Friday is the draw for the 2010 African Nations Cup to take place in Angola. These are the four pots from which one nation per group will be drawn,

Pot 1
Angola
Egypt
Ivory Coast
Cameroon

Pot 2
Ghana
Nigeria
Tunisia
Mali

Pot 3
Zambia
Benin
Algeria
Togo

Pot 4
Burkina Faso
Mozambique
Gabon
Malawi

So the potential exists for a Group of Death with Ivory Coast or Cameroon, Ghana or Nigeria, Algeria and Burkina Faso. In other words, a group with 3 teams who have also qualified for the World Cup.

With two teams advancing from each group I would not be so disappointed if Cameroon was placed with either Ghana or Nigeria, the two best teams from the 2nd pot. What I would like for the Indomitable Lions to avoid is getting drawn with Algeria, in my mind by far the best of the teams in pot 3. Add Algeria to either Ghana or Nigeria and you suddenly have a very dififcult group, one as tough if not tougher than what you could find in the World Cup itself.

Here is the draw for the 2010 Nations Cup:

Group A
Angola
Mali
Algeria
Malawi

Group B
Ivory Coast
Ghana
Togo
Burkina Faso

Group C
Egypt
Nigeria
Mozambique
Benin

Group D
Cameroon
Tunisia
Zambia
Gabon

Honestly I do not see any easy groups there, usually the host gets a favourable draw and while Angola was paired with Mali, likely the weakest of the teams from the 2nd pot, Mali are hardly a weak team. They also were grouped with Algeria, as nkono wrote, the best of pot 3 teams. Malawi are in my mind probably the weakest team in the tournament. So Angola will be pushed by both Mali and Algeria for a top two finish.

If there is a "Group of Death" it is Group B with Ivory Coast and Ghana plus competitive teams from Togo and Burkina Faso. The latter two while neither are as strong as Ivory Coast and Ghana, they are the kind of teams who will give you a tough game and beat you if you make mistakes.

I am fairly satisfied with Nigeria's draw in Group C. Egypt were the top seeds and we know a dangerous team especially it seems in the Nations Cup. But I wonder how their World Cup failure will effect them? Will they keep the same team which lost to Algeria in the playoff or will they use this Nations Cup as a chance to start building for the future? Mozambique is a team I already know can be very difficult to beat. They gave both Nigeria and Tunisia fits in group play home and away. The 4th team Benin is one which has some talent, especially PSG's Sessegnon, so they won't be pushovers either. For Niegria this is good it is a competitive group as I think the team tends to get lazy and overlook weaker opponents. It's group rivals are all competitive which should (hopefully) focus the Super Eagles on the task at hand.

Finally there is group D featuring Cameroon who we all know are looking good now, Tunisia a team looking to make up for it's failure to reach the World Cup. Tunisia has talent and a pretty young team they could have a chip on their shoulders and use this tournament to prove some points. Zambia always are a skillful team, maybe a little lightweight in attack but a team with plenty of free flowing moves. While Gabon pushed Cameroon all the way in World Cup qualifying to the final match day and get another chance to play the Indomitable Lions.

Should be a fascinating tournament.

Some good games ahead, I especially look forward to Ivory Coast-Ghana.

Here is a question I want to ask everybody, do you think the African World Cup participants will receive a benefit that the non African nations won't have by playing in this Nations Cup in January 2010? These countries will have nearly a month together to play and train something which the non African World Cup teams will not have. Does that give them an advantage? Or will their future opponents in South Africa now know more about them as they'll be able to scout them in person in a menaingful game and not a friendly? I can see both sides of it but I think the added time together will help offset any additional knowledge their opponents will gain about them by scouting them at the Nations Cup.

First of all an excellent rundown on the groups Supereagle, I agree with your overall analysis of each group, Group B is probably the strongest overall and has competitive teams from the supposed 3rd and 4th pots but that group's top two teams, Ivory Coast and Ghana, are two of the tournament favorites so they should get through that group. But each of the remaining groups all have some difficulties for the top two seeds. This is a balanced tournament which should mean we will have some very good matchups ahead.

Yogi asks what I think is an excellent question about pre World Cup preparation and I think he lays out the case both for and against this extra time together benefiting the African World Cup participants. But I think the benefit of having your team train together for nearly a month and play competitive games only 5 months before the World Cup should help those teams immensely and outweighs any inside information their World Cup opponents will gather by watching them play in the Nations Cup.

That is a pretty good question to ask Yogi. I would think as both you and martin wrote while there is the risk your World Cup opponents will get to size you up in a competitive setting, that would be outweighed by the benefit you would get not only of training together and playing matches 5-6 months before the World Cup but the chance to try out new players and systems of play. So I think the Nations Cup does benefit those teams who will later compete in the World Cup.

Maybe next year will be different because it is an African World Cup but I don't necessarily see playing in the African Nations Cup as a benefit to the competing teams compared to their World Cup rivals from other continents. At best only one out of five African teams typically qualifies for the second round, Ghana in 2006, Senegal in 2002, Nigeria in 1998, Nigeria in 1994, Cameroon in 1990 and Morocco in 1986. So are African nations receiving a disproportinate benefit by playing the Nations Cup 5-6 months before the World Cup? Doesn't seem so to me.

