Egypt seeks unprecedented African Nations Cup three-peat

Egypt will have to battle past five World Cup-bound teams if it is to win an unprecedented third successive African Nations Cup in Angola which kicks off today.Egypt, which has won the last two editions in 2006 and 2008 and a record six overall, will also be seeking to make up for the disappointment of failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Algeria beat the Egyptians in a bruising playoff in November, and will use the Jan. 10-31 tournament in Angola to prepare its side for a tough assignment in South Africa in mid-year.

For fellow World Cup finalist Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria success in the Nations Cup is a big priority.

“We are a top soccer nation in Africa and have many players with experience at the top level from playing in Europe,” Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu told reporters at his team’s training camp in South Africa this week.

Ghana captain Michel Essien, writing on his Web site (www.michaelessiengh.com), added: “The African Cup will be tough as usual and the World Cup even tougher but as a team we are confident in our own abilities and we will be fighting through all the stages.”

The bulk of the players at the tournament are drawn from European clubs, with many of the world’s top sides giving up key players for the month.

Galatasaray winger Abdul Kader Keita as well as several other African players in the Turkcell Super League will not be available until the end of this month.

European champion Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Juventus join several English and French clubs who have to do without players at an important juncture in their domestic season, much to the frustration of their coaches.

Premier League leader Chelsea has lost four players to the tournament as has relegation-threatened Portsmouth while French club Nice has eight of their squad at the tournament.

“We pay a lot of money to players who are not with you for two months,” Portsmouth manager Avram Grant told a news conference last week.

Chelsea’s Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba is expected to command a lot of attention although the goal-scoring exploits of Inter Milan’s Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o will also be closely followed.

The Ivorians and Cameroon are the tournament favorites, seeking to break the monopoly of success enjoyed by North African sides since Cameroon last won in 2002. Eto’o on Wednesday pledged to add to his record 16 goals scored in five previous tournaments.

Angola has invested heavily in infrastructure for the 16-team tournament, building four new stadiums in the capital Luanda, Benguela, Cabinda and Lubango.

But they were only officially opened last week and have not yet been tested for game conditions. Confederation of African Football officials estimated the country had spent $1 billion on preparations for the tournament.

African Nations Cup match fixtures

Group A

Jan. 10: Angola vs. Mali, Luanda

Jan. 11: Malawi vs. Algeria, Luanda

Jan. 14: Mali vs. Algeria, Luanda

Jan. 14: Angola vs. Malawi, Luanda

Jan. 18: Angola vs. Algeria, Luanda

Jan. 18: Mali vs. Malawi, Cabinda

Group B

Jan. 11: Ivory Coast vs. Burkina Faso, Cabinda

Jan. 11: Ghana vs. Togo, Cabinda

Jan. 15: Burkina Faso v Togo, Cabinda

Jan. 15: Ivory Coast vs. Ghana, Cabinda

Jan. 19: Ivory Coast vs. Togo, Cabinda

Jan. 19: Burkina Faso v Ghana, Luanda

Group C

Jan. 12: Egypt vs. Nigeria, Benguela

Jan. 12: Mozambique vs. Benin, Benguela

Jan. 16: Nigeria vs. Benin, Benguela

Jan. 16: Egypt vs. Mozambique, Benguela

Jan. 20: Egypt vs. Benin, Benguela

Jan. 20: Nigeria vs. Mozambique, Lubango

Group D

Jan. 13: Cameroon vs. Gabon, Lubango

Jan. 13: Zambia vs. Tunisia, Lubango

Jan. 17: Gabon vs. Tunisia, Lubango

Jan. 17: Cameroon vs. Zambia, Lubango

Jan. 21: Cameroon vs. Tunisia, Lubango

Jan. 21: Gabon vs. Zambia, Benguela
Major sports events in 2010

Jan. 10-31: African Cup of Nations soccer, Angola. Egypt is bidding to become the first country to secure a third successive title after again missing out on World Cup qualification.
Ivory Coast, with a potent strike force spearheaded by Didier Drogba, starts as the favorite for the biennial tournament which kicks off a momentous year for African soccer.

Feb. 12-28: Winter Olympics, Vancouver. American Alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn, overall women’s World Cup winner for the past two seasons, is battling injuries before the Winter Games.
If fully fit, Vonn who has also won world titles in the downhill and super-G, could be the sensation of the slopes after failing to win a medal at the last two Winter Games.

March 14: Bahrain Grand Prix. Michael Schumacher, emerging from retirement at the age of 41, attempts an unprecedented eighth Formula One title. The German, who won two titles with Benetton and five with Ferrari, will drive for the Mercedes team.

April 8-11: Masters golf, Augusta, Georgia. Will Tiger Woods compete at his happiest hunting ground after taking an indefinite sabbatical from golf following an admission of marital infidelity? Pebble Beach, hosts for the US Open in June, and St Andrews, where the British Open will be staged in July, are also favorite venues for Woods. But nobody outside Woods’s inner circle can say with any certainty when, or even if, he will resume his quest to overtake Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 major titles.

April 30-May 16: Twenty20 World Cup cricket, West Indies. Pakistan, the team condemned to play all their fixtures abroad in the foreseeable future because of security fears at home, defend the title they won at Lord’s last year.

May 14: Diamond League athletics meeting, Doha. The new 14-meeting Diamond League is launched with competitions in Asia, Europe and the United States. Thirty-two events will be staged with the top athletes in each discipline winning a four-carat diamond, worth approximately $80,000, at the end of the season.

June 11-July 11: World Cup, South Africa. The hosts open the first soccer World Cup to be staged in Africa against Mexico at Johannesburg’s Soccer City. European champions Spain have the strongest squad while five-times winners Brazil demonstrated their liking for local conditions by winning the Confederations Cup for a record third time last year.

June 21-July 4: Wimbledon tennis championships. Roger Federer attempts a record-equaling seventh title on his favorite grass surface. The men’s field has become increasingly competitive with the emergence of Juan Martin del Potro, who has joined Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko and Novak Djokovic among the contenders for Federer’s number one ranking.

Aug. 28-Sept. 12: The 2010 FIBA World Championship, Turkey. The tournament is co-organized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Turkish Basketball Federation (TBBF) and the 2010 Organizing Committee.
For the third time since 1986, the Worlds will have 24 competing nations, an increase from 16. As a result, the groups are each playing in different cities, with the knockout round being hosted by Istanbul.

Oct. 1-3: Ryder Cup golf, Celtic Manor, Wales. Colin Montgomerie, a five-time runner-up in major championships, believes he can compensate for his failure to win a major by leading Europe to victory in the biennial team competition. Defending champions the United States will be captained by Corey Pavin.

Oct. 3-14: Commonwealth Games, New Delhi. Organizers are hopeful world 100 and 200-meter record holder Usain Bolt will show Indian enthusiasts the style and speed which electrified the Beijing Olympics and Berlin world championships. Even without Bolt, Jamaica look certain to rule the sprints while Kenya will dominate the distance events.

Nov. 25-29: Australia vs. England, first Ashes cricket test, Brisbane. Australia needs to defeat England after losing the Ashes in 2009. ?stanbul Sunday’s Zaman with wires

From: Todayszaman.com

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