Lyon made two big signings in the forward line last summer to replace the departed Karim Benzema. One man was Bafetimbi Gomis from arch-rivals Saint-Etienne and the second one was Argentine Lisandro Lopez from Porto.

The two strikers with a combined fee of nearly €40m started off from a level playing field. Gomis, having been one of the most feared strikers in France, of course having a tad bit of an advantage, having experience from the league.

Lisandro’s arrival to France was a bit of a surprise. The Buenos Aires born would’ve not looked out of place at a bigger European club, having scored 44 goals for Porto in the last two seasons. But much like he’s close friend and Porto teammate Lucho Gonzalez, he opted to move to France. Lucho himself moved to Marseille just a couple of weeks earlier.

Lisandro and Gomis very much shared the playing time at the beginning of the league. Manager Claude Puel even willing to play the two together in certain games.

But as the season moved on, Lisandro was starting to get to nod ahead of Gomis. Not a surprise really, considering he scored on his debut and only needed three matches to get his first hat-trick at a new club. Gomis has still remained one of the players with the most appearances for the club, but most have been from the bench.

Lyon’s season is going to end trophy-less and there’s still doubt whether they can seal their place in next year’s Champions League, but the signing of Lisandro will at least console some of the personnel involved.

Last week it was announced that Lisandro is among the nominees for Ligue 1 Player of the Year. Having seen him work hard against Bayern even when everything was already lost and seeing his reaction to Michel Bastos’ important 1-0 winner away at Montpellier last weekend, followed by passionate celebrations after the match, you could give him the award just for effort.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It looked like there would be a host of clubs in the title race this year in Ligue 1 just over a month ago, but now there are only two names remaining – Marseille and Auxerre.

Bordeaux’s lack of squad rotation, or rather the inability to do so, finally caught up with them and last year’s champions are now even struggling to finish on a European place for next season.

Lyon have built their squad for a couple of seasons now with Europe being the main focus. It will remain to be seen if it turns out as a success with the return leg of Champions League semifinal coming up tomorrow. They certainly sacrificed the league for that.

New comers Montpellier tried their hardest, and for a long period of a time where the only one to put real pressure on Bordeaux, but they aren’t “new” anymore and opposition have found ways to stop them.

Lille will curse this years Africa Cup of Nations for taking away their top scorer Gervinho in a vital period of games. The Ivorian was Ligue 1 top scorer in the first part of the season with 11 goals, but since then he’s only managed a single goal. The current leader is Lorient’s Kevin Gameiro. Look out for his name being the most prominent in the summers transfer stories across Europe.

Marseille, who last month won their first title since winning the Champions League in 1993, beating Bordeaux in the League Cup final 3-1, have hugely benefited by having two games in hand for majority of the season.

The 8-time champions have caught rivals out by popping up just at the right time, near the end of the season, at the top of the table. The start to the season wasn’t that rosy, though.

Didier Deschamps was the new man in charge, after Eric Gerets’, who lead the team to 2nd place, contract ran out and the Belgian decided not to renew it. Dechamps was criticized by his direct style of football. After 10 rounds, even bottom team Grenoble were ahead of Marseille in “passes played”.

Summer record signing Lucho Gonzalez struggled with form, largely due to niggling injuries, which forced Deschamps to constantly change his formation. Also other summer signings like Eduard Cisse and Fernando Morientes looked all out of sort and got criticism.

The team bowed out of Champions League and without having any spectacular results in the league there was even talk about Deschamps leaving. But the former France captain stayed and it’s turned out to be a very good decision.

Marseille took the top spot of Ligue 1 on the last day of February and after a twelve game unbeaten run, including 10 wins, now look to be the favorites to lift the title.

Marseille will be up against Auxerre. The Burgundy side, who only have one title to their name, winning in 1996 under legendary Guy Roux, were in rich vein of form in late Autumn with 7 wins in a row, are a surprise contender.

They don’t have any standout names in their squad, they don’t play particularly nice style of football, but having 17 (that’s every other match!) clean sheets from the season, most kept by Olivier Sorin, has a major part on their success. And of course the team spirit created by Jean Fernandez.

Interestingly enough, Fernandez himself has come out and said that his side most definitely won’t win the title, whilst top scorer Ireneusz Jelen himself has said that the title is in everybody’s head as an aim.

But of course you can understand Fernandez’s humbleness, considering that since taking over in 2006, the 55-year old has seen his side finish twice on 8th place and 15th two seasons ago. With only 5 teams getting into Europe from France, it would be a huge boost for a team, currently probably most known for producing players, such as Phillipe Mexes, Djibril Cisse, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby and of course Eric Cantona.

Now there are Olivier Sorin, Ireneusz Jelen, Adama Coulibaly and such, lead by inspirational captain Benoit Pedretti, who as a very gifted midfield player, never managed to make it big on the top level at Lyon and neither in Marseille. For him, no doubt, it’s a very special title race.

The two title contenders meet this Friday at Auxerre’s Stade l’Abbé-Deschamps. Marseille are currently leading with 71 points, while Auxerre have picked up 66. From the “big boys”, only Lyon have managed to take something against Auxerre at their place and that was way back at the beginning of the season. Marseille are enjoying a good run of form, but didn’t look quite like themselves at the weekend versus Saint-Etienne and they’ve got a tough run in.