This is a pretty good topic for debate and is something African fans have discussed before too. I do not think there is a definitive answer, Sammy's point about only 1 African nation per World Cup making the 2nd round is true but there is no way to prove if not competing in the Nations Cup would help or hurt a team. Personally I think the benefits of playing outweigh any negatives and Martin stated the case well when he wrote,

Yogi asks what I think is an excellent question about pre World Cup preparation and I think he lays out the case both for and against this extra time together benefiting the African World Cup participants. But I think the benefit of having your team train together for nearly a month and play competitive games only 5 months before the World Cup should help those teams immensely and outweighs any inside information their World Cup opponents will gather by watching them play in the Nations Cup.

P.S. Come to think of it in 1998 Nigeria was suspended from the African Nations Cup, because it boycotted the previous edition in 1996 which was held in South Africa. And in 1998 Nigeria was the only one of Africa's representatives to advance to the 2nd round of that year's World Cup. Although both Cameroon and Morocco came close to advancing that tournament too. But the question is whether not playing in the Nations Cup helped Nigeria? I don't think so, but that Nigerian team had basically been together for years, achieving success at the 1994 Nations Cup and World Cup and winning the 1996 Olympics title so they really did not need that extra time during the Nations Cup to learn how to play together. They already knew one another very well.

Every national team manager says that the biggest problem is having enough time to train with players so those players get to know one another. It seems to me that the African Cup of Nations provides an extra opportunity for the squads to develop a familiarity with one another. The downside is that many of the top players will be very tired by the time WC 2010 begins since tournament football (African Cup) will is said to be more exhausting than league play and then those players are also playing in top leagues.

In terms of comparisons to previous successes by African teams in WC tournaments, I don't know how accurate those comparisons will be because it is only within the last 5-10 years that we have seen the emergence of many many top African players playing in top European leagues. I think this has translated into a general sense that some African teams will be very strong opponents (e.g., Ghana and Ivory Coast), although one has to wonder if such claims emerge now because pundits who are supposed to be experts are really just limited in their world view and think African teams are much stronger because those pundits see African players in the English top flight, for example.

Anyway, I think this will be a very exciting tournament. Unfortunately, it looks like TV rights have not been picked up by any of the football specific TV stations in the USA (Fox Soccer Channel, Gol TV, or Setanta sports) so I will have to rely on very delayed DVD copies from the UK or elsewhere. This is very disappointing.

I fully agree with daniel's reasoning here. I only see an upside to getting these teams together for a month and I would be willing to think coaches of other national teams are quite envious of the African coaches extra opportunity to work with their squads in a World Cup year. As for any fatigue, the European season are ending earlier than normal so all players will have some time off before reporting to their national team training camps for World Cup preparation so i do not feel fatigue from the Nations Cup will eb a factor either.

As for TV coverage in the US of the Natons Cup, daniel it likely will once again be via the Arabic language ART network, available on all satellite systems as part of a special package which can be ordered for that month only. TV5 Monde, the French international channel usually has the quarterfinals on through the title game and that station is also available via satellite and I believe in Canada is on many cable systems.

http://www.myafricanfootball.com had World Cup qualifiers avaialble over a computer on a PPV basis, I imagine that also will be available during the Nations Cup. And if you buy them, the games can be viewed at anytime so if they happen during work hours you can view them at home. Finally ther eis regualr internet streaming which should enable anyone with ahigh speed inetrnet connection to view the games.

As we get closer to the tournament we should all provide more TV viewing information for different parts of the world.

About the group draw, I am pleased with what Cameroon received, Tunisia, Zambia and Gabon. All are capable teams and Tunisia will be the 2nd favorites in the group behind the Indomitable Lions, but this is a group from which Cameroon should emerge without too much difficulty.

As SuperEagle posted, host country Angola, much like South Africa in the World Cup, got itself a pretty difficult draw. Malawi are the group upstarts but both Mali and World Cup qualifying Algeria will provide tough tests for Angola.

My knowledge of the TV situation is the same as what nkono wrote although I did go to htttp://www.myafricanfootball.com and they were not advertising the 2010 Nations Cup so I am doubting if they will have it available online. But I will keep my eyes out and let everyone know what I can find.

Ghana have already named their 23 man roster for the tournament. While Nigeria are having a 32 player trianing camp where they hope to weed out players, Ghana have already settle don their 23. And there are some surprises but a sign that Milovan rajevac, the coach is trying to impose some discipline. After their final qualifying game in mid November, Ghana played afriendly in Angola 4 days later, the same day the final World Cup playoffs were going on so it was a day clear on the FIFA calendar. Michael Essien, Baffour Gyan and Sulley Muntari, 3 of the teams biggest stars went missing without explanation and did not show up in Angola. The coach warned all 3 of them about this and Essien and Gyan later apologized. Muntari, however, did not. So in naming Ghana's Nations Cup team, Muntari did not make it! Also missing out due to injury are captain Stephen Appiah and outside midfielder Laryea Kingston. I think you have to admire the coach for showing that he will maintain discipline and is not afraid to exclude even the biggest names on the team.

