2010 African Cup of Nations Starts Sunday

With the World Cup touching African soil for this first time this summer, this may be the most anticipated edition of the African Cup of Nations (CAN) - the confederation championship that starts this Sunday in Angola.

Saying "most anticipated" is not that remarkable (considering each tournament is probably more anticipated than its predecessor), but with fans looking to identify the African nation most likely to benefit from a home-turf advantage, the CAN may play-out as an audition for Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, and Ghana - the three African nations expected to make an impact come June.  In the same thought, the two other African World Cup qualifiers (Algeria, Nigeria) will be looking at this competition through the lens of this summer's finals.

While World Cup qualification gives us an indication of which teams are strongest, two of the last three Cup of Nations held in World Cup years were won by Egypt, who both years failed to qualify for the world championship.  Barely missing out on 2010 qualification by playoff (against Algeria), Egypt is one of a number of strong nations for whom the Cup of Nations will be the most important tournament of the year.  Burkina Faso, Togo, and 2004 champions Tunisia are all strong enough to into the knock-out round.

Another team that could win there group is Angola, the hosts.  This is the first time the southern African nation has hosted the event and the first time the ACN has taken place south of Ghana or Nigeria since 1996.  The capital of Luanda, with a population of around five million, will host January 30th's final at Estádio 11 de Novembro (capacity: 50,000).  Cabinda (approximately 360,000 people), Benguela (513,000) and Lubango (107,000) are the three other host cities.

Throughout the three week tournament, World Soccer Digest will be keeping tabs on this, one of the premier international footballing tournaments in the world.  With this year's tournament also serving as the opening act for Africa's first World Cup, the spotlight has never been brighter on the Africa Cup of Nations.

Starting today, we (used in the singular) will break down the four groups and the four nations within each.  With the tournament's opening match on Sunday (Angola and Mali in Luanda) and the remainder of Groups A and B playing Monday, those previews will be published today.

Here are the four CAN groups:

Now is the time for your predictions. Whether you have a favorite or not, to what are you looking forward at the 2010 African Cup of Nations?

Note:  I prefer using the acronym "ACN" for this tournament, but will try to use "CAN" in this site's pieces.