The 96th French champion in football will be decided this week.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Last year’s French champions Bordeaux might have broken their worst run of form since 2004 last week with a win after three defeats versus Lyon, but they are still deep in trouble.

After a rosey start to the season Laurent Blanc’s side has started to suffer fatigue and injury problems. Bordeaux might be one of the biggest clubs in France, but compared to the likes of Lyon and Marseille there’s a huge difference in squad depth. There are only 15 outfield players that have made more than 10 appearances in the league. Manchester United Patrice Evra, who at the weekend didn’t make the starting XI for the first time this season, isn’t the only one who can complain about the lack of rest. The whole Bordeaux’s defensive line has played so far without proper back-up. Star striker Maroune Chamakh has found very few breathing breaks with David Bellion and Fernando Cavenaghi not enjoying the best form of their lives.

Bordeaux were crowned the Autumn champions with 8 points ahead of Marseille. Now the tide has turned massively. Marseille are the current leaders of Ligue 1, Bordeaux are sitting at a lowly 5th place. They do have a game in hand, but the gap is now a solid one with 6 points and it will be seen if there is going to be a fight by Bordeaux to defend their title.

This situation is actually very surprising. In the summer there weren’t a whole lot of changes in the team. Captain Souleymane Diawara left, but he was replaced with Mickael Ciani, who’s proved to be an adequate replacement. Gabriel Obertan, who left for Man Utd, was replaced by Jaroslav Plasil and that’s basically it. It seems like the big problem has turned out to be the for mentioned trouble with back-up players form. Cavenaghi has so far hit only two goals (compared to least season, where he found the net 13 times in the league). There’s been chopping and changing among the rear guard. Midfield anchorman Alou Diarra has been forced to cover missing central defenders and also been injured himself. Marc Planuswas ruled out for the whole season with a knee injury before his miraculous recovery before the Lyon match, but he still missed quite a few games. Young Ludovic Sane, a defensive midfield player by trade, started at right back versus Lyon and had a spell in midfield before finishing the game alongside Ciani as a central defender.

Laurent Blanc might be considered as of the most promising up and coming managers in the game, but he still has plenty to learn. Squad freshness being the main thing. Last year Bordeaux got lucky having the team very little affected by injuries and players in acceptable form. This season it’s all gone up in flames since the turn of the year with only 1 chance for silverware from four remaining and even that one is an outside shot.

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When in 2009 this season in Ligue 1 was much looked at like a bit of deja vu of last season, with Bordeaux being the most consistent team, after the turn of the year the tides have changed.

Before the winter break in France, Bordeaux lead the table with a massive 9 point gap ahead of in form Lille. 3 months and 9 rounds later, Montpellier, who at that time were 10 points of the pace, have caught up with last season winners and the title fight looks to go down to the wire with not only Bordeaux, Lille and Montpellier involved.

Lyon, after a shaky start to the season, have started to gather form, losing only two cup games since 2010 started and look the most likely to pip Bordeaux to the title, even though they’ve drawn their last two league games. A part of it of course has to go down to the massive result at Santiago Bernabeu. Tough times lay ahead of last season’s beaten champions with an away trip ahead to Marseille next weekend and a massive month in April. April starts with a trip to Rennes, a well known good home team. That match is followed by probably two of the biggest games of the season, against Lille and Bordeaux. In May, there are two direct opponents to take on – Montpellier and Auxerre.

The last mentioned, Auxerre, had a good period in late Autumn, but after that faded away. They are back now, though. A great run of 4 straight victories, including away triumphs to Lille and Bordeaux. In the last round they visited Montpellier and came back with a draw, 3 points slipping away only in the last minutes. And to think before the current unbeaten run, they lost to Grenoble 5-0! Auxerre doesn’t have a tough fixtures list as Lyon, with Marseille and Lyon themselves to play, but through out the season they’ve struggled against the so called lesser teams and that could come back to haunt them.

Montpellier have ride their luck in recent weeks, salvaging a point versus Bordeaux and Auxerre in the final minutes. And literally in the final minute against Bordeaux with Bordeaux’s goalkeeper Cedric Carrasso letting Alberto Costa’s free kick slip through his hands. Carrasso had a great night, saving two penalties, and as an Montpellier player, fan or anyone involved with the club, you have to rue the inability to win the match as that would’ve put them top of the table with 3 points, which currently looks like a enormous gap. Costa was also the saviour against Auxerre and these two last results still keep Montpellier’s fairy tale alive. I think Diego Maradona should look at more games in France, not Argentina. From direct opponents Montpellier only has to face Lille in a couple of weeks time and Lyon, which doesn’t look like a bad title run in, but recent results have sounded out a bit of a alarm that the good run, and it’s an incredible feat what Montpellier have achieved thus far being a promoted side, might just about to end.

Much like Lyon, Lille have to meet a number of title rivals in the remaining rounds. Starting with Bordeaux after a midweek trip to Anfield, plus Montpellier a week later. Also Lyon and, in the 37th round, Marseille. Lille was the name on everybody’s lips near the end of 2009 as the only one, who realistically could offer Bordeaux some threat, but after Gervinho went to the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast, the form hasn’t been very good. Gervinho is currently also out with an injury and the side with the best attacking record are clearly struggling,  the best example being the last match, only a 1-0 win over bottom team Grenoble.