Here is Ghana's team, 6 of whom were U-20 World Cup winners (I marked them with an asterisk):

Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson (Wigan, England), *Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professionals, Ghana), Philemon McCarthy (Hearts of Oak, Ghana)

Defenders: John Paintsil (Fulham, England), Hans Adu Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen, Germany), *Samuel Inkoom (Basel, Switzerland) Eric Addo (Roda JC, Holland) Isaac Vorsah (TSG Hoffenheim, Germany) John Mensah (Sunderland, England), Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea, Ghana) Harrison Afful (Esperance, Tunisia)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Ayew (Zamalek, Egypt) Michael Essien (Chelsea, England) Anthony Annan (Rosenborg, Norway), *Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Sampdoria, Italy), *Opoku Agyemang (Al Sadd, Qatar) Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese, Italy) Moussa Narry (Auxerre, France) *Andre Ayew (Arles-Avagnon, France)

Attackers: Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda, Holland) Asamoah Gyan (Rennes, France), *Dominic Adiyiah (Fredrikstad FK, Norway) Haminu Draman (Locomotiv Moscow, Russia)

Ibrahim Ayew is the oldest of Abedi Pele's 3 sons, the middle one Andre is also on the team and was the captain of that U-20 World Cup winning squad. Jordan, the youngest is with Marseille's youth team but I believe just scored for their first team earlier this week.

An interesting mix of veterans and young players, Ghana improved their goalscoring during World Cup qualifying but that I think is still their biggest worry going against higher level teams and with Ivory Coast in the same group they will be tested early on.

I read on another forum that Setanta Australia has picked up the rights for Australia, so I am hoping that Setanta US will do the same. I think ART is only on Dish Network and the same is true for TV5. I don't see any Arabic programming listed on DirecTV.

I am really hoping that Setanta US picks up the rights because they are likely to use the Eurosport commentary feed, which has been very good.

Here is Cameroon's team and it is one which I like very much:

Goalkeepers: Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Hamidou Souleymanou (Kayserispor), Guy N'Dy Assembe (Valenciennes)

Defenders: Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor), Geremi (Newcastle United), Henri Bedimo (Chateauroux), Andre Bikey (Burnley), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham Hotspur) Aurelien Chedjou (Lille), Nicolas N'koulou (AS Monaco)

Midfielders: Alex Song (Arsenal), Jean Makoun (Lyon), Stephane M'bia (Marseille), Georges Mandjeck (1. FC Kaiserslautern), Joel Matip (Schalke 04), Eyong Enoh (Ajax), Landry N'guemo (Celtic), Achille Emana (Real Betis Sevilla), Somen A Tchoyi (Red Bull Salzburg)

Attackers: Paul Alo'o Efloulou (AS Nancy), Achille Webo (Real Mallorca), Mohamadou Idrissou (SC Freiburg), Samuel Eto'o (Internazionale)

The notable absentee is Tottenham's centerback Sebastien Bassong who has become an excellent addition to the Indomitable Lions. It seems that Cameroon's coach paul LeGuen ahs decided to help Spurs out because the club have a lot of defensive njuries at the time and thus Cameroon will take only one Tottenham starter, Benoit Assou Ekotto and leave the second (Bassong) behind in London. Bassong's starting spot will be taken by ex national team captain Rigobert Song who will be playing in his 8th Nations Cup! Not a bad compromise which helps out a player's club in a time of need. Bikey and Chedjou should then become the reserve central defenders behind Rigobert Song and Nkoulou.

There are two significant newcomers to the team, one is Valenciennes goalkeeper Assembe the other is Schalke's teenaged defensive midfielder Joel Matip. Both are European born players of Cameroonian descent and each has decided to play for the Lions. Welcome!

Other than Bassong the other notable absentees are Daniel Ngom Kome at attacking midfield and Albert Meyong Ze at forward. Meyong's spot appears to have gome to Mohamadou Idrissou who has been in good form with Freiburg while Ngom Kome has been lost in the deep group of midfielders available to Cameroon.

This looks to me like a strong team, the question marks are whether Geremi and Rigo Song can continue to produce at the national team level? And whether Achille Emana can become the consistent creative midfielder the team needs? I think with the additions of Webo and Idrissou there is adequate support for Samuel Eto'o at forward. Paul LeGuen did a terrific job saving Cameroon from the abyss in qualifying. I am looking forward to see how he will do coaching tis team in a tournament situation.

Supereagle posed the question earlier about Egypt. I think they will inevitably struggle on the back of failing to qualify for yet another World Cup and I have a sneaking suspicion they may not make it out of that group. With all the backlash from the Algeria defeat I'm not convinced the players will be sufficiently focussed and confident for what is a challenging tournament, and as the main scalp that comes with being champions teams will be out to get them.

I fear an early exit for the Pharaohs...

