African Nations Cup:As the final preparations are made for next Friday's big kick-off at the Cairo International Stadium, the hype surrounding this year's African Cup of Nations continues to grow. Such is the global appeal of soccer nowadays, and so comprehensive the media coverage, the 25th edition of the tournament will be seen and talked about by more people than ever before. And not only in Africa.
The ever-expanding pool of African players in Europe has raised the tournament's profile worldwide, and there will be an unprecedented number of English Premiership stars in Egypt. But if club managers in England feel aggrieved at losing players for up to a month, they need only look across the channel for comfort - all 20 top-flight clubs in France will be affected, with more than 60 Ligue 1 players competing.
Meanwhile, confirmation that exceptional talents such as Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Obafemi Martins (Internazionale), Jay-Jay Okocha (Bolton) and Stephen Appiah (Fenerbahce) will be answering the calls of their respective countries has done little to dampen the excitement.
But the real beauty of the African Nations is that it also presents an opportunity to spot stars of the future. The world's second biggest continent still houses an enormous amount of untapped talent, and scouts, journalists and supporters will be scrutinising the performances of the 16 teams, hoping to discover the next George Weah.
Angola, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Togo will draw more attention than most just five months before they make their World Cup debuts alongside African champions Tunisia. With traditional giants Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal missing out on next summer's finals there is talk of a new order in African football.
The Indomitable Lions, victorious in two of the last three African Nations, have a perfect opportunity to set the record straight after being pooled with Togo and Angola, both of whom remain relatively unknown.
Representatives from the United States, Mexico, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Argentina and a host of European nations will be flock to the Land of the Pharaohs to spy on their future World Cup opponents, so it is hardly surprising that professional accreditations for the event ran out as early as November.
The current hype is a far cry from the tournament's humble beginnings in Khartoum in 1957 when just three nations took part in the inaugural competition. A year after gaining independence, Sudan decided to a host an event fit for its sparkling new national stadium, and invited the three other founding members of the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF) to compete.
Ethiopia and Egypt duly turned up, but South Africa abstained, objecting to the CAF's insistence they field a multi-racial side. Egypt were the first champions, beating Ethiopia 4-0 in the final.
The competition steadily expanded and, by the late 1960s, the two-yearly event had become the talk of a football-mad continent.
But South Africa's withdrawal was a sign of things to come, and virtually every edition since then has been shrouded with controversy in some shape or form. The introduction of qualifying round in 1968 had farcical consequences as Congo-Kinshasa refused to take on warring neighbours Tanzania in their play-off, while Egypt also pulled out due to political tensions.
In Morocco in 1988, kick-off was delayed after a parachutist misjudged his descent during the opening ceremony and found himself dangling from a floodlight pylon for 45 minutes.
When there are no political or logistical problems, it is a safe bet squabbles will break out over spiritual beliefs. Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer was arrested in 2002 for allegedly trying to plant a black-magic charm on the pitch prior to the semi-final against Mali, while last time out Benin, a country famous for voodoo, were accused of using mystical powers to upset opponents.
Worryingly for those attending the forthcoming tournament, the most chaotic Nations Cup came in 1986, the last time Egypt were hosts. A series of police riots in the week leading up to the tournament meant the army had to intervene; a curfew was in place for the entire fortnight and, with tanks surrounding every stadium, scores of journalists were left stranded outside.
Strict security measures will be in place again this year, but similar difficulties are not envisaged. An enormous amount of money has been spent renovating the country's stadia and with Egypt in with a shout of going all the way, events on the pitch should provide the main talking points.
The Pharaohs, who, like Cameroon and Ghana, are looking to win a record fifth title, have been dealt a tough group alongside Libya, Côte d'Ivoire and Morocco. But they will play in front of 74,000 fans in the intimidating national stadium in Cairo and have an impressive home record.
In what promises to be the most open African Nations to date, at least 10 countries believe they could be lifting the trophy on February 10th.
Predicting a winner is no easy task. The only real certainty is the next few weeks will be eventful. And this time, much of the world will be watching.