Marseille, like Lyon, have kick started their season in 2010. With injury troubles, manager Didier Deschamps had to tinker with his line-up and formation to fit in record signing Lucho Gonzales, but now it seems everything has clicked, even though the last two matches have ended in 1-1 draw. Still they can praise the computer, which drew the fixtures list last summer. 7 home games lie ahead and only 4 away trips. At home they have to take on Lyon and trips to Auxerre and Lille make May a vital month.

Looking at title defender, Bordeux’s recent results, the question of what’s happened raises. Three match win-less run and they couldn’t beat Montpellier and Auxerre. They face Marseille, who they haven’t managed to beat this season withan away loss and home draw, in the league cup final at the end of the month. Before that, a vital match in the Champions League and Lille. In April it gets easier with only a trip to Paris to take on PSG as a potential up setter and Lyon at home. Though considering the recent form, Laurent Blanc must now be afraid of every fixture until the end of the season.

The top of the table currently looks like this:

Bordeaux 53 points
Montpellier 53 points
Auxerre 52 points
Lille 51 points
Lyon 51 points
Marseille 50 points

The chasing pack is now too much behind with a 7 point gap. A note to also take under consideration is that both Bordeaux and Marseille have played one game less. The fixtures list looks tough for a couple of teams, but I imagine no one will win all the games and it’s a ideal chance to win points beating your direct opposition. I feel the bigger effect will be European football. Lyon are through in the Champions League and Bordeaux look to follow them on Wednesday. Marseille and Lille have kept the Ligue 1 flag high in the Europa League, ready to beat Benfica and Liverpool respectively to get through into the quarter finals. Montpellier and Auxerre are duty free in Europe and a place there next season already looks like a great achievement, but could there be a shock winner this season in Frace? We’ll see in the middle of May.

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Saint-Etienne was the second team to fire it’s manager this season in Ligue 1 with Alain Perrin being replaced by Christophe Galtier on 15 December. It took a while, but it now seems the 43-year old former Marseille player has finally gotten his side to play.

Before last Sunday the Saint-Etienne faithful last saw a league goal scored by their team at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in October. A shock 3-1 win over defending champions Bordeaux and under Galtier the team had only scored in one league match from five.

This duck was broken by a 3-0 romp over Monaco and the team can again breath a little easier, as before there was a danger of falling into the relegation dog fight. After 23 rounds, the bottom three now seem to have transpired and it will take a miracle for Le Mans and Boulogne to get out of the danger zone, while Grenoble, even though they ran riot over Auxerre last weekend winning 5-0, probably need planet Earth to start moving backwards.

But for a side, which has won a record 10 league championships, more is expected. As a twist of fate, another traditional underachiver PSG, who I earlier in the season tipped as potential title challengers, are now the team in front of Saint-Etienne at 15th. But it seems no matter what the dominating team of the 70′s try, it just doesn’t seem to work out.

A lot was expected when Alain Perrin arrived at the club. The man had delivered the league title to fierce rivals Lyon just only a couple of season’s ago, but even he couldn’t get the club with huge stature and following in France, to perform.

While the club finished 5th in Ligue 1 in 2007/08, earning itself a place in the UEFA Cup for the following season, it now seems that rather than going forward, the club is again fading away from the top. It seems like the danger of facing the prospect of falling back into the 2nd tier of French football, where the got promoted in 2004, seems to be over with Galtiers philosophy starting to get an effect among the player. A place in next year’s Ligue 1 should be secure, even though the record doesn’t show it. Even after the 3-0 triumph over Monaco, still only Boulogne have scored fewer goals than Saint-Etienne. Having failed to score on 13 occasions out of 23 boldly sticks out.

And it’s not like the team doesn’t have quality attacking players. Gonzalo Bergessio have been part of the Argentina set up. Dimitri Payet is a former French U-21 international, who has a good reputation in France. Kevin Mirallas is a former wonder kid and part of the Belgian international team. Boubacar Sanogo has a record of 13 games, 8 goals for Ivory Coast. The team even had the luxury of letting go Brazilian Ilan in the January transfer window as the man just wasn’t getting enough games. Ilan, who’s also been capped by Brazil, of course went to score on his debut for West Ham.

So it’s a bit of a mysterious story with the one time dominating force in France. At least the hopes are now once again raised with a chance for Christophe Galtier to build his Saint-Etienne side for next season.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

2009, 2 February – Montpellier Hérault Sport Club have just won a tough fixture away in Boulogne, against one of their promotion rivals in Ligue 2.

A seemingly easy 3:0 victory with all the goals scored in the first half, two by Argentine Alberto “Tino” Costa, who’s never played professional football in his home country and found his way to France through the Guadalupen league, and one by captain Nenad Dzodic, a misunderstood character, who only managed 5 caps for Yugoslavia in international football, but who’s been a key figure for his team in French 2nd tier football.

The result left Montpellier sitting 4th, two points away from 3rd, the last promoting spot. An over achievement in a sense that the side was seriously struggling against relegation only two seasons ago.