That is an entirely plausible outcome for Egypt. I have also read while they have not yet named their final team for the Nations Cup there is the possibility that neither Aboutrika or Amr Zaki will be able to play as both are fighting injuries. If two of the team's veteran star players are out, that might open the door for coach Hassan Shehata to look for younger alternatives.

The other side of the coin is Egypt goes to Angola with something to prove and play like the team which won the previous two Nations Cup. Their group with Nigeria, Mozambique and Benin will not be an easy one, however, and they may not have much room for error.

Looking at Ghana's team, I do agree that the coach showed courage in excluding Muntari from the team. The coach is demonstrating no player is bigger than the team and you can only admire him for that. If Ghana do well without him, Muntari may have difficulty winning a place back on the team for the World Cup. But if Ghana disappoint, then his bargaining power to be restored to the squad will only increase.

That Cameroon team does look strong, even with Bassong missing. It will not be easy breaking through that defense and midfield. And with Eto'o and Webo up front, they should also score goals.

It is official, due to injuries neither Amr Zaki or Mohamed Aboutrika made Egypt's team. Mido was on the provisional roster and even played in a weekend friendly against Malawi [a 1-1 tie] but he too was not named on their final 23 player list. Here are those who were:

Goalkeepers: Essam Al-Hadari (Ismaili), Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed (Zamalek), Mahmoud Aboul-Saoud (Mansoura)

Defenders: Hani Saied (Zamalek), Wael Gomaa (Al Ahli), Mahmoud Fathallah (Zamalek), Moatasem Salem (Ismaili), Abdul-Zaher Al-Saqqa (Eskisehirspor), Sayed Moawad (Al Ahli), Mohamed Abdul-Shafi (Zamalek), Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (ENPPI), Ahmed Fathi (Al Ahli)

Midfielders: Ahmed Hassan (Al Ahli), Hosni Abd Rabou (Ahli Dubai), Abdul-Aziz Tawfiq (ENPPI), Hossam Ghali (Al-Nassr), Mohamed Nagui (Ittihad Alexandria), Shikabala (Zamalek)

Forwards: Ahmed Eid (Haras Hodoud), Emad Motaeb (Al Ahli), Ahmed Raouf (ENPPI), Sayed Hamdi (Petrojet), Mohamed Zidan (Borussia Dortmund).

Mostly familiar names with a few newcomers like defender Abdul Shafi and playmaking midfielder Nagui, who might be expected to fill Aboutrika's shoes. A real test for Egypt's ability as they are missing in my view their two best offensive players, maybe their three best if you include Mido, and in wake of their World Cup playoff loss to Algeria, a test of their team unity.

Here is host country Angola's team:

Goalkeepers: Carlos Fernandes (Rio Ave, Portugal), Lama (Petro Atletico), Wilson (Recreativo Caala)

Defenders: Dias Caires (Sagrada Esperanca), Enoque (Santos), Jamuana (Petro Atletico), Kali (Arles-Avignon, France), Mabina (Petro Atletico), Rui Marques (Leeds United, England), Stelvio (Uniao Leiria, Portugal)

Midfielders: David (Petro Atletico), Dede (Arles-Avignon, France), Djalma (Maritimo, Portugal), Gilberto (Al Ahli, Egypt), Job, Xara (both Petro Atletico), Ze Kalanga (Dinamo Bucharest, Romania), Zuela (Kuban Krasnodar, Russia)

Forwards: Flavio (Al Shabab, Saudi Arabia), Johnson Makaba (Recreativo Libolo), Love (Primeiro Agosto), Mantorras (Benfica, Portugal), Manucho (Real Valladolid, Spain)

Many names familiar from Angola's 2006 World Cup team but missing is injured captain, midfielder Andre Makanga and fullback Yamba Asha, who also missed the World Cup.

I am dispapointed as Benoit Assou Ekotto was injured playing for Tottenham and will miss the Nations Cup for Cameroon. His roster place will be taken by Agustin Binya of Neuchatal Xamax. Binya is mainly a right back and defensive midfielder but can also play left back where Assou Ekotto was scheduled to start. Looks like the inexperienced Henri Bedimo will now be Cameroon's starting left back in Angola. Cameroon now will be without both Tottenham defenders-Assou Ekotto and Bassong, each of whom were lined up to be starters. The Lions will miss them both but unlike Bassong where there is adequate cover for him, Assou Ekotto's absence leaves the position to an inexperienced player.

But no team goes into the Nations Cup with as many significant absences as Egypt. This will be a real test of their depth.

I read that Ghana's central defender John Mensah is injured and will drop out of the tournament so Ghana have replaced John Mensah with a central defender named Jonathan Mensah! They are trying to confuse their opponents! The injured Mensah is one of the team's leaders and is the ex Rennes and Lyon player now with Sunderland, the replacement Mensah, apparently no relation was playing in Africa before recently signing with Udinese.

Two John Mensahs! :lol: Reminds me of England at the 1986 World Cup with two fullbacks both named Gary Stevens!

