African football stars go to war as Nations Cup begins

The long awaited moment is here at last.
In a couple of hours, the 29th edition of the African Cup of Nations gets underway in South Africa.
The hosts will kick-off against rank outsiders and shock qualifiers, Cape Verde.
Cape Verde saw off four-time winners, Cameroon, in one of the great shocks in world football to qualify for the final.
And this year’s tournament is bound to bring more shocks.
Last year’s winners, Zambia, will hope to make another great run and possibly win it again.
Despite her failure to qualify for the last edition jointly hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Nigeria is again considered to be one of the favourites for the trophy.
With the likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Gervinho and Cheik Tiote, Ivory Coast are favourites unarguably the team to watch out for in this year’s tournament.
On paper, four-time winners, Black Stars of Ghana, look good to win the tournament.

Fixtures
England – Premier League
January 19
15:00 Liverpool v Norwich
15:00 Manchester City v Fulham
15:00 Newcastle United v Reading
15:00 Swansea v Stoke
15:00 West Ham v QPR
15:00 Wigan v Sunderland
17:30 West Brom v Aston Villa
January 20
13:30 Chelsea v Arsenal
16:00 Tottenham v Manchester United
January 21
20:00 Southampton v Everton
January 23
19:45 Arsenal v West Ham

Italy – Serie A
January 19
17:00 Palermo v Lazio
19:45 Juventus v Udinese
January 20
11:30 Fiorentina v Napoli
14:00 AC Milan v Bologna
14:00 Atalanta v Cagliari
14:00 Chievo v Parma
14:00 Genoa v Catania
14:00 Pescara v Torino
14:00 Siena v Sampdoria
19:45 Roma v Inter

Spain – Liga
January 18
20:00 Espanyol v Mallorca
January 19
15:00 Granada v Rayo Vallecano
17:00 Real Sociedad v Barcelona
19:00 Getafe v Sevilla
21:00 Malaga v Celta Vigo
January 20
11:00 Osasuna v Deportivo La Coruna
16:00 Valladolid v Zaragoza
18:00 Atletico Madrid v Levante
20:00 Valencia v Real Madrid
January 21
20:30 Betis v Athletic Bilbao

Germany – Bundesliga
January 19
14:30 Leverkusen v Eintracht Frankfurt
14:30 Bayern v Greuther Furth
14:30 Hoffenheim v Borussia
14:30 Mainz 05 v Freiburg
14:30 Wolfsburg v Stuttgart
17:30 Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund
January 20
14:30 Nurnberg v Hamburger SV
16:30 Fortuna Dusseldorf v Augsburg

France – Ligue 1
January 18
19:30 Lyon v Evian Thonon Gaillard
January 19
16:00 Marseille v Montpellier
19:00 Ajaccio v Valenciennes
19:00 Brest v Saint Etienne
19:00 Lorient v Troyes
19:00 Sochaux v Reims
19:00 Toulouse v Nancy
January 20
13:00 Bastia v Rennes
16:00 Lille v Nice
20:00 Bordeaux v PSG

Africa Cup of Nations
January 19
South Africa v Cape Verde Islands 16:00
Angola v Morocco 19:00
January 20
Ghana v Congo DR 15:00
Mali v Niger 18:00
January 21
Zambia v Ethiopia 15:00
Nigeria v Burkina Faso 18:00
January 22
Ivory Coast v Togo 15:00
Tunisia v Algeria 18:00
January 23
South Africa v Angola 15:00
Morocco v Cape Verde Islands 18:00
January 24
Ghana v Mali 15:00
Niger v Congo DR 18:00

Full fixtures of Nations Cup
19/01/13: South Africa v Cape Verde (1600 in Johannesburg), Angola v Morocco (1900 in Johannesburg)
20/01/13: Ghana v DR Congo (1500), Port Elizabeth Mali v Niger (1800) Port Elizabeth
21/01/13: Zambia v Ethiopia (1500), Nelspruit Nigeria v Burkina Faso (1800) Nelspruit
22/01/13: Ivory Coast v Togo (1500), Rustenburg Tunisia v Algeria (1800) Rustenburg
23/01/13: South Africa v Angola (1500), Durban Morocco v Cape Verde (1800) Durban
24/01/13: Ghana v Mali 1500, Port Elizabeth Niger v DR Congo (1800) Port Elizabeth
25/01/13: Zambia v Nigeria (1500), Nelspruit Burkina Faso v Ethiopia (1800) Nelspruit
26/01/13: Ivory Coast v Tunisia (1500), Rustenburg Algeria v Togo (1800) Rustenburg
27/01/13: South Africa v Morocco (1700), Durban Cape Verde v Angola (1700 in Port Elizabeth)
28/01/13: Ghana v Niger (1700), Port Elizabeth DR Congo v Mali (1700 in Durban)
29/01/13: Zambia v Burkina Faso (1700), Nelspruit Ethiopia v Nigeria (1700 in Rustenburg)
30/01/13: Ivory Coast v Algeria (1700), RustenburgTogo v Tunisia (1700 in Nelspruit)

Quarter-finals
02/02/13: Gp B winners v Gp A runners-up (1500 in Port Elizabeth), Gp A winners v Gp B runners-up (1830 in Durban)
03/02/13: Gp D winners v Gp C runners-up (1500 in Rustenburg), Gp C winners v Gp D runners-up (1830 in Nelspruit)
Semi-finals
06/012/13: Winners quarter-final 2 v winners quarter-final 3 (1500), Winners quarter-final 4 v winners quarter-final 1 (1830 in Nelspruit)
Third place play-off
09/02/13: Semi-finals losers (1800 in Port Elizabeth)
Final
10/02/13: Semi-finals winners (1800 in Johannesburg)