In the end a record crowd gathered at Montpellier’s stadium, Stade de la Mosson, for the last match of the season versus Strasbourg in a winner takes all match. Tino Costa’s name was again on every body’s lips as the man scored the winning 2:1 goal and ensured his team would make a come-back to the top level of French football, Ligue 1, for the first time since 2003.

With not much transfer activity in the summer and the loss of manager Rolland Courbis, expectations were low and the side, who’s best ever finish in the league is 3rd, which happened way back in 1987/88 led by a young and talented Laurent Blanc and Cameroon legend Roger Milla, was mainly considered as favorites to go straight back down. But the fairy tale, which started in 2007, doesn’t seem like stopping just yet.

2:0 win over Marseille last Saturday, was the side’s 13th victory in the league, a result only bettered by defending champions Bordeaux. Currently sitting 2nd in the league table and with Bordeaux not being their usual automatic selves lately, which has seen their lead being cut only to six points, a very unfamiliar team might end up being their challengers for the title.

Montpellier are a great team in every sense of the word. While the defensive record isn’t the best, 25 goals conceded, the back four is literally rock solid when it decides to turn up, which has happened 9 times this season and Montpellier has managed to win all of the matches where they’ve kept a clean sheet at the back.

When new manager Rene Girard took over the reigns in the summer, he spoke about his main goal of keeping talented right-back Mapou Yanga-M’Biwa at the club. The 20-year old, who’s been in the first team for two years now, is assisted by seasoned professionals. Mean, no nonsense central defenders from the Balkans, the aforementioned Dzodic and Bosnian Emir Spahic, have proven that you don’t have to be the most technically gifted and talented defenders to be successful, when you get the job done.

The same pattern runs through the rest of the playing field. Girard has done a very good job continuing the plan of his presuccesor Courbis, mixing young players, straight out of Montpellier’s own youth system, with experienced ones. Vice-captain Romain Pitau acts like a perfect mentor to his more younger midfield mates in Jamel Saihi and Younès Belhanda.

Attack is being lead by Colombian Victor Montano. Montano’s yet to get recognition on the international stage, but finished second only to Boulogne’s Gregory Thil in the scorers charts in Ligue 2 last season with 15 goals. The 25-year old is also Montpellier’s top scorer this term with 7 so far. There’s also Souleymane Diawara, one of the Senegalese World Cup 2002 heroes.

And a star might have been born on Saturday. It was Moroccan-born Karim Ait-Fana’s goal at the beginning of the 2nd half, which put Montpellier in a real cruise position with Marseille only being limited to poor quality crosses from their full-backs. The man, who’s favorite flower is a tulip, showed real composure skipping past three Marseille defenders before finishing it cooly into Steve Mandanda’s net.

All of it is strung together by deep-lying play maker Costa. Tino Costa finished last season on top of Ligue 2 assists table with 12 goals being a result of his clever vision. The 25-year old is also a good set piece specialist. The corner on Saturday, which lead to a Benoit Cheyrou own-goal, it might sound cliché, but it was simply undefendable.

If he can keep up with his good performances, it won’t be only Lens and Toulouse after his signature like it was past summer. And would he even want to leave? If he and his teammates can continue their sensational form until the end of the season, it might anymore not be Bastia and Vannes turning up at Stade de la Mosson next September. It might be the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Manchester United in the Champions League.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

The 27th edition of African Cup of Nations will kick off on Sunday in Angola with the hosts taking on Mali. Ivory Coast are under enormous pressure to finally deliver the trophy to the nation, while Egypt will be aiming for a historic third consecutive title. Here’s a closer look at all the teams involved and their chances in the continent’s most prestigious tournament.

Group A

Angola

Previous participation: 4 times (best result quarter-final 2008)
Result in Ghana 2008: quarter-final
Manager: Manuel Jose (Portugal)
Star player: Manucho (Real Valladolid)

As hosts, there no doubt has to be some kind of pressure to perform well. Especially with reaching the quarter-finals last time out, which was seen as a bit of a surprise, even though the team were part of the World Cup 2006. A lot will depend on Manucho. The former Manchester United player is a great force at this level and always seems to reserve his best for international stage. He was a star in 2008 and he’ll have be starring again for the nation to repeat their 2008 success. I believe home support will take Angola through from the group stage.

Mali

Previous participation: 5 times (best result runner-up 1972)
Result in Ghana 2008: group stage
Manager: Stephen Keshi (Nigeria)
Star player: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla)

Surprisingly Mali hasn’t been mentioned when there’s been talk about potential favorites for the tournament. Possibly due to memories of the 2008 campaign, were Mali were touted as the ones most likely to prevent Ivory Coast from winning it. But as we know, both failed. For a team boasting quality through out their squad not getting past the group stage would be a failure, but I think Mali have learned from past mistakes and can make it further this time.

Algeria

Previous participation: 13 times (best result winner 1990)
Result in Ghana 2008: didn’t qualify
Manager: Rabah Saadane (Algeria)
Star player: Karim Ziani (Wolfsburg)

Don’t really know what to expect from Algeria. The nation of course made it to South Africa 2010, but it’s their first appearance at the Cup of Nations since 2004. Their team ethic is top notch and Ziani a wonderful player, but I fear the focus might not quite be there and Algeria won’t get past the group stage.