Ghana really are being forced to dig deep for players due to all of their injuries. nkono, it is Ghana even more than Egypt who are plagued with injuries entering the ANC. Appiah, Laryea Kingston, Mensah and John Paintsil all will miss the tourney due to injury. Mensah will be replaced by the other Mensah who started on their U-20 World Cup winning team a few months ago. Ghana wanted to select defensive midfielder Derek Boateng of Getafe in Spain to replace Paintsil but they had not requested his release within the FIFA mandated 15 day limit before a competition begins so Getafe were not obligated to release him and they won't let him play in Angola. So instead another U-20 champion, forward Ransford Osei, a reserve at Twente in Holland will join up with the team. So Ghana will play in the group of death against Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Togo with a team which includes 8 U-20 players! I think Ghana have slipped from being one of the tournament favorites to a team who will have to fight to make the quarterfinals.

Haha, I remember the two Gary Stevens with England in 1986. If I recall correctly one played with Tottenham and the other with Everton. Just do not ask me which one was the better player of the two!

Ghana's injuries are extraordinary. In addition to missing 4 players who would be starters on the team, plus a 5th in Muntari dropped for disciplinary reasons, 3 other likely starters, Michael Essien, Anthony Annan and Hans Sarpei are all banged up and will be beginning the tournament at less than 100%. Tough times indeed for Ghana, if they get out of their group then that will eb a real demonstration of the depth of talent available to them.

I am looking forward to what Cote d'Ivoire has, I recall watching some of their 2-2 draw with Germany last November and they looked fantastic going forward, actually Germany only tied the game late in the match after the Ivorians had made numerous substitutions. It is the speed, teamwork and movement of the Ivorians which I really enjoy watching. But in this Nations Cup I think they have to show they can be more than just the "almost men" of Africa. They need to win this tournament as their constellation of stars are in their prime now.

It is just incredible what Ghana are going through with all of these injuries. They are throwing a talented group of U20 players though to the wolves. I think it is very risky trying to rely upon so many young players in the ANC. But if nothing else Ghana will quickly find out if their U20 stars are ready for the spotlight.

Merengue, I agree with you about Ivory Coast, I really enjoy watching them play. To me they have a better passing game than Nigeria or Cameroon and even exceed Ghana in that department. And of course the Ivorians also have what Ghana lacks, big time scoring threats at forward.

Here is an article from CAF's website where Ivory Coast's coach says Ndri Romaric who was not selected for the ANC, is still in the picture for the World Cup but that Yaya Toure will be used as IC's playmaking midfielder at the ANC:

http://www.cafonline.com/competition/afric...-playmaker.html

The coach also reflects what Merengue expressed, after coming close in tournaments past, it is time Ivory Coast win the competition. Right now they are the favorites, all the more so with Ghana's injury problems.

Agreed. And with Aboutreika and Zaki now out of the tournament I feel even more convinced that Egypt might be ready to surrender their crown. Huge double injury blow for them.

Does Stephen Appiah even have a club? Last I heard he was just training with Brescia, but they didn't want to take a gamble on him due to his injury record and wage requirements.

He signed with Bologna on a free transfer this past fall but has not yet played for them and has now reinjured himself causing him to miss this African Nations Cup. He's an inspirational player for Ghana, and one the younger players look up to plus he's always been involved in humanitarian efforts which is good to see in this age of excess amongst footballers. But with his recent injury history, he has barely played since 2007, you have to really question whether he can come back and even be remotely close to the player he once was.

In addition to Aboutrika and Zaki, Egypt also will be without midfielders Mohammed Barakat and Mohamed Shawky so they are every bit as much injury hit as Ghana are in this Cup. Those are the two countries with the most Nations Cup titles but it would take a lot for either of them to recover from their numerous absentees and lift the Cup this year.

Yaya Toure as a playmaker? I know he has in the past played a more advanced midfield role with Cote d'Ivoire than he does with Barcelona but to me the Ivoriens attack does not really rely on a playmaker as they move the ball quickly with one and two touch passing and often using their wing players to help build up play. As long as Cote d'Ivoire avoids Cameroon, who always has the better of them, the Ivoriens should do very well in Angola. They have been losing finalists and semifinalists in the past two tournaments, so this year might be their time?

Reuters ran these mini previews of each team in this year's Nations Cup, highlighting their past record in the competition, the coach and key players and the nation's prospects. For those not too familiar with these national teams it provides good background:

Group A
Algeria
Angola
Mali
Malawi

Group B
Burkina Faso
Ghana
Cote d'Ivoire
Togo

Group C
Nigeria
Egypt
Mozambique
Benin

Group D
Cameroon
Zambia
Tunisia
Gabon

Absolutely horrific news from Angola.

Reports have emerged that the Togo national team bus has been machine-gunned by Angolan rebels on the Congolese border.

Three Togo players and the bus driver are reported to have been injured.

"I am fine but several players are in a bad way," Nantes striker Thomas Dossevi is reported to have old Radio Monte Carlo.

"We are still at hospital. We were attacked like dogs and had to hide for 20 minutes under the seats to avoid the bullets."

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was on the bus.

Edit: A more detailed L'Equipe report in French.

