capello himself).

So who to look at when making a bet? Well, this will depend on whether you like betting on favourites or not. To be honest, looking at the state of affairs for the African Cup of Nations, there doesn’t appear to be an outright favourite, but there are three teams which are on a very close par. No surprises that they are the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon. There are World Class players on show for all of them, with a lot of players from Europe, including the Premier League. If anything, the draw is going to heavily favour Ghana and Ivory Coast, because they will have to play their quarter final matches against the teams from the weakest group, Group A. That should influence things a bit, and while smart money will probably go on Ivory Coast, look for good prices on Ghana and Cameroon, even if they are each way bets.

African Cup of Nations Outright Winner:
Ivory Coast – 9/4 at SkyBet
Cameroon – 11/2 at SkyBet
Ghana – 6/1 at Ladbrokes
Nigeria – 17/2 at Expekt
Egypt – 9/1 at William Hill

While the snowy weather will see many matches postponed in England throughout January, there should be no such problems in Angola, where the 27th African Cup of Nations will take place. While many Premier League managers would describe this tournament as nothing more than an inconvenience, there’s no denying that this is a vibrant competition featuring many of the world’s best footballers. It’s also an opportunity to check out several of the teams who will be lining up at the 2010 World Cup, although here are a few pointers when it comes to placing your bets on the ANC.

1)    The host nation tends to do well

Home advantage shouldn’t be underestimated in Angola, especially when you consider that every host nation has qualified for the knockout stages since 1992. Furthermore, since the biennial competition began in 1957, there have only been four occasions when the team playing on home soil hasn’t reached the semi-finals. Benfica’s Pedro Mantorras is a classy striker who can certainly help them on their way out of Group A, while former Manchester United forward Manucho should also be a force to be reckoned with. While we shouldn’t place too much pressure on a team that’s just emerged from a civil war, it’s worth noting that Tunisia (2004) and Egypt (2006) both won the competition recently as hosts.

2)    Egypt have won the last two renewals

While Egypt winning the tournament on home soil in 2006 was a great achievement, it was even more impressive when they successfully defended their crown two years later. While the Pharaohs controversially missed out on a World Cup place after losing in a play-off to Algeria, it might make them all the more determined to win this tournament and complete a hat-trick. Although Mido and Amr Zaki will not be featuring for the Egyptians this time around, the team have a quality striker in Mohamed Zidan, while former Spurs midfielder Hossam Ghaly will bring plenty of experience.

3)    There should be plenty of goals scored

While many people associate the ANC as a competition featuring low-scoring matches, this trend was bucked in 2008 and there’s every reason to suggest that the goals will be flying in this time around. Of the 32 matches played two years ago, 19 featured three goals or more, with five of the six Ivory Coast games involving Over 2.5 Goals. While Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou offer plenty in attack, the Cote D’Ivoire are also vulnerable at the back.

The Ivory Coast are currently favourites (5/2 Stan James) to win the 2010 African Cup of Nations, although the market leaders will have to cope with high expectations and their last triumph came along in 1992. Two victories and one runner-up place in the past five tournaments suggest that Cameroon (11/2 Sporting Bet) might be a better bet at twice the odds, especially with the excellent Samuel Eto’o leading the line.