Malawi

Previous participation: 1 (group stage 1984)
Result in Ghana 2008: didn’t qualify
Manager: Eli Cohen (Israel)
Star player: Essau Kanyenda (KAMAZ, Russia)

This being their only second ever appearance at this stage, Malawi really are an unknown quantity, but in Cohen they’ve got an experienced manager. The Israeli has bags of experience from working at his home nations biggest clubs. Kanyenda is one of the few players from the Malawi squad, who plays in Europe, so you’d expect him to deliver the goods alongside Chiukepo Msowoya (APR FC, Rwanda), who was the top scorer in qualifying with 6 goals. It’s more of a learning curve for the nations though. You’d think they aren’t no pushovers and could snatch a point, but it’s nearly mission impossible to get out of the group.

Group B

Ivory Coast

Previous participation: 17 times (best result winner 1992)
Result in Ghana 2008: 4.
Manager: Vahid Halihodžic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Star player: Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Of course the team, who everybody will be looking forward to seeing and expect them to win, but will they win? It was the same situation two years ago, but Ivory Coast got knocked out in the semis by eventual winners Egypt and also lost the 3rd place match to Ghana. Drogba is again the man, who everybody pin points and rightly so as the man is an icon for not only the team, but for the nation as a whole, but I suggest you to also look out for Gervinho. The Lille player has been in superb form this season and could out to be the dark horse in the Elephants well known squad. Getting through from the group shouldn’t be a problem, after that anything can happen. I tip Ivory Coast to take a step further and finally reach the final. It will be seen if they can then add to their 1992 glory.

Ghana

Previous participation: 16 times (best result winner 4 times)
Result in Ghana 2008: 3.
Manager: Milovan Rajevac (Serbia)
Star player: Michael Essien (Chelsea)

At first glance you could confidently say Ghana are amongst the possible favorites, but injuries and bad climate in the dressing room, make them a unstable team. Due to injuries there are now 8 U-20 World Champions 2009 involved, so you could also say that the team lacks experience. But it ain’t all doom and gloom, latest news say Essien has returned to full training and the Chelsea man will now have perform twice as good, with his fellow midfield general Sulley Muntari left out of the squad. Think they’ll get through from the group, but not any further.

Burkina Faso

Previous participation: 6 times (best result 4. 1998)
Result in Ghana 2008: didn’t qualify
Manager: Paolo Duarte (Portugal)
Star player: Jonathan Pitroipa (Hamburg)

Burkina Faso are a team with great potential. Pitroipa is only one of many young players playing in European top league’s. The team also boasts a clinical finisher in Moumouni Dagano (Al-Khor, Qatar), who was the top scorer of the entire qualifying campaign with 12 goals. Ivory Coast and Ghana are tough nuts to crack, but I think Burkina Faso will give at least one a scare and will fight for the 2nd qualifying place.

Togo

Previous participation: 6 times (best result group stage)
Result in Ghana 2008: didn’t qualify
Manager: Hubert Velud (France)
Star player: Emmanuel Adebayor (Man City)

Just like Angola, Togo didn’t take part of Ghana 2008, but they made it to the last World Cup and they also rely very much on one player. Emmanuel Adebayor has to bang the goals in if Togo wants to have any chance of fighting with their neighbours Burkina Faso and Ghana for a place in the quarter-final stage. I feel in the end, they won’t manage it though, the side just lacks quality to be competitive.

Group C

Egypt

Previous participation: 21 times (best result winner 6 times)
Result in Ghana 2008: winners
Manager: Hassan Shehata (Egypt)
Star player: Mohamed Zidan (Borussia Dortmund)

A lot of egos have been cut from the Egyptian team, so Mohamed Zidan finally gets a chance to shine. The 28-year old also played a major part securing the 2008 success and as mentioned before, the team will be now aiming for a historic 3rd consecutive title. Everything looks perfectly set, the team doesn’t have the World Cup 2010 to worry about. And like their record shows, they just always seem to win this! It’s incredibly tough in this years competitions, but I back the Pharaohs to reach at least the semis.

Nigeria

Previous participation: 15 times (best result winners twice)
Result in Ghana 2008: quarter-final
Manager: Shaibu Amodu (Nigeria)
Star player: Yakubu (Everton)

Nigeria have always been there or there abouts in the Cup of Nations with three 3rd place finishes and one runner-up position from the last five tournaments. Now they boast a very evenly balanced team with youth and experience. Nwankwo Kanu will be taking part of his 6th Cup of Nations, while John Obi Mikel will be the key in midfield. Qualification was rough with the team only getting through by a late-late goal, but will the players now shine in the final tournament? Getting past the group stage shouldn’t be a problem, luck will play a big part after that and if the Flying Eagles are lucky, a place in the final would be well deserved. Amodu has been the mind behind all the past success, he knows the way to success.

