The festival of football starts in 2010 with the 27th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (ACN), and it has a lot to live up to, the last edition had 99 goals in 32 games, this one may not be as goal happy though.

Hosted by Angola which is one of the biggest oil producers today and has a voice in the oil cartel OPEC, this is an opportunity for Angola to gather national unity after their civil war and to begin the journey to continued development and infrastructure investment, not just in stadia, but also in roads, energy production and further regional integration.

I will try review each game as it happens, if my work commitments allow me. I'll preview Group A & B first, then Group C & D in Part II, where I'll introduced the nicknames of each of the teams.

Group A:

Angola: Trained by Al-Ahly legendary trainer, Manuel Jose, Angola have not captured the stunning form from 2004-2006 under influential Luís Oliveira Gonçalves who got Angola to the 2006 World Cup ahead of Nigeria. Their 2010 campaign was killed off early as they failed to get a runners up spot and beaten to the pip by Benin. Their strengths will be they are very attack minded, with Mantorras-Manucho-Flavio as the attacking trio, backed by vocal home support, they will be a threat. They will leave big gaps at the back though.

Mali: A team on the rise, and reaping the rewards from hosting the 2002 ACN, this is a team with a very astute trainer in Nigerian Steve Keshi who guided lowly Togo to the 2006 World Cup, and with one of the most physical and forceful midfields possibly in world football, manned by Seydou Keita-Mahamadou Diarra- Mohammed Sisokko, and this midfield will be together for the first time under Stev Keshi, so watch out for them. Key man will be Frederic Kanoute who will look to finish everything they create, their weaknesses however is their big game mentality, they don't travel well and could struggle if they emerge from the group.

Malawi: With 53 countries in Africa, there is always room for new powers to emerge. A renaissance in East African football has seen Malawi rise in the global rankings, they beat DR Congo in the second phase of qualification and in the third, held the mighty Cote d'Ivoire 1-1 at home. I don't know much of them, they have a squad with players playing in mid to lower level South Africa PSL teams, but looking at their stats, goals will be a problem, as tight defences doesn't get a team out of a tournament group.

Algeria: A team on the rise, this is a country with great prestige, the 1982 and 1986 World Cup teams are still spoken of fondly, even the Germans and Austrians admit they stitched them up. This team has come through a lot of adversity, overcoming current African champions Egypt in a play-off in Khartoum. This side has many players born in Europe representing them, and this extra nous will aid them, they are hard to break down, and are electric on the break, especially from the full back positions where they will reign supreme. Again they are not very prolific, and goals will be needed to do anything in a tournament.

Angola & Algeria to progress from Group A.


Group B:

Cote d'Ivoire: Les Elephants are now one of the most well known teams on the continent, and with high profile players like Drogba and the Touré brothers, they demand respect. They will be looking for their first title since 1992, but that side had a defence of steel and top class keeper in Alain Gouaméné, this time round, they have big question marks over who will partner a declining Kolo Toure and who will play behind them, a position that has been a severe problem since the retirement of Jean-Jacque Tizie. The defence doesn't travel well, so this is a huge problem. The team also seems to go missing when the tough times come, and it is a big shame for a team with so many talented players. However, with 19 goals in the third phase of qualification, Cote d'Ivoire will expect to go very deep in this competition, hopes rely on Drogba.

Burkina Faso: Another country reaping the rewards of hosting the ACN in 1998, this small nation has begun to export players to Europe en masse, and it is a matter of time before they produce a super star. They were runners up to Cote d'Ivoire in the third phase of qualification, they are a steady team.They had the most prolific striker in the entire qualification process in Moumouni Dagano who struck 12 times, but my personal favourite is Hamburg's Jonatan Pitroipa, he is a quick and tricky winger, and under the right manager, could become a household name, he is that good. Les Etalones will hope to nick results, definitely not enough to negotiate this group.

Ghana: One of the most respected African teams, Ghana will look to go one better after coming fourth in the 2008 edition which they hosted. We all know the names and strengths, Essien-Appiah-Mensah have had good careers in Europe, and the sight of the Black Star is enough to fear any opponent. The weaknesses may not hurt them much in this tournament, but will in June. They don't have any good strikers, Asamoah Gyan isn't worthy of the players behind him, so AC Milan starlet Dominic Adiyah will look to try emerge as the striker they desire. Another problem is the lack of discipline and focus in the team, Essien and Muntari (who has been dropped from the squad) absconded the Angola friendly unilaterally, picking and choosing when to play, and when that happens, you are always asking for trouble, look at the decline of Nigeria.

Togo: The Squirrels are remarkable, a small nation with a loud roar, they made the 2006 World Cup, and narrowly missed out on the 2010 edition. The structure of the team is now well defined, get the ball to Adebayor. They need to however add more steel to the defence, and if this continues, they will be hopping home quickly. Adebayor is very important,forget his issues at club level, internationally, he owns the team, fights their corner against the TFA, and is a team member, he will play with pride regardless.

Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana to progress from Group B.