The bus was machine gunned on entry into Cabinda despite being between two police vehicles. 5-7 people have been injured, including two players (Kodjovi Obilalé and Serge Akakpo). The attackers are presumed to be Cabinda separatist rebels.

Absolutely horrible news. My prayers for all those injured as well. before hearing of this I signed on and was going to write about how I thought Togo, especilaly in light of Ghana's injury problems was a good candidate to advance out of the toughest group in this tournament, but in light of this attack will Togo even be able to play? Will they want to play?

Cabinda where the attack took place is the principal oil producing province of Angola, which is behind Nigeria, Africa's 2nd largest oil producing state. One of the reasons Angola was awarded the Nations Cup was because the country had progressed so much after the quarter century long civil war ended in 2002 but this shows there still is trouble in Cabinda. This is where Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Burkina Faso are to be based but if the Togolese bus was attacked even with police protection, how can any of the teams in Cabinda be guaranteed their security? This puts the participation not only of Togo but of the entire group in question.

And with European, especially English clubs already making plenty of noise about the timing of this tournament, this attack will start calls by some to cancel the whole tournament which of course is entirely inappropriate when so much money has been spent by not only Angola in preparing for it and teams getting ready for the competition but also by fans traveling to see it.

The driver of the bus is reported to have died, and there are some reports that two of the players are in critical condition with bullet wounds.

The Togo players who have been interviewed by the French media are all saying that they have no real interest in participating in the tournament anymore, which is completely understandable given the horrible circumstances.

Footballing considerations obviously pale in significance, but it's very hard for me to see how the CAF can go forward with any matches in Cabinda at a minimum.

For a long time, there was a general belief that sporting figures were very unlikely targets. Given last year's attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan and this incident, that view is now completely untenable.

I have read the same reports as ursus about the bus driver, sadly passing away from his wounds. The injured players are backup goalkeeper Obilale Kossi and central defender Serge Akakpo. The website for the Romanian club where Akakpo plays says he was hit by two bullets and lost a lot of blood but is now out of danger which is some encouraging news.

The AP story describes the events this way,

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=a...ov=ap&type=lgns

On Friday, Dossevi told Infosport television in France the team had just crossed the border and were going through customs when the attack took place.

“We were surrounded by police buses. Everything looked fine and we came under heavy fire. Everyone scrambled under the seats trying to protect themselves. It lasted at least a quarter of an hour with the police responding.”

You can understand why some of Togo's players would not want to play after being victims of such an attack but it is hard to see the tournament being stopped. This incident took place at the border and in the cities where the teams will be housed security will be inceased. Whatever group responsible for this attack has received their publicity and likely would not risk a further attack with the increased protection which will now occur but ursus is correct, the immunity of sportsmen from terrorist attacks is definitely over.

Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana should refuse to play in Cabinda, and the CAF should back them in doing so.

The Angolan government's entire approach to the Cabinda situation in recent years has been to deny that there is an active insurgency, while at the same time engaging in human rights abuses (as documented by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, among others). Having one of the CAN groups centred in Cabinda (which isn't even geographically contiguous to the rest of Angola) was a profoundly political statement by the government and part of their campaign to show the world (and the multinational oil companies active there) that they were in full control of the situation and that there was nothing to worry about.

Just how hollow those claims were is now crystal clear to the entire world.

Very well said ursus. One of the initial reports I read on the incident even had an Angolan government official denying the attack was made by the separatist group! But the separatist group are indeed claiming responsibility:

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=r...uters&type=lgns

As much as we hope to separate sports and politics, the staging of games in Cabinda is, as ursus points out, a very political point made by the Angolan government. If security can not be guaranteed for the teams playing in Cabinda, then I agree that the Cabinda games should be moved elsewhere.

Very depressing news to hear today. My thoughts go out to the deceased bus driver, to the injured players and other Togolese officials. Apparently Togo, likely to save costs and contrary to CAF's directives, were driving into Cabinda from Congo and not flying in as every other country had done. What difference does that make you might ask? The rebels had warned they would step up attacks during the Nations Cup in Cabinda and as in most rebel activity it is the countryside where it is most dangerous. In fact the rebels claim they were shooting not at the Togolese bus but the Angolan security for the bus and the bus got caught within the crossfire.

The tournament will go ahead and even if it is safer in Cabinda City, the provincial capital than it is in the countryside I can see strong reasons to move the games scheduled for Cabinda elsewhere, perhaps to Luanda the capital. The Angolan organizers won't be happy as they wanted to showcase Cabinda and show the world it is safe despite the rebel activity there but today's events prove otherwise.

You can certainly understand though why Togo would want to withdraw from the competition. How can they concentrate on playing when tey just witnessed such a bloodbath and two of their team members and others associated with the team are still in the hospital?