Benin

Previous participation: 2 (Best result group stage)
Result in Ghana 2008: group stage
Manager: Michel Dussuyer (France)
Star player: Stephane Sessegnon (PSG)

Benin’s reliance on Sessegnon is ever greater than Angola’s for Manucho or Togo’s for Adebayor. The PSG man has to be on top form if Benin want to have any dreams of surpassing their previous 2 campaign’s, which ended with the group stage. They’ve so far lost all their matches at the Cup of Nations finals, this year they’ll break this series, but it probably isn’t enough to reach the quarter-finals.

Mozambique

Previous participation: 3 times (best result group stage)
Result in Ghana 2008: didn’t qualify
Manager: Martin Nooij (Netherlands)
Star player: Simao (Panathinaikos)

Mozambique are a very interesting team in a sense that a few players, who played in the nations last appearance in the Cup of Nations finals in 1998, are still part of the squad. But it also tells you another side of the story, there just aren’t enough quality players in the country to be successful. A respectable, but not very successful campaign ahead of them.

Group D

Cameroon

Previous participation: 15 times
Result in Ghana 2008: runner-up
Manager: Paul Le Guen (France)
Star player: Samuel Eto´o (Inter Milan)

Cameroon are also a team, who’ve been weakened by injuries, but they have a luxury of being the only team in Africa, who actually has a top goalkeeper. That man is Espanyol’s Carlos Kameni. He and the defence have to perform to get the full potential out from a solid midfield and Eto´o. Le Guen is a good manager and he could mastermind a good finish here. Semi-finals as a minimum in my opinion for the Indomitable Lions.

Tunisia

Previous participation: 13 times (best result winner 2004)
Result in Ghana 2008: quarter-final
Manager: Faouzi Benzarti (Tunisia)
Star player: Issam Jemâa (Lens)

Tunisia look a certainty to follow Cameroon through from the group here. The team suffered heart ache of missing out on the World Cup 2010, this tournament is a great opportunity to ease the pain. It will be seen if they can also get further from the quarter-finals. I have my doubts, because while the team is made up of good players it lacks a leader.

Zambia

Previous participation: 13 times (best result third 1996)
Result in Ghana 2008: group stage
Manager: Herve Renard (France)
Star player: Collins Mbesuma (Moroka Swallows, South Africa)

Former Portmouth player Mbesuma is a controversial character, who has problems with discipline, but he’s performed at this stage before and will now also be looked as a key. Zambia are a regular at the finals, but they rarely make it past the group stage, same is expected this time.

Gabon

Previous participation: 3 (best result quarter-final 1996)
Result in Ghana 2008: didn’t qualify
Manager: Alain Giresse (France)
Star player: Daniel Cousin

Giresse has been Gabon manager since 2006 and built a good team capaple of surprises. The squad is almost entirely made up of players playing in Europe with Hull City’s Daniel Cousin being the biggest name. This tells you Giresse, and Gabon football as a whole, is heading to the right direction, but they won’t just make it this year.

So a lot to look forward to. African Cup of Nations always provides great emotions for the viewers with the local atmosphere and attacking football being played. This years competition seems to be to most competitive one of recent times. There are at least 6 teams capable of winning it and there’s always surprises in stalled. Whatever happens though, it’s a great appetiser for this years World Cup in South Africa and we might even see the future winners in action here. No doubt the team who triumphs on 31 January will also be the continent’s biggest hope of delivering the World Cup in the summer.

Also See:

Angola 2010 Predictions
• Angola 2010 Fixtures
• How will Angola 2010 affect Ligue 1? (all Angloa 2010 news here).
• Angola 2010 Shirts
• Premier League stars going to Angola 2010

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It’s been a real roller coaster ride for many teams in the French league this season. With half a season gone and a deserved winter break underway it’s a good time to look back at what’s happened so far in one of Europe’s most competitive league.

The title race

After Bordeaux broke the dominance of Lyon last season, the beaten team made big money signings in the summer. Lisandro Lopez, Aly Cissokho, Bafetimbi Gomis and Michel Bastos to name a few, were all brought in to try and reclaim the title. Marseille, last season’s 2nd placed team, also didn’t held back in the transfer market. New manager Didier Deschamps brought in record signing Lucho Gonazalez, whilst also nicking one of the league’s most dominant centre-back’s Souleymane Diawara from rivals Bordeaux.

But the signings haven’t quite had the effect that was hoped for. Whilst Lyon and Marseille, alongside improving PSG and Monaco and surprise packages Auxerre and Montpellier, last season’s 2nd placed team from Ligue 2, kept up with last season’s champions, Bordeaux soon started to dominate the standings.

It hasn’t been a one horse race though. The league table has so far seen three different leaders - Bordeaux, Lyon and Auxerre - with Marseille, Montpellier, Monaco, PSG and Valencienne close by.

Only in the last matchweeks, before the winter break, Bordeaux started to slip further away and won the Autumn round with 43 points, 9 points ahead Lille, who are left cursing the break after a 6 match winning run, scoring 23 goals.

Midtable battle

As said, it’s a very tight battle so far this season in France. Only 10 points separate 4th Marseille from 16th placed Nice, who will be the team hit hardest by the African Cup of Nations. Last season’s Ligue 2 champions Lens have seen their recent from lifting them to a safe 13th position with 10 points away from the danger zone.

