Fans of the CAN

The African Nations Cup kicks off on January 20 in Egypt and we are looking forward to it. The uniquely timed tournament affords us an opportunity to check out five World Cup qualifying teams competing for the pride of a continent.

We are of course interested in seeing who comes out on top, but there are some other things we’ll be looking for as the tournament unfolds.

We are keen to see Angola and Togo as they try to show that they belong with the continent’s big boys. Paired together in a grouping with traditional power Cameroon, we should have a better idea of each country’s talent after the first round.

We are looking forward to seeing how Ghana competes in the tournament’s Group of Death. Without Michael Essien in the lineup, the Black Stars will have their hands full against Nigeria and Senegal, both sides eager to taste African Nations Cup victory after failing to qualify for Germany.

We are eager to learn whether Tunisia’s well-oiled machine will continue forward to a second consecutive tournament championship. Coach Roger Lemerre’s team has been in fine form and with all but two players returning from 2004 this team has a lot of experience playing and winning big games.

Then there is Ivory Coast whose talented roster in full of names familiar to even those who do not follow the African game closely. The Elephants were nearly unstoppable in qualifying for the World Cup, but must contend with host nation Egypt and a Morocco side that finished unbeaten in qualifiers but still finished behind Tunisia.

Most of all we are looking to watching high quality football with drama that can only come from pressure packed tournament games. At least for a few weeks, this will help us forget that the World Cup is still five months away.