I must say I am quite excited about the tournament starting on Monday, I don’t want to go on about the shock events on Friday as this should be all about the football.

So here we go, for the uninformed the Tournament is being held in Angola, 16 teams split into 4 groups competing to be the best team in African, since 2002 when Cameroon were crowned Champions in Mali, the tournament has been dominated by teams from northern African mainly Tunisia and Egypt, so the likes of Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast will be hoping to bring the trophy further south.

My picks to win are Ivory Coast, surely the last big chance for this team of players to win something, Drogba likely to be playing in his last tournament, the Toure brothers, Gervinho, Keita and Dindane all make it a very talented team, and if they perform I can’t see anyone getting past them.

The Dark Horses to watch out for, for me are Mali, Mamadou Diarra, Seydou Keita and Freddy Kanoute are 3 big names playing for The Eagles, they have alot of players you’d know if you followed the French League, I can see them winning their group and should at least make the Semi-Finals if not the final depending on the draw.

Now the players to watch, I didn’t want to go for the obvious Drogba, Eto’o etc, so hopefully 10 names your not too farmilar with that you can keep an eye out for.

#10 FRANCISCO ZUELA – ANGOLA
6ft Defender who can play in the centre or on the right, Wigan showed interest in Francisco before the new year playing him in  behind closed doors friendly, wanting to sign him from Russian club FC Kuban for £1m however no deal was done, I would put money on a few English teams having him watched, he holds a portuguese passport and hopes to leave Russian soon.

#10 MODIBO MAIGA – MALI
Playing in France for Le Mans Modibo caught my eye when Grafite and De Melo left and he stepped up, can player either down the middle or on the wing, shows good pace and skills, scored 8 times last season for Le Mans, will cause a few teams problems if given the chance.

#10 RAFIK SAIFI – ALGERIA
One for England fans to watch out for, made his name in France playing mostly for newly promoted teams, I first saw him playing for Lorient, likes to play in the hole behind the striker, drifts about, very elusive, good in the air, a tricky dangerman.

#10 GERVINHO – IVORY COAST (I didn’t know they were all #10′s when I picked them haha)
Played for 2 years in Le Mans and caught the attention of Arsene Wenger who showed an interst, however he moved to Lille, and he has exploded into life scoring 11 goals in 18 games, he had a slow start but has made up for it, an explosive winger, can also play upfront, a real handful.

#13 FLOYD AYITE – TOGO
Not sure if we will get to see Floyd start for Togo but I would hope he will receive some playing time, owned by Bordeaux he is on loan at Nancy this season, and has shown flashes of being a good player in the future and this could be a great platform to show his talents.

#11 PETER ODEMWINGIE – NIGERIA
Still one of my favourite players, when he played for Lille he was amazing, he has done pretty well again at Lokomotiv Moscow, pace, skill, good movement, an all round player, I hope he does really well.

#17 STEPHANE SESSEGNON – BENIN
Last season for PSG was his breakout season,  6 league goals and 7 assists he became one of the stars of the team and Chelsea and Arsenal placed their interest, 2 goals this season so far, plays in the middle of midfield but can drift to either flank just an overall great player. Interesting to see how he does with his Benin teammates.

#8 RAZAK OMOTOYOSSI – BENIN
This man is one of the players Stephane will be hoping to hook up with, I first saw this player when he was Henrik Larsson’s strik partner at Helsngborgs scoring 14 goals in 23 matches, alo scoring 6 goals in the Uefa Cup when they got to the last 32 stage, alot of clubs showed interest, mostly in Holland apparently he turned down a move to Gronignen, and after a bad move to the middle east, he is now playing for Metz in France, a strong player and good finsher, very dangerous, has a great scoring record for club and country, a real dangerman.

#16  EYONG ENOH – CAMEROON
This young player has one the hearts of the Ajax fans they have shown him great acceptance and admiration from his quality play also showing maturity beyond his years, becoming a regular starter for the Dutch side, recently called up for the Cameroon team, he now has a chance to showcase his ability on the world stage, and there’s no reason the midfielder can’t succeed.

#9 ARMINE CHERMITI – TUNISIA
This guy was meant to be one of the next stars of African football scoring 8 goals in the African Champions League for the impressive Etoile Sahel, a team I have visited in my travels, he then moved the Hertha BSC has played 10 games but hasn’t made an impact, In August this year he was loane outto Al-Ittihad and has scored 8 goals in 9 games, due to return to Germany at the end of the season, at 22 the striker is young enough to still make the impact he was meant to, a good games will do no harm, pacy strikers, strong for his size, I have high hopes for him.

Well there you go 10 players to watch out for.

Hope you enjoyed reading this, I enjoyed writing it, really hope now the tournament goes ahead.