Less than a week to go...

In less than one week, the best tournament of the year will kick-off...

Many a Premier League manager bemoans the exodus of their African stars to the African Cup of Nations, but for me personally I can't get enough of it and, without using the term "defensive naivety" and without swooning over the "athleticism" of the players, and whilst it may be argued that more global superstars will grace the European Championships later in the year I think that for the neutral, the African Cup of Nations will be a far more entertaining competition.

The main problem with the Euro's is that the players are far too used to playing with/against each other.  With the majority of the players in each squad playing regularly in the Champions League and in the top four or five domestic leagues and there are hardly any players who will represent their countries that ply their trade outside of Europe.  Compare this to the African Cup of Nations where you have players being drawn from Europe, Africa and the Middle East from the top clubs and from lesser clubs in the lower echelons some leagues.  Obviously the scouting networks do something to fill in the gaps, but there is still a large element of the unknown for all teams lining up against each other.  Whilst in European football culture this would lead to a cagey opening with the teams feeling each other out, in the African Cup of Nations the opposite mind-set is taken and an open, more attacking tile is more often than not employed.  This open style of football also aids the performances of some of the world class strikers on show at the tournament and gives the world a festival of football to enjoy with some top goals flying in along the way.

This has been helped by the failure to qualify of some of the traditional 'big hitters' of the continent, Cameroon, Nigeria and holders Egypt.  This means that there are a few newer teams in the competition like Libya who are riding on the crest of the Arab Spring wave (they only conceded one goal in qualification).  The qualification tournament was for the most part very tight, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal and Ghana qualified fairly comfortably, but the rest of the qualification was decided on the last couple of match days with South Africa being eliminated on the last match day due to head-to-head record.  What this shows is that anyone could win it.  Traditionally the favourites Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana do not always have it their own way, particularly against North African teams, and the tournament always throws up a couple of surprises.  Senegal have faltered slightly since the 2002 World Cup but with the scintillating form of Demba Ba they must be considered to be amongst the favourites too, although they have been drawn in potentially trickiest of all the groups.

Group A:
Equatorial Guinea
Libya
Senegal
Zambia

Group B:
Cote d'Ivoire
Sudan
Burkina Faso
Angola

Group C:
Gabon
Niger
Morocco
Tunisia

Group D:
Ghana
Botswana
Mali
Guinea

The fans also add massively to enjoyment of the game providing a party atmosphere in the stadia, and unlike the Euro's where only the Dutch bring colour and noise or South America where Brazil bring samba into the stadia, every team will be followed by legions of fans all in party mood.  Expect face paint, headdresses and music to accompany every game and the kind of national pride and passion that many a European team could only dream of.

Whilst there won't be as many household names without Nigeria, Cameroon and Egypt there will still be a number of English based players hoping to lift the trophy along with a few old boys like Didier Zokora, Emmanuel Eboue, John Mensah and Max Gradel.  This will provide a platform for new players to shine and grab the limelight for themselves and maybe even seal a big money move with a good showing.

Whoever wins will be largely irrelevant for me, I just want to watch football how it should be played and have a good time doing it.