African Nations Cup a World Cup preview

The African Nations Cup kicks off in January and we will see some of the teams taking part in next year’s World Cup. Some major European teams will be losing some top talent to the competition, including Premier League and La Liga sides.

Favourites drawn together

Two of the favourites for this years African Nations Cup have been drawn in the same group. Ghana and Ivory Coast will be in group B alongside Burkina Faso and Manchester City’s Emmanuel Adebayor’s Togo.

The two African giants will be favourites to progress to the knockout stages but in football nothing is certain. Both coaches can use the competition to fine tune their tactics and team selections ahead of the World Cup.

Two other giants

Although they didn’t qualify for the World Cup, Egypt will still be one of the favourites for the competition and are current holders of the trophy. They are aiming for a never been achieved third consecutive African Nations triumph. They will be looking for victory to lessen the blow of failure to reach South Africa 2010.

Alongside Egypt there is Nigeria, Benin and Mozambique. Nigeria’s squad is full of players playing their football in top quality leagues. Their squad includes Everton pair Joseph Yobo and Aiyegbeni Yakubu and Chelsea midfielder star John  Obi Mikel.

However their coach has been criticised for being too defensive and they currently lack a playmaker to create chances for Yakubu and former Newcastle striker Obafemi Martins. They are also searching for a quality central defensive partner for captain Yobo. Despite this they should expect to qualify for the knockout stages alongside the Egyptians.

The Indomitable Lions

One of my first World Cup memories was of Cameroon and their expansive football in World Cup 1990. They were quite unfortunate to be beaten by England in the quarter-final. Since then they have underachieved slightly. However they have one of the top strikers in world football, Samuel Eto’o.

French manager Paul Le Guen has revitalised the Cameroon side since taking over in July. They qualified for the World Cup in impressive form, winning four consecutive games to win their group comfortably. A key to their side is they have a strong midfield with the likes of Alexandre Song, Stephane Mbia, Jean Makoun and Achille Emana.

Makoun had a poor tournament back in 2007 in Ghana but is now back to his best form. Strong midfielder Stephane Mbia has been linked with moves to the Premier League on numerous occasions but decided to stay in France with Marseille.

Star striker Samuel Eto’o is the all-time leading goalscorer in the African Nations Cup with 16 goals. The Inter striker has been in good form this season in Serie A scoring seven goals 14 appearances. Le Guen also appointed Eto’o his captain on taking over and the former Barca ace has revelled in the role.

World Cup preview

The Africans Nations Cup is a chance for fans around the world to see the strengths and weaknesses of the African teams taking part in next years World Cup. Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Ivory Coast and Ghana will all be appearing in South Africa next year and will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

The performance of England’s World Cup group rivals Algeria could be of utmost interest to English fans. Algeria are a bit of an unknown quantity to most fans in England. I think they are an unknown quantity to their own fans. They failed to qualify for the last two African Nations Cup finals but managed to make the World Cup after beating bitter rivals Egypt in the World Cup play-offs. Their coach Rabah Saadane was in charge last time they were in the World Cup finals back in 1986. They are one of the most unpredictable teams in the African Nations Cup.

Time to perform

For the giants of African football Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria it is time for them to them to show their strength and quality. If one of those teams do win the trophy then it will give them the momentum that they will need heading into the World Cup. That momentum could prove vital for progression to the latter stages of the World Cup.