10 interesting facts of the African Cup of Nations 2012

“In short, we have, among African countries, a duty of solidarity.”

Omar Bongo
(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes)

It is fair to say, that the Africa Cup of Nations (also called Africa Nations Cup) is one my favourite football competitions. I am truly excited about the upcoming tournament, and in my opinion it should get more attention and better coverage in the English media, than it does at present. Here, you’ll find 10 interesting facts, that a true football fan might want to know about this very entertaining, high tempo event.

1; Africa Cup of Nations is the biggest regular sport event in Africa, and is held every 2 years. In 2010 it was decided that it will be held again in 2013 so that the tournament does not clash with the 2014 World Cup. After 2013 the tournament would be moved to odd-numbered years.

2; This year`s tournament -which kicks off on the 21st of January 2012- is the 28th Africa Cup of Nations, and will be hosted by 2 West African countries Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Since its introduction in 1957, only the 2000 event was held by joint hosts previously: Ghana and Nigeria.

3; There will be only one East African nation participating: Sudan. The country started the qulification process as one, however since has been broken into South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan (or North Sudan). Players from both country will be playing together for a country that doesn`t exist anymore.

4; South Africa won the right to host the 2017 competition, however due to the ongoing civil war (in Libya) has now traded years with Libya. South Africa will now host the AFCON in 2013 and Libya will be responsible for the 2017 event. The 2015 competion has been awarded to Morocco.

5; Swaziland has already pulled out of the 2013 qualification games due to financial constraints.

6; The United Arab Republic (1959), Ethiopia (1962), Ghana (1963, 1978), Sudan (1970), Nigeria (1980), Egypt (1986, 2006), Algeria (1990), South Africa (1996), Tunisia (2004) all have won the competion while hosting the event.

7; Top African teams and their nicknames

The top 5 African teams are: Nigeria (The Super Eagles), Cameroon (The Indomitable Lions),Senegal (The Lions of Teranga), Egypt (The Pharaohs) and Morocco (Lions of Atlas). Nigeria and Cameroon have a long standing football rivalry similar to that of Brazil and Argentina. Neither Nigeria nor Cameroon qualified for AFCON 2012. The greatest disappointment came however, when 7 times winner Egypt also didn't qualify.

8; Equatorial Guinea coach Michel Henri has quit his job the second time in 3 months, leaving the small, oil rich country in trouble just weeks before the event the country is co-hosting with Gabon. He already walked out in October, but returned to his position just days later. However, according to Henri conditions were worse than ever, and the political pressure proved too much for the former France captain, despite his vast experience in managing African teams.

9; It has somehow become very fashionable, as well as financially very rewarding for European coaches to relocate to Africa and manage one of the many colorful and talented teams. Despite the surge of European and South American managers it is great to see that 7 out of the participating 16 countries have one of their own leading the national team.

- Equatorial Guinea - Gilson Paulo (Brazil)

- Libya - Marcos Paqueta (Brazil)

- Senegal - Amara Traore (Senegal)

- Zambia - Herve Renard (France))

- Ivory Coast - Francois Zahoui (Ivory Coast)

- Sudan - Mohamed Abdalla Ahmed (Sudan)

- Burkina Faso - Paulo Duarte (Portugal)

- Angola - Lito Vidigal (Angola)

- Gabon - Gernot Rohr (Germany)

- Niger - Harouna Doula Gabde (Niger)

- Morocco - Eric Gerets (Belgium)

-Tunisia - Samir Trabelsi (Tunisia)

- Ghana - Goran Stevanovic (Serbia)

- Botswana - Stanley Tshosana (Botswana)

- Mali - Alain Giresse (France)

- Guinea - Michel Dussuyer (France)

10; As usual, well before the Africa Cup of Nations actually kicks off, Premiership managers stop at nothing to air their frustration for loosing key players of their teams. This is an awful trend and it must stop, as clearly any manager who signs an African player must understand, that if that player is called up to play for his country in this competition, it is an honour rather than a burden. As the below lists show, in reality the aren’t that many players who are leaving the EPL this month, and some clubs like Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United are not effected by the AFCON at all. So lets stop the moaning, and instead lets celebrate this prestigious competition and what it stands for.

Premiership clubs loosing players because of the AFCON 2012:

ARSENAL: Gervinho (Ivory Coast), Marouane Chamakh (Morocco)
CHELSEA: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
MANCHESTER CITY: Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
NEWCASTLE: Demba Ba (Senegal), Cheick Tiote (Ivory Coast)
QPR: Adel Taarabt (Morocco), Armand Traore (Senegal)
STOKE: Diao (Senegal)
WIGAN: Mohamed Diame (Senegal), Steve Gohouri (Ivory Coast)

But as previously mentioned, Cameroon, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria and co did not qualify, i.e the following players will stay and continue their season:

Ahmed Elmohamady (Egypt) - SUNDERLAND
Stephan Sessegnon (Benin) - SUNDERLAND
Christopher Samba (Congo) - BLACKBURN
Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Cameroon) - TOTTENHAM
Sebastian Bassong (Cameroon) - TOTTENHAM
Adlene Guedioura (Algeria) - WOLVERHAMPTON
Alexandre Song (Cameroon) - ARSENAL
Somen Tchoi (Cameroon) - WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Youssuf Mulumbu (Congo DR) - WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Victor Anichebe (Nigeria) - EVERTON
Dickson Etuhu (Nigeria) - FULHAM
John Obi Mikel (Nigeria) - CHELSEA
Peter Odemwingie (Nigeria) - WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Nigeria) - BLACKBURN ROVERS
Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo) - TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS

As always, I was just checking the odds for this tournament, and there seems to be no surprises so far with the predictions. The most likely to reach the final at present are Ivory Coast and Ghana, with Ivory Coast slightly edging Ghana for the trophy. However Senegal at 7/1 looks like a good bet to me, as Demba Ba is very strong, and is in classic form. While I couldn't find any odds just yet for the top goalscorer, it is probably safe to say that by putting money on Yaya Toure and Demba Ba, one cannot go too wrong. Not too long to go now, best of luck to all the participating countries and let the countdown begin!