04:09 GMT 30th January 2012
The 2012 African Cup of Nations, which runs from January 21 to February 12, coincides with the critical mid-season period of the major leagues in Europe, and the clubs will need the services of virtually all their players to take care of busy schedules and cushion the effect of injury crises.
For instance, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini believes his team can win the Premier League tide, but only if they can survive the loss of key players to the African tournament.
Midfielder Yaya Toure will be particularly missed by City when he joins the Cote d'Ivoire squad for the competition. Mancini has revealed he has already held talks aimed at keeping him with the club as late as January 16, just six days before the I vorians play their first group game against Sudan.
Apparently mindful of the Fifa rule that stipulates that players can be called up by their countries two weeks before the Nations Cup starts, Mancini expressed the hope that Yaya can remain with City until their game against Wigan.
'Wigan is one week before the start of the African Cup of Nations and if the Ivory Coast [Cote d'Ivoire] gets to the final, he and Kolo [Yaya's elder brother] will not come back until after the 12th of February,' Mancini said.
'For us, this will be a problem. And for this reason, if Yaya and Kolo come back from the African Cup of Nations and we are still top then we can win the tide.'
The exodus of African players to the Nations Cup will also affect other Premier League tide contenders. Chelsea will be without Didier Drogba and Solomon Kalou (Cote d'Ivoire); Arsenal will part company with Gervinho (Cote d'Ivoire) and Marouane Chamakh (Morocco); Newcastle will lose Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba to Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal respectively; Queen's Park Rangers will have to release Adel Taarabt (Morocco) and Armand Traore (Senegal); Wigan will say goodbye to Gohouri (Cote d'Ivoire) and Mohamed Diame (Senegal); Stoke City sees off Salif Diao to Senegal; while Manchester United will play without Marne Biram Diouf (Senegal).
Beyond the hoopla about losing players, pundits agree the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations will be the most open in a very long time after five of the perennial contenders to the continental tide failed to qualify for the competition.
Seven times champions and winner of last three editions Egypt, four-time winners Cameroon, two-time champions Nigeria, not to mention Algeria and South Africa, who have each won the Nations Cup on one occasion, were sensationally eliminated in the qualifying campaign.
The absence of the big five, pundits reckon, easily makes Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana firm favourites for the most coveted title in African football. The likes of Senegal, Morocco and Tunisia are outside bets. Should the tournament follow the same path as the qualifiers, it could be quite a ride.
Stephen Keshi, who replaced Samson Siasia as Nigeria coach after the Super Eagles failed to qualify, said the last few years have witnessed a significant transformation in African football and people should not underestimate the potential of hitherto unheralded teams.
'Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon and others will not be there, but football remains the same,' Keshi told Neu;sAfrica. 'Based on what we saw in the qualifiers, it would be unwise for anybody to write off any team from winning the tide.
'African football is not what it used to be and things have changed a lot. Some of these countries regarded as minnows now have better organised leagues than Nigeria and Cameroon and there is a great deal of stability in the administration and national team set up.'
Keshi, who will be working as a commentator for a cable satellite sports television station during the Nations Cup, said that determination to win the competition by countries still to win it will make the tournament a fiercely contested one.
'Yes, Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana appear to be the best bet but I warn you there are teams out there who don't have big name players but are more technically and tactically disciplined and hungrier than Cote d'Ivoire or Ghana,' said Keshi, who captained Nigeria to its second Nations Cup title in 1994.
'However, I won't be sticking my neck out for any team in this tournament. I want to watch and enjoy the competition and at the same time learn some lessons as I plan ahead for our 2013 Nations Cup qualifiers.'
The Francois Zahoui-led Elephants of Cote d'Ivoire, featuring the likes of Drogba, Kalou and the Toure brothers, are a fairly daunting prospect for any opponents. But Goran Stevanovic's Black Stars of Ghana, with Asamoah Gyan, Sulley Muntari and promising youngsters like Andre Ayew and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu, are spurred on by their impressive outing at the 2010 World Cup, where they reached the quarter finals.
The permutation by bookmakers is that both Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana could well meet in the final of the 2012 Nations Cup at the impressive 40,000 capacity Stade de L'Amitie in Libreville, Gabon.
But before then, the 16 qualified teams pitted into four groups of four will play one another in a mini round-robin series. The two top teams from each group will then qualify for the quarter-finals.
French coach Henri Michel, who will lead Equatorial Guinea out against Libya in the opening match on January 21 at the Estadio de Bata, has lamented that poor preparations may affect his team's outcome in Group A, which also contains Senegal and Zambia.
'It's like climbing Mount Everest,' Michel said. 'We'll be obliged to do our best with what we have and that's all.'
And while Michel frets, Gabon coach Gernot Rohr is optimistic that the country's victory in the maiden Confederation of African Football, Caf, Under-23 Championship held in November in Morocco will inspire his squad. The Gabonese beat Morocco in the final to earn the country's first continental title.
'This was a historic event because it marked Gabon's first title in Africa,' said Rohr.
'It may be a young competition but it was at Under-23 level, so this could be a good sign for football in Gabon.
'Because we now have confidence and know we can do something very good in international competition.'
Also, one team that seems desperate to reach new heights are the Chipolopolo of Zambia. The 1994 finalists, who have sacked Dario Bonetti and replaced him with former handler Herve Renard, hope to show the progress they have made at the upcoming continental showcase.
'Our African Cup of Nations performance will undoubtedly be a good indicator of our potential in the World Cup qualifiers,' explained the President of the Zambian Football Association and legendary former international, Kalusha Bwalya. 'Because of that, it's important for us to give a good account of ourselves in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.'
What is certain is that there will be plenty of good football despite the absence of some of the traditional heavyweights as a new crop of young and ambitious players showcase their talents on Africa's biggest football stage.
But can they make up for the absence of the likes of Samuel Eto'o, John Mikel Obi, Ahmed Hassan and Steven Pienaar and Sofiane Feghouli? Fans will get to know during three weeks of action.
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