Toulouse, who not long ago were playing in the Champions league 3rd qualifying round, have found it tough this season with star striker Andra-Pierre Gignac struggling to find his goal scoring touch. Monaco and Valencienne, after a very impressing start to the season, Monaco’s left winger Brazilian Nene is still the 2nd best scorer of the league, are also in the mix.

Relegation fight

Whilst it’s competitive and interesting in every other part of the league table, the relegation fight looks quite straight forward. It took Grenoble an incredible 13 rounds before finally managing their first point. Life after that has been a bit happier, having even recorded a win and 7 points, but the side from the Alps is still glued to the bottom and look doomed.

Boulogne’s season hasn’t also been the best, but if they can win their game in hand, which is Ligue 1′s first match of 2010 against Sochaux on 13 January, they’ll be on level 16 points with fellow strugglers Saint-Etienne and Le Mans, who also are the only teams so far to change their managers. Le Mans sacked Paulo Duarte on 10 December and Saint-Etienne, France’s most succesful team in history with 10 league titles, parted ways with Alain Perrin five days later.

Looking ahead

The African Cup of Nations starting on 10 January will no doubt shake the league table even further, but probably only a miracle can prevent Bordeaux from defending their title. Or maybe European football. Bordeaux and Lyon both have showed quality football in Europe and Champions League offers a distraction compared to other teams.

It will be interesting to see if Montpellier can continue their phenomenal season. Having been promoted, the team from South of France, are currently flying high at 3rd. Lille’s amazing recent goal scoring and winning form has seen them turning out to be Bordeaux’s main challenger’s for the title. Auxerre’s good start seems to be over, but they’re still in contention for an European place.

A number of surprising names are in the frame for European football, with Valencienne being the most unfamiliar name near the top. Marseille and Lyon need big improvement to stay at the top, but even a miracle can’t save Grenoble anymore. Caen and Stade Brestois look to be the favorites to get promoted for next season.

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From Soccerlens.com - Football News

Lyon’s 1-0 defeat to Bordeaux last Sunday was already their 4th of the league season. To comparison, the 7-times French champions lost 7 all season last year. Whilst there’s still plenty to go until the end of season 2009/2010, the title is slipping further and further away from Claude Puel and his team.

Claude Puel came to Lyon in summer 2008. The former Monaco player had built himself a very good reputation at Lille. The team, which is yet to win the French league, was a regular in the Champions League under him.

Lyon brought Puel in to succeed Alan Perrin, who, as things have worked out, won Lyon their last of the 7 league titles, which they won in a row. Perrin was also the first ever manager to deliver the league and cup double for the club, so naturally expectations were high.

And it got off to a good start. Even though the team lost Trophée des Champions (the French Super Cup), league form was good and at one point Lyon had a healthy 5 point lead over the rest of the pack. But in the end they literally lost it though and had to settle for a very unusual place for them, 3rd with 9 points behind winners Bordeaux with Marseille in the middle.

A failure of all kinds for a team, who had dominated the league in the 21st century with 7 consecutive league wins. Puel, much thanks to his good reputation, managed to keep his job, though.

Even though the team showed great football in the Champions League and qualified with ease for the next round, this season has come over very solid rocks so far. It was rosy until the middle of October, but with a shock 2-0 defeat at home versus Sochaux the wheels seem to have come off. A 4-1 mauling by Nice followed and after 5 winless matches, the first being the famous 5-5 draw with Marseille, the club is now lingering on a lowly 9th position, 8 points off leaders Bordeaux, who to be fair have also already lost 4 matches this season, but Laurent Blanc has managed to motivate his players better to bounce back and look to be ready to run away with the league.

Puel has also been looked at as a good motivator, but the results are beginning to frustrate fans and probably also president Jean-Michel Aulas. There have been a lot of injuries for Lyon this season, but the squad is big and you’d expect the club to swiftly get through them. At least you’d not expect the team to lose to the likes of Sochaux or draw with whipping boys Grenoble, which happened four match days ago.

Claude Puel is walking on a thin line. Whilst his team showed, at times, immense football in Europe, locally they’re losing their power. Luckily for the 48-year old, Lyon’s next fixture is against 2nd from bottom Boulogne. But if a win doesn’t come there, it’s no doubt au revoir for Mr. Puel.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News

It has developed into some kind of a tradition that every year, when the African Cup of Nations takes place in January, Chelsea come out moaning about the effect it will have on their team with a number of players leaving their club duty to represent their countries in it’s continent’s most important competition.

But surely this was taken into account when people like Didier Drogba and John Obi Mikel were signed. It looks even more pathetic considering the amount of African players who play in France, but have the French clubs ever moaned about it?

The big clubs (Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon, PSG) have approached this matter very smartly. Whilst Bordeaux might have missed their best goalscorer Maroune Chamakh, to their luck the Moroccan side did make it to Angola 2010.

Marseille can also count themselves lucky. Senegal haven’t managed to build on their World Cup debut success of 2002 as they missed out on South Africa 2010 and also didn’t make it to the African Cup of Nations finals. Otherwise, Mamadou Niang, who recently caused havoc for AC Milan in the Champions League, remains at his club, alongside one of the league’s best centre-backs Souleymane Diawara. Bakari Kone (Ivory Coast) and Stephane M’Bia (Cameroon) will be the only notable absentees.

