Group C Preview by UK Guardian

Holders Egypt made ridiculously hard work of an elementary qualifying group and, as often, struggled on their travels. Failing to win in Mauritania, Burundi and Botswana does not augur well for their defence of their crown, nor do the injuries to Mido and Mohamed Barakat, both of whom were instrumental in their success two years ago.

Barakat's absence will be particularly punitive, what with him being one of the mainstays of the side's midfield. The Pharoahs' primary playmaker, however, is fit and ready: Barakat's Al Ahly team-mate, Mohamed Aboutraika, thrives in the hole just behind the useful front pair of Emad Moteab and Mohamed Zidan. Like Ahmed Hassan, the right-winger who's still sprightly at 32, Aboutraika scores almost as many as he creates, canny running and expert long-range shooting being specialities.


The Pharoahs' traditional discomfort south of the Sahara should, in theory, be aggravated by the ferocity of their first opponents. Cameroon, Africa's great grinders, still lust for vengeance after Egypt earned a surprise 1-1 draw in Yaound?o deprive them of a place at the 2006 World Cup. "We want to try to make it up to our people after missing out on the World Cup and going out in the quarter-finals of the last ACN," said centre-back Andr?ikey. But the fact is that Cameroonian football is at its lowest point in a generation and, for once, their fans don't think The Lions are indomitable.


The negligence with which Cameroonian administrators have managed the fruit of four successive World Cup appearances and three ACN triumphs between 1988 and 2002 has triggered several symptoms. These include public distrust, stagnant facilities, increasingly shambolic preparation (Cameroon played fewer matches last year than any of the other 15 competing countries) and high managerial turnover - two managers were used during the qualifiers and a third, Otto Pfister, was drafted in by the ministry of sport last month even though the federation was not in favour. Cameroon's qualifying group was so weak that there was never any credible chance of them missing on the finals despite the disorganisation and a preposterous opening defeat to Equatorial Guinea, but now that they're there, Cameroon need to up their performances if they're to avoid more ignominy.


In Pfister's favour are two things: his huge experience of African football includes coaching clubs in the domestic leagues of group rivals Egypt and Sudan; and Cameroon players have proved in the past that they can, when they really want to, ignore official wrangling and concentrate on football.


As ever, Cameroon's game will be more about physicality than creativity. They lack pace, with the exception of Samuel Eto'o, but are especially robust in midfield, where Achille Emana and Jean II Makoun will bully most-comers. Goalkeeper Carlos Kameni is one of the best in the competition and Bikey formed a decent central defensive partnership with the inspirational Rigobert Song two years ago, though owing to infrequent matches and odd selections the pair have barely played together since.


Song's presence is crucial. Widely mocked during his stints in England, the 31-year-old, who's now at Galatasaray and was voted best defender in the Turkish league last season, is an outstanding captain and still a potent symbol of the Lions' indomitability. "He constantly talks and advises. And the younger guys grew up watching him playing in the World Cup and lifting trophies on TV, so playing with him gives us unbelievable confidence," says Bikey, who says the same of Eto'o, the team's other talisman.

Because of their power, Cameroon are the side least likely to be upset by Sudan, whose physical approach forms part of the explanation for their surprising progress to the top of a qualifying group featuring Tunisia, who were beaten 3-2 in Khartoum.


Another cause of the Sudanese success is their cohesion. Making their first appearance in the finals since 1972, the Desert Hawks have plucked their entire squad from just two clubs, Al Merreikh and Al Hilal. The latter made it to semi-finals of this season's African Champions League before losing on penalties to eventual winners Etoile du Sahel, while the former got all the way to the Confederations Cup final before also falling to Tunisian adversaries. Since all Al Hilal's best forwards are Nigerian, all four forwards in the Sudanese squad come from Al Merreikh, including Faisal Agab, still the team's most potent attacker at 37.


Though Egypt manager Hassan Shehata has warned that Sudan have the quality not just to shock a complacent group opponent but actually lift the trophy, the fact that they lost 2-0 to a second-string Nigeria side before being routed 6-0 by Guinea last week suggests he was just being nice.


Al Merreikh will be well represented in Ghana. As well as contributing half the Sudanese squad and its manager, they were Pfister's employers before he was headhunted by Cameroon. What's more, their towering centre-back Elijah Tana was expected to join up with Zambia, for whom he has long been a stalwart, but Zambia manager, Patrik Phiri, provoked national uproar by leaving out the 32-year-old after he missed a flight to a training camp in December. Injuries have also forced Phiri to omit Collins Mbesuma and Germany-based duo Moses Sichone and Andrew Sinkala, meaning the Zambians flew to Ghana without the core of the team that qualified (winning 3-1 in Cape Town to top the group ahead of South Africa).


The Copper Bullets' chances seem slim, then, but opponents should be warned: writing them off appears to trigger an explosive reaction: when James Chamanga heard he'd been left out of the original squad, he immediately went out and hit five goals in Moroka Swallows' 6-2 win over Platinum Stars, thereby catapulting himself to the top of the scoring charts in the South African Premier League ... and back into his country's squad. A friendly win over Tunisia in Tunis earlier this month confirmed that though this Zambia squad may not be of the same calibre as the one that was tragically killed in the 1993 air disaster, the country, making its second successive appearance in the finals since then, is well and truly back on its footballing feet.


Prediction:
1) Cameroon 2) Egypt 3) Zambia 4) Sudan