The African Cup of Nations

The African Cup of Nations was first held in the Sudan in 1957 with current holders Egypt the most successful country with six victories to date. The competition, which is run from 10th to 31st January in Angola, has been held biannually since 1968 although FIFA president Sepp Blatter (under pressure no doubt from the top European clubs) has asked that the tournament be moved from January to June or July by 2016 to fit the international football calendar. It will, in time, have to move to an odd-numbered year in order to avoid a clash with the World Cup.

The Cote d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast are traditionally known as the Elephants and few football supporters could forget their sole success in the African Cup of Nations when they defeated Ghana 11-10 on penalties in the 1992 final. Having drawn Argentina, Holland and Serbia and Montenegro in the 2006 World Cup Finals Didier Drogba and his team would have been looking for a more favourable draw in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Having been paired with Portugal, Brazil and North Korea it would appear that Angola rather than South Africa represents the Elephants best chance of a major Trophy in 2010.

There can be little argument that Drogba is the heart of the Ivorian team, but they can also field such high-class European based players such as Kolo and Yaya Toure of Manchester City and Barcelona respectively, Seville's Didier Zokora and Arsenal's Emmanuel Eboue.

The Ivory Coast deserve their place at the head of the market (11/4 with Stan James) but there are any number of dangers amongst the 15 other nations including four-times winners Ghana (7/2) who will have their own Chelsea talisman in Michael Essien although, at the time of writing, it is unclear as to the severity of the hamstring injury picked up in the recent Champions League encounter against Apoel Nicosia. As in the 2006 World Cup the midfield remains the strength of Ghana with the Black Stars also hoping to call on the services of skipper Stephen Appiah, although the Bologna player is also currently on the treatment table, Inter's Sulley Muntari and Rosenborg's Anthony Annan.

Egypt (4/1) retained the African Cup they won on home soil in 2006 by beating Cameroon 1-0 in Ghana two years ago, but the Pharaohs failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup when they were beaten in a play-off by Algeria back in November. That was a crushing blow and this experienced but ageing squad are readily overlooked in their quest for a hat-trick.

My recommendation is the Cameroon (6/1) who last won the tournament back in 2002 and who will be led by Samuel Eto'o top scorer in the both 2006 & 2008 and whose 16 goals makes him the most prolific striker in the history of the ANC. Some argue that football in the Cameroon has never been the same since the tragic death of Marc-Vivien Foe who collapsed during the semi-final of the Confederations Cup with Colombia back in 2003 and later died in hospital. They failed to make the World Cup Finals in Germany in 2006 but will be in South Africa later in the year and look a reformed unit.

The Indomitable Lions are managed by former Lyon and Rangers boss Paul Le Guen who has instilled some discipline into his talented squad. One of the Frenchman's first tasks was to take the burden of captaincy from former Liverpool defender Rigobert Song and hand it to Eto'o. I am a great admirer of the burgeoning talent of Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Song and Lyon's Jean Makoun, less so of the diminutive Spurs left-back Benoit Assou-Ekottu and it will be interesting to see if another Tottenham defender Sebastian Bassong can force his way into the starting XI in Angola.

It promises to be a great start to the footballing year and I fancy the Indomitable Lions of the Cameroon to gain a fifth African Cup of Nations.

African Nations Cup Outright

Outright Prices, (place terms: 1/2 the first 2)

• 11-4 Ivory Coast
• 7-2 Ghana
• 4 Egypt
• 6 Cameroon
• 10 Nigeria
• 12 Algeria
• 12 Tunisia
• 20 Angola
• 28 Mali
• 33 Gabon
• 66 Burkina Faso
• 66 Togo
• 80 Zambia
• 100 Benin
• 150 Malawi
• 200 Mozambique