Victor Wanyama, the man who shot to fame when he scored to help Celtic beat Barcelona in the Champions League this season, is predicting a feast of football in South Africa as the African Nations Cup gets underway today — and another chance for an underdog to make an impact.

Adam Lallana will again miss out when Southampton face Chelsea in the FA