Cameroun defence Ace, Rigobert Song will make history when he featured at the Orange Nations Cup in Angola for the record eight times. (more…)

Two African teams have been picked as the countries that could upset the established World Cup greats like Brazil, Argentina, England among others.

Zinedine Zidane in an exclusive interview with Paris based, France Football tipped the two teams to go far in the 2010 World Cup.

As for the other African representatives at the forthcoming World Cup, Zidane sees only Cameroon as a team who can be counted.

“Cameroon can possibly do well, even if not as well as the Ivory coast. They are a strong team too,” he said.

The 1998 World Cup champion with France adds that no other team in Africa who are endowed with more top players than the Ivory Coast’s Elephants.

“I have faith in the Ivorian team because their players have proved themselves in top European leagues. The Elephants have a chance in this World Cup,” Zidane said.

Yet, just as many analysts have alleged recently, Zidane considers the Ivory Coast’s Group G alongside Brazil, Portugal and North Korea, a hard nut to crack.

“It’s going to be difficult for the Ivorians because they inherited a complicated group,” the former Real Madrid powerhouse admitted.

The group has been tagged the Group of Death, but ‘Zizou’ has advised the West Africans on what to do in order to avoid getting buried in their section.

“The Ivorians should kick off their World Cup in a very high spirit, winning their first match imperatively, or else, it will be sad,” Zidane warned.

But much of the load will be on the head of coach, Vahid Halilhodzic, according to Zidane, because the Bosnian-French trainer has in his possession a group of players capable of going far in South Africa come next summer.

“The ball is in the court of the Ivorian coach. He has the men; he only needs to know how to use them. The team can withstand Brazil if the coach knows what to do,” Zidane affirmed.

The 1998 Ballon d’Or winner finally warned that it would be a great waste for the African continent if the Ivorian coach failed to exploit his team successfully.

Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou has told Sky Sports that he wants Ivory Coast show their strength against England at the South African World Cup.

The two sides have been drawn in different groups for the finals in South Africa next summer, but they could meet – should they progress to the semi-final stage.

Kalou was not happy Ivory Coast were not drawn alongside England in Group C. Kalou’s national team landed in Group G alongside Brazil, Portugal and North Korea what has been called the “Group of Death”.

When asked if he was disappointed not to be playing against England in the Group Stage, Kalou told Sky Sports, “Yes, because when you go to these type of competitions you want to play against the best and prove yourself.

“So playing against England was an opportunity for us to see if we are a good team.

“The draw was not on our side with England but, you never know, maybe we will meet them in later rounds.”

Ivory Coast’s first match is against Portugal on June 15, 2010 followed by a meeting with Brazil before concluding the group-stage against minnows North Korea.

He said, “We can go as far as we want. We should not be afraid of other teams and just play our game. At the end, it is 11 against 11.”

English and Scottish clubs have been affected by the Algeria Football Federation decision to start camping early ahead of the Orange Nations Cup.

Scottish Premier League leaders Glasgow Rangers are mostly affected as their Algerian international defender Madjid Bougherra, would not be available when the club face bitter rivals Celtic on January 3.

The Algerian football authorities have ordered its England and Scotland-based players, invited to take part in the 2010 African Nations Cup, that they can only fulfill their club commitments until December 30.

Bougherra can play for Rangers on Sunday against Hibernian, but not against Celtic on January 3 despite pressure from his boss Walter Smith.

Algeria, who have also qualified for the World Cup, will take part in the African Nations Cup from January 10-31 in Angola, with the some of the squad due to assemble in the south of France for a training camp from Saturday.

“A training session will also take place from January 1-7 which all players are expected to attend,” said a federation source.

In the English Premier League, Portsmouth duo Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj are expected to play on Monday against Arsenal. At the African Nations Cup, Algeria are in Group A with Angola, Mali and Malawi.