Coaches have so far succeeded to keep the level of the form and interest on players that have played for long, gruelling seasons. Now players are in a position to look forward to participating in the Africa Cup of Nations.

My main contenders for the title are Egypt and Senegal. The reason I have picked Egypt stems from them being the home team who have the players to win it. Senegal, meanwhile, are contenders because they are the most stable team at the tournament and they have coverage in all positions in the team.

What team will I be cheering on? That is something I’m asked a lot. When you love African teams you love all the teams. It is very hard to see and judge who I would like to do well. That said, my sympathies go towards the countries where I have worked like South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania. If we go by sympathies, those will be my teams.

If we go by football, I love each and every team. I look forward to every team showcasing the African talent in the best way. Let the game start and let us enjoy the good football at the Africa Cup of Nations.

It is very hard to judge which teams will have a break-through at the tournament. Practically, it is different having 24 teams rather than 16 reams. We saw in the last Cup of Nations Senegal looked very convincing in the group stages yet they went out in the quarter finals.

Now a team can win one match, qualify for the knockout stages and end up winning through being in prime competitive mode and end up winning. Inspirations like Euro 2004 when Greece won it and AFCON 2012 when Zambia won it are templates for dark horses.

I really wish that there is some surprises in store for us. I really hope we see some dark horses reach far in the tournament. Who are those? We shall see.