For those interested here is a little background information on Cabinda Province and it's separation movement:

Cabinda province

And here is the US State Department's Travel Guidelines for Angola:

Travel to Angola

Note the cautionary note about travel to Cabinda, particularly outside of the provincial capital in this update dated November 10, 2009:

Americans located in, or planning to visit, the northern province of Cabinda should be aware of threats to their safety outside of Cabinda city. In 2008 and 2009 armed groups specifically targeted and attacked expatriates in Cabinda; armed attacks resulted in the rape, robbery or murder of several expatriates working in Cabinda. Those responsible have declared their intention to continue attacks against expatriates. Occasional attacks against police and Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) convoys and outposts also continue to be reported. These incidents, while small in number, occur with little or no warning. American citizens are, therefore, urged to exercise extreme caution when traveling outside of Cabinda city and limit travel to essential only.

The best single piece I've read on this terrible story so far.

The reaction of the British media (and the indifference of the US media) just add to my despair.

Those travel guidelines from the US State Department were very prescient of what happened here. It does make you think why Togo would travel overland (likely as Martin suggests to save money) and why would the Angolan organizers, who certainly knew about the dangers in Cabinda's countryside, permit them to enter the country that way?

According to this article, Emmanuel Adebayor, the star player for Togo has said the team will meet on Saturday to determine if they will continue in the tournament. Their opening game against Ghana is scheduled for Monday!

http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=a...ov=ap&type=lgns

Few would blame them if they decided not to compete after what has taken place.

Part of the explanation is that the Togo team had their training camp in Congo (not the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex-Zaire)). Cabinda shares a border with Congo (but not with the rest of Angola, there being a piece of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in between).

Using the air route would have required them to go to Brazzaville, fly to Luanda, and then fly to Cabinda City.

Yes that is a good piece ursus, thank you for linking it for us. Actually much of what it raises are questions we are asking here too. But two points from the article really struck me, one expands on what we were discussing here about why Togo were traveling by bus through hostile territory,

According to the BBC, "competition officials said they had not known that the Togolose team had decided to drive directly to Cabinda. They said they had expected the squad first to fly to the Angolan capital, Luanda, and from there to Cabinda."

Even before this attack took place, this sort of disorganised planning should have been considered unacceptable. Why was nobody in a responsible position aware that Togo were planning to head through Congo to Cabinda by bus? Competition organisers' main responsibility should be the whereabouts, wellbeing and safety of the competition's participants. Knowing the history of incendiary politics in the region this should not have been left to chance.

If true then this is a real screw up by the tournament organizers. As I asked in my prior post how could they allow the Togolese to travel overland through the Cabinda countryside? This link seems to provide the answer, they did not know!

The other point in the linked article which I find depressing is this,

Additionally, as is already happening just hours after the incident, sections of the European press are already somehow linking Angola and South Africa in order to question the World Cup 2010. Henry Winter, journalist for the Telegraph, got the ball rolling on Twitter and you can be sure it will continue. This is infuriating and frustrating in equal parts. Angola and South Africa are not the same country. They do not have the same political makeup. They are not the same place, they are not in the same area and they are not in the same part of Africa. Africa is a continent, not a country.

London is closer to Moscow than Luanda is to Cape Town. If a bomb goes off in Bosnia would you question the Olympics in London? One of the saddest parts of all this though, is the fact that attacks like these merely invite all the smirking and cynicism and stereotypes that were already being purported days, weeks and months ago by a press corps desperate to hammer Africa, for whatever self-serving reasons.

Geez and here I thought it was only in the United States where there is such insular press! The writer above however makes the perect counter to those such as Henry Winter questioning South Africa hosting World Cup 2010.

I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the quality of discussion you guys are having here in wake of the tragic attack on Togo's team bus. Then again maybe I should not be surprised by the depth of the discussion as that is often the norm on this message board.

Sounds to me not only convenience but definitely cost played a role in Togo traveling by bus to Cabinda city from their training camp in Congo despite the known dangers involved. The Angolan organizers and CAF (the African federation) claim ignorance of Togo's travel plans but how could they? Isn't it the responsibility of the organizing country to make sure of the competing teams travel plans and that they have the necessary documentation to enter the country?

It is good Togo are not making their decision on whether to play in the tournament or not on the day of the attack. Let them get a night's sleep, if possible, on it and make a more calm decision on Saturday. Whatever they decide, it will be supported by fans around the world.

I did not know who Henry Winter was before today but after reading that link and his claim that this would effect the South African World Cup, how can you take anything else he writes about seriously?

I did not have the chance to sign on here before but I had so many things to say about this tragic incident, then i sign on and read that much of what I wanted to say has already been covered! This is CAF's premier competition and they and the Angolan organizers bear the responsibility for the safety of all of the competiing teams. If they did not know Togo's travel plans, then they needed to find those out before they arrived. Frankly I do not buy that the Angolans at the least did not know their travel plans as the team bus had a police escort. Unless those were police cars already at the Congo-Angola border who were on the spur of the moment just then assigned to escort the Togolese (which I seriously doubt) then they had to have known Togo were traveling in by bus.

