Cameroon Tribune launches a series on the 25th African Cup of Nations that takes place from January 20 to February 10 in Egypt.

In twelve days time, Africa’s football giants go on stage in Egypt. It will be another thrilling soccer fiesta as the 16 finalists will be vying for the most coveted trophy on the continent; the African Cup of Nations. The event will kick off with a grandiose opening ceremony and match on January 20 at the Cairo International stadium and end with the final on February 10 at the same venue. In the opening match, host, Egypt will face Libya, which is appearing at the Nations Cup for the first time since hosting the event in 1982. Cameroon will start fighting to take back the trophy it lost to Tunisia in 2004 on January 21, 2006 in a match against Angola at the Cairo Military Academy Stadium. But for Cameroon’s last group match on January 29 against the DR Congo which will be played at the Cairo International Stadium, the Lions will play all their first phase will take place at the Cairo Military academy stadium. The northern African country which won the first edition of the African Cup of Nations and has participated for a record 20 times in the finals of the Cup of nations, is already set to receive thousands of football fans who will flock into the country to cheer their teams to victory. The 32 encounters will be played in five venues in four towns — Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Ismailia. The road to Egypt was long and winding for many countries. Under pressure to fall in line with FIFA’s international calendar, Africa staged a joint qualifying series for the Nations Cup and World Cup for the first time ever. The five group winners qualified for the World Cup finals in Germany, while the top three in each group are expected in Egypt for the Nations Cup. Libya qualified from Group Three despite finishing only fourth as the status of host automatically qualified Egypt. Since their qualification, all the nations involved have been bracing up for the event. Several friendlies have been organised with coaches expected to give their final list of 23 players on January 10. As has been the case in the past, some of Africa’s fine talents might not take part in the competition. The friction between European clubs and African national teams on the availability of players for appointments with their national sides is rife. Over the years, several players have found themselves in this dilemma. Some club managers have made matters worse as they use threats of players losing their places in their teams as intimidation. National federations however have the power to sanction players who turn down their invitation. The African Cup of Nations, which is organised every two years in the form of a final tournament, has come a long way to the number one competition on CAF’s calendar and the continent as a whole. The inaugural edition was organised in 1957 in Sudan, with only three teams. Hosts, Sudan Ethopia and winner Egypt participated. From 1968 to 1990, CAF increased the number of finalists to eight and a further increase to 12 teams in 1992. In line with CAF’s development policy for the game on the continent and the participation of more countries, the number of finalist was increased to 16 teams. The teams have been shared out into four groups. The first two of each group will move to the next phase of the competition. Beginning today, Cameroon Tribune will launch a series that will continue to the end of the event. We will start by featuring the participating countries and other activities related to the tournament. Key players of the different squads will also be presented. The series will continue during the tournament with special write ups from our team of reporters in Egypt and Yaounde.