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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

The African Cup of Nations, after its tragic start involving the withdrawal of Togo, has been throwing up some interesting results so far. It is still early days in the competition, but the majority of the major powerhouses have really yet to show their hands. The tournament started with a fantastic match involving Angola and Mali which ended in a four-all draw, with Mali netting four times in the last twelve minutes to rescue an incredibly unlikely draw. That perfectly set the tone for some exciting football for the early stage of the round of group matches. The second day of the tournament produced a double surprise. England’s World Cup 2010 opponents Algeria were played off the park in a 3-0 defeat by little fancied Malawi. If the England management were watching that game, they would not see too much to fear. Their subsequent 1-0 win over Mali would not have done much to inspire their hopes for making an impression at the World Cup 2010.

The Ivory Coast, favourites for the tournament due to their skill and experience, didn’t get their campaign off to an ideal start either. The Ivory Coast have had pretty much the same team for the past three African Cup of Nation tournaments, and combined with the world class players they have, are fancied to take the title this year. This surely should be their time. But they need to step up a gear as well, as they could only manage a 0-0 draw against Burkina Faso, who pretty much defended all of the match, but still, the worrying thing for the Ivory Coast, is that they could not find a way to break down the defence. With Togo withdrawing from their Group, the Ivory Coast needed to approach their match with Ghana with victory in mind to ensure their progression in the tournament.

Ghana should be a much stronger team than they are, and are having to field a relatively young side. With so many players missing through injury, it is a bit of a makeshift team, which doesn’t really represent their chances of making a big impression at the World Cup. Still, they gave the Ivory Coast a good game. After a slow start and falling behind one nil to a slick counter attack from the Ivory Coast, Ghana did respond really well, stringing some nice fluent plays together. They couldn’t however sustain enough pressure after the break to get back into the game, and the Ivory Coast ran out 3-1 winners with Chelsea’s Drogba netting in the 90th minute. They did suffer one casualty though, with Arsenal Emmanuel Eboue being sent off. But the victory sees them as the first team through to the quarter finals.

Egypt have been the most impressive so far. The current title holders breezed past Nigeria 3-1, showing that they really mean business. They are probably worth an each way bet, because they are good enough to get to the final, and they have bugged the Ivory Coast in the previous two tournaments by knocking them out, so they have good history there against this year’s fancied team. Perhaps one of the biggest surprises too, came in Cameroon’s opening match against the Gabon. Bear in mind that Cameroon is expected to be as much of a force in the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations as the Ivory Coast are. They suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Gabon. The Cameroon side will now need to pick up at least a victory against Zambia or Tunisia to get through.

So, sort of at the half way mark of the group stage matches, Group A is all to play for, with hosts Angola giving a good account of themselves at the top of the group, closely pursued by Malawi and Algeria. The Ivory Coast, with their victory over Ghana are looking in good position to reach the quarter finals, and Ghana now need to beat Burkina Faso to get through. Egypt should run out comfortable winners of Group C, while Gabon lead the way in Group D. The next round of matches in the group should sort things out, and everything could be really tight, or both Tunisia and Cameroon could be out at this early stage.

Forthcoming group stage matches to look out for in the African Cup of Nations is the Cameroon v Zambia clash on the 17th, and Angola v Algeria on the 18th.

African Cup of Nations Outright Winner:
Ivory Coast – 13/5 at Stan James
Egypt – 9/2 at BetFred
Cameroon – 6/1 at Ladbrokes
Ghana – 9/1 at Ladbrokes
Nigeria – 12/1 at SkyBet

Selected Match Prices
Cameroon to win: 8/15 at Coral
Draw: 10/3 at Totesport
Zambia to win: 6/1 at Bet365

Angola to win: 7/5 at Totesport
Draw: 9/4 at Coral
Algeria to win: 39/19 at Expekt

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.

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.

We now know the 32 teams who will contest the 19th renewal of the World Cup next summer in South Africa. France’s progress to the finals was heavily controversial, although Stan James offer a best price 16/1 that Raymond Domenech’s team repeat their success of 1998. The big surprise on Wednesday evening was the exit of Russia, although the bookmakers don’t rate Slovenia’s chances in their first ever tournament. Coral make them 400/1 outsiders, although they are there on merit after finishing second in a tough qualifying group.

Portugal managed to ease through against Bosnia despite missing Cristiano Ronaldo, although they are sure to have officially the world’s best player back for the finals. Sporting Bet offer 18/1 that Carlos Queiroz steers the team to glory, although they continue to lack a cutting edge up front. Meanwhile, the dream is still alive for Euro 2004 winners Greece, who landed a 1-0 win in Ukraine to go through this week. Otto Rehhagel’s tactics worked a treat in Kiev, although the bookies are less convinced that they’ll make an impact in South Africa. Victor Chandler offer 150/1 that they are triumphant.

Some people are suggesting that the 2010 World Cup winner is going to come from a select group of two. Spain proved during Euro 2008 that they are an outstanding team and Ladbrokes make them slight favourites at 4/1 to prove that they’re the best nation on the planet. Manager Vicente del Bosque is blessed with some technically brilliant players and it’s hard to pick holes in them at the moment. Similarly, Brazil have an excellent World Cup pedigree and Paddy Power are lifting their heads above the parapet by offering 5/1. The South Americans have featured in three of the last four finals and qualified easily. Perhaps backing both of these teams will prove to be a profitable excursion.

In recent months, one of the big market movers have been the Ivory Coast, with William Hill going as short as 20/1 that they become the first African nation to win the tournament. They very nearly beat Germany in a friendly recently and have arguably the world’s best striker in Didier Drogba. The Elephants will have plenty of competitive match action in the African Nations cup and are the continent’s best chance of success. While the hosts will obviously have home advantage, they looked to be a mediocre team during the Confederations Cup and Coral are prepared to lay them at 200/1.

One of the teams that has drifted the most is Argentina and the rumour on the grapevine is that the bookmakers are out to get Diego Maradona’s team next summer. Bet Fred offer a standout 10/1 about the Albicelestes, although they were slightly fortunate to qualify and having Lionel Messi in the team does not equal success. However, firms are reporting a brisk trade on the Netherlands and England to win next summer’s competition. The Dutch blew the opposition away in qualifying and have been cut to 14/1 (bet365), while England are 13/2 (Coral), with Fabio Capello fielding a weakened team against Brazil recently. It might be worth taking this price now as there will be a flood of patriotic money coming for the Three Lions by the time next summer comes around!