I do not pretend to have any inside information about Angola but I knew about the insurgency in Cabinda and that in the countryside it was dangerous to travel. Many Central Africans know about the dangers in Cabinda. Martin produced the US State Department's travel advisory about traveling outside of Cabinda city, a report which is widely viewed, so why then did the Angolans not tell Togo they could not arrive by traveling through Cabinda's countryside? There was just too much to risk by permitting them to go through areas subject to rebel attacks. ursus correctly points out why Angola wanted to hold matches in Cabinda city, to demonstrate to the world, and specifically the multi national oil companies that it is safe to do business in Cabinda. All of that potential propoganda has been erased by this tragic attack.

We should know in a few hours what Togo intend to do. I will support whatever the players decide. My condolences to the family of the bus driver and my best wishes to the injured players and team personnel who were injured.

In a continent known for poorly run national associations, Togo has one of the worst. If you recall prior to World Cup 2006, FIFA had to intervene to prevent a player strike before Togo's first World Cup match because the Togolese federation backed out on their agreement to pay bonuses to the players for their World Cup participation. So it does not surprise me that even though the Togolese FA should also have known the dangers of traveling through Cabinda, they decided to take the cheaper route and travel by bus instead of plane.

Even if Cabinda city is relatively safe and the rebels likely would not stage an attack inside the city itself particularly with elevated security now it would be understandable if the matches were moved out of Cabinda. But that won't happen. Angola has too much invested in making sure everything goes ahead in Cabinda and they will tout how there will be expanded security, no attacks within the city, etc. Plus they have a new stadium built with Chinese help in Cabinda, they will make sure it will be used.

Pictures and some brief player statistics for the two injured Togo players:

Serge Akakpo

Kodjovi Obilale

I am not sure what else I can add to what has already been stated here, but there is plenty of blame to apportion here for this tragic attack on the Togo coach as other posters have already pointed out. I have no idea if this was a random attack which by chance got the Togo team caught up in it or if it was a planned attack on them. I tend to think the former, as CAF claim they did not even know Togo's travel plans. So how could the Cabinda separatist rebels have known? But have no doubt this was meant to embarass the Angolan authorities just before their big event. And in that regard it has suceeded. Here is hoping for a quick recovery for all the injured involved. It will be interesting to see what Togo's players eventually decide about participating in the tournament and I join the others here in comprehending whatever decision they take.

Hopefully soon we can get back to discussing football as this looks like a very intriguing tournament but it does pale in importance after such needless violence has taken place.

If the Angolan organisers did indeed schedule games in Cabinda to demonstrate that it is fully safe and under control, then that has totally failed. The thing is, it will be difficult for Angola to pull Group B from Cabinda as that would be tantamount to saying "yes, actually Cabinda is bandit territory and we accept that it is wild and unsafe". Surely that would be the end of overseas investment in the region? The other consideration is that Chinese-built stadium. I agree with Nkono, I can't see any way that Angola would countenance moving matches out of Cabinda. It is also arguable that they shouldn't, as that would be handing victory to these terrorists. The question for me is, what will the four Group B teams make of that? Just one day before the tournament starts, what if Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo and Burkina Faso refuse to play in Cabinda, while Angola insists that they have to?

On the media point, it is sad to say that in 'the west' the reportage we get of Africa tends to be a never-ending diet of famines, AIDS, civil wars, disasters, corruption, genocide, child soldiers, stadium crushes and so on and so on. It's truly regrettable, but the 'Africa is a basket case' view is obviously widespread as a result. I actually think Henry Winter is one of the most reliable, intelligent and well-informed journalists around. All I've found on twitter from him is "Fifa must investigate events in Angola and improve teams' safety before World Cup. S Africa are organised but nothing can be left to chance". I don't think it's fair to characterise that comment as 'Angola has had problems so South Africa is bound to', I don't read it that way at all and reckon that accusation is a drawback in the otherwise excellent blog article that ursos posted. Either way, the valid point remains that there are bound to be people who do link Angola and South Africa in that way. I've already read several pieces that question the wisdom of staging the WC in South Africa, in light of the dreadful crime record there and problems during the Confed Cup. No, it's not really fair but I reckon it's inevitable that a few voices do say 'Africa is dogged by such incidents / problems, why risk having a WC there'.

I was struck by friends I work with from France and Italy saying that in their opinion the prospect of a World Cup in South Africa had been met much more positively in Britain than in their own countries. If that's the case then I'd put it down to the fact that the British are already well-acquainted with travelling to South Africa for Rugby and Cricket matches. Of course because of the close links between the two countries, there are loads of British living in South Africa, whch obviously helps. In fact there are thousands of English Cricket fans in South Africa right now watching the Cricket Test Series. We also have fond memories of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted and thrillingly won by post-apartheid South Africa. Nelson Mandela, in a Springbok shirt and cap, handing the trophy to SA captain Francois Pienaar was one of the defining sporting images of the decade. To me, this shows that the more people see and experience such big sporting events there, the more these prejudices and misconceptions will hopefully disappear. I have high hopes that the football WC can promote the same image of South Africa (and all Africa by extension), but this time to a far wider audience.

As for this year's ANC, this article refers to French reports that the Togolese have had their meeting and are already at the airport to catch a flight out of the country!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/...-in-Angola.html