Can Angola do it on home soil?

| Friday January 8, 2010 00:00

Angola (Black Antelopes)
Coach: Manuel Jose (Portugal)
Key players: Flavio, Gilberto, Manucho and Love
The opening game against Mali on Sunday will prove important for the hosts. The game will be used to gauge if the hosts can go all the way. On paper, Mali and World Cup finalists Algeria are favoured to go to the knockout stage but Angola's advantage will be the masses of Angolans who will pack the stadium whenever they are playing. But the main challenge for the hosts if they qualify for the quarterfinals, is that, they might meet either Ivory Coast or Ghana and it will depend on their character to reach the semis.

Though Flavio will miss the opening game against Mali, he will be fit for the second game to give his side the necessary experience to go through. Since their last appearance at the 2006 World Cup, Angola's performance has been declining and the Angolans are hoping that coach Manuel Jose will turn the tables around for the Black Antelopes. Angola have proven in the past that anything is possible in a game of football.

Cameroon (Indomitable Lions)
Coach: Paul Le Guen (France)
Key players: Samuel Eto'o, Achille Webo, Idris Kameni and Alexendre Song

In the latest FIFA rankings, Cameroon are the top side in Africa and that will work to their advantage. The last time Cameroon won the African Nations Cup was in 2002 and they will want to stamp their authority in African football again. In the last event, they went all the way to the final but suffered heartbreak when a blunder by veteran defender Rigobert Song allowed Egypt to run away with the title. When the qualifiers started, Cameroon seemed dead and buried but the arrival of Frenchman Paul Le Guen turned their fortunes around. They have been impressive recently and even the media who were against his appointment are behind him. The form of Inter Milan marksman Samuel Eto'o Fils and young workhorse Alexendre Song from Arsenal will prove crucial throughout the campaign.

Egypt (The Pharaohs)
Coach: Hassan Shehata (Egypt)
Key players: Wael Gomaa, Essam Al-Hadary, Hosni Abd-Rabou and Mohamed Zidan

The six-times African champions will want to become the first side to win the showpiece for the third consecutive time. After missing on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of fierce rivals Algeria, the Pharaohs would want to make amends in Angola.

Going into these games, Egypt have been hit by injuries to exciting midfielders Mohamed Abou-Treika and Mohamed Shawky and it will be interesting to see who will take responsibility. Coach Shehata has included youngster Ahmed Abdel in the squad and though chances of him playing are slim, he might be the one to watch in the Portuguese-speaking country.

Ivory Coast (The Elephants)
Coach: Vahid Halihodzic (Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Key players: Aruna Dindane, Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Yaya Toure

Most commentators believe that this is the time for Ivory Coast to stamp their authority in the African game. In the past competitions, they have been tipped as favourites but they faltered much to the disappointment of their fans. During the 2010 qualifiers, the Elephants showed class and this is something which make their fans believe that 2010 is their year. It is disappointing that as one of the giants in African football, Ivory Coast have only won AFCON once and that was in 1992.