Nations Cup battle begins

CAIRO: The African Nations Cup begins here today with an all-star cast promising to produce a compelling three-week football feast.

All the top national teams are in Egypt and all the top players bar injured Ghana midfielder Michael Essien as Tunisia defend a title won on home soil two years ago.

Former African Footballer of the Year Kalusha Bwalya from Zambia says any one of 10 countries could win a 16-nation tournament that has grown immensely from humble roots 49 years ago.

Egypt were the first winners with hosts Sudan and Ethiopia the only other contenders after South Africa were barred for refusing to field a multiracial team.

This weekend, 16 teams packed with Europe-based professionals led by strikers Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona and Didier Drogba of Chelsea launch challenges for a trophy that symbolises continental supremacy.

And while Bwalya may be a trifle optimistic with his number of potential champions, there is no doubt Egypt, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia can go all the way.

Angola and Togo will be out to prove that their shock qualification for June's 2006 World Cup was no fluke while the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, South Africa and Zambia have been so bad they are overdue a change of fortune.

That leaves Libya, the sole qualifier not in the top 16 of the African rankings released on Wednesday, and Zimbabwe as the only no-hopers in a competition that spans three weeks.

And as Egypt prepare to host the strongest field assembled for the African showcase comes further proof of the growth of the game on a continent where sport serves as an antidote to the daily grind for survival.

A decade ago one could count the number of Africans performing in England on one hand.

Now Monaco striker Emmanuel Adebayor, whose 11 goals were crucial to the qualification of Togo, has swelled a mini-army by joining Arsenal.