Lyon will also strengthen the Cameroon side. Jean Makoun is a key player for the Indomitable Lions. But with recent attitions to the squad in Miralem Pjanic and Michel Bastos, the midfield should be able to cope without him.

From the top teams, The African Cup of Nation’s will hit PSG the hardest. Their, and one of the league’s star players, Stephane Sessegnon is even a bigger star for Benin.

Smaller clubs can’t afford to build a big squad and take into account players nationality, so this is where it gets interesting.

Moussa Nary, who has been one of the keys to this season’s success for Auxerre, has been in and around the Ghana team, and might be called up for Angola 2010. Defender Adema Coulibaly looks certain to get a call from Mali, while Amadou Sidibe also made his debut for his nation last year and has since then picked up 8 caps. Amara Morike Kalle made his debu this year and might be rewarded for his development with a call up.

Injuries aside, Boulogne‘s Bakary Soumare has been ever present for the, at the moment second from bottom, team and also made his first games for Mali this year, after finding out he won’t be eligible for US citizenship for at least two years. The players moved to America at a young age and played for Chicago Fire, before making his move to Boulogne past summer.

Alaixys Romao, who plays for Grenoble, who picked up their first win of the season last weekend versus Toulouse, has part of  Togo’s World Cup squad 2006 and might get the nod again for a finals squad.

Le Mans will provide Gabon their nr.1 goalkeeper, Didier Ovono. The 26 year old has also been nr.1 for his club side, though two other keepers, Rodolphe Roche and Georgian Giorgi Makaridze, have also got 2 league matches behind them.

Lens central defender Ala Eddine Yahia has shown great from for his team this season and that might also see him picked for Tunisia. Goalkeeper Hamdi Kasraoui in Tunisia’s nr.1, but he plays second fiddle at his club to Croatian Vedran Runje. Stiker Issam Jemaa is also more than likely to be part on the Tunisian side for the tournament taking place 10-31 January. Talented midfielder, 20 year old Samba Sow recently made his debut for Mali. Kanga Akale is in frame for a place in the Ivory Coast squad.

Lille‘s Pierre Aubameyang, who’s on loan from AC Milan, scored on his debut for Gabon pack in March. A very talented young striker. He looks certain to get a call up, with not much to choose from for Gabon. Teammate Aurelien Chedjou has been part of recent Cameroon squads, while winger Gervinho recently bombarded down the flanks for Ivory Coast in a friendly against Germany.

Lorient‘s Yazid Mansouri is ever present for his club and Algeria. Jonas Sakuwaha is one of the few Zambian’s playing in Europe. Whilst he’s not a regular at his club, he could be missed when injuries hit.

Monaco‘s Nicolas N’Koulous started for Cameroon in a recent match versus Morocco. Jean-Jacques Gosso played for Ivory Coast in the 2:2 draw with Germany. Same with Igor Lolo, even though the defender doesn’t get regular action for his club.

Montpellier, this season’s surprise package in Ligue 1, currently sitting second, is a another club who’ll strenghen Tunisia. Midfielder Jamel Saihi has been a regular in the squad after making his debut this year.

Alongside Bordeaux, Nancy are another side, who can count themselves lucky, that Morocco didn’t make it to Angola 2010, with a number of key players part of the squad, including Youssouf Hadji, one of the league’s most prolific scorers. Only absentee might be striker Paul Alo’ Efoulou, who made his debut this year for Cameroon.

Nice‘s central defender Onyekachi Apam is most likely going to be selected by Nigeria, while striker Mickael Pote is one of the few Benin players playing at a high level. Eric Mouloungui is a key player for Gabon. He hasn’t featured much for Nice, but he will be missed. Midfielder Emerse Fae was part of the Ivory Coast squad in 2008 African Cup of Nations. Chaouki Ben Saada is in frame for Tunisia. Mamadou Bagayoko is a experienced Malian stiker, who recently has made his come-back to the international side. Habib Bamogo made his debut for Burkina Faso this year. Defender Drissa Diakite is in frame for a place in the Mali squad

Sochaux, Rennes and Saint-Etienne are one of the few sides in France that doesn’t rely on African players so much. Each most likely only to provide one player for the Africa’s most important tournament. Rennes star Asamoah Gyan is also starring for Ghana. Saint-Etienne‘s stiker Boubacar Sanogo has an impressive international rate for Ivory Coast with 12 caps and 8 goals. Sochaux‘s Yassin Mikari is an important member of the Tunesian team.

Tunisia also gets a valuable member from Valencienne in Fahid Ben Khalfallah. The club, who currently are 3rd in the League 1 table, will also give up Siaka Tiene, who’s one of the most experienced players in Ivory Coast’s squad.

Toulouse are the only team in Ligue 1, alongside the title challengers Bordeaux, Lyon and Marseille, who doesn’t rely at all on African players and will have nothing to worry about in January, when the 2010 African Cup of Nations takes place in Angola.

African Cup of Nations 2010 groups:

Group A: Angola, Mali, Algeria, Malawi.

Group B: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso.

Group C: Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Mozambique.

Group D: Cameroon, Tunisia, Zambia, Gabon.

You can follow the latest ACN 2010 updates on Soccerlens.com.

From Soccerlens.com - Football News