African Cup of Nations 2012 Preview

It’s been almost 19 months since we last heard the mosquito-esque sound of the Vuvuzela at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa! Many people wonder whether the sound will make a reappearance at the 2012 African Cup of Nations that runs from the 21st January to the 12th February with Equatorial Guinea and Gabon as co hosts.

One thing that can be counted on at this year’s championship is that Egypt will not win the title for the fourth time running. They finished bottom of their qualifying group behind Niger who narrowly reached the finals ahead of South Africa and Sierra Leone. With Egypt out of the way, Ivory Coast start as the 2.50 favourites to win the Cup for only the second time in their history. For a team brimming with talent it’s amazing to think they have only won the title once, way back in 1992 beating Senegal 11-10 in a penalty shoot out!

“The Elephants” as they are known consist of a golden generation of players, including the likes of Kalou, Gervinho, Eboue, the Toure brothers, Zokora and Didier Drogba. It is a perfect blend of experience, the exuberance of youth and for the older players potentially their last chance to win the trophy!

Four times champions Ghana reached the final in 2010 but have not won the African Cup of Nations since 1982 beating Libya in the final on their home turf. They are 5.00 to go one better on this occasion. Senegal have only ever reach one final which they lost on penalties to Cameroon in 2002 but are third favourites at 7.50 whilst one time winners Morocco are 10.00 to repeat their 1976 success.

“To put it simply this is the African version of the European Championships, but it is hated by the top club managers in leagues around Europe as they lose many of their key players for a month or so. Every match has a carnival atmosphere of dancing, colour and noise – most importantly however, there are upsets galore – of the last 9 winners, 8 have failed to even qualify for the finals!” says Erik Backlund, Head of Unibet’s Sportsbook.

“There are plenty of familiar names in each of the big teams including Demba Ba (Senegal), Jonathan Pitroipa (Burkina Faso), Marouane Chamakh (Tunisia), Kwadwoh Asamoah (Ghana) and of course the Ivory Coast superstar line up of Premier League heavyweights!”

Unibet have a massive pre match offer online and a huge livebetting offer available on every match. Plus make a minimum bet of 5 Euros on the African Cup of Nations and you could win a trip to Euro 2012 (see site for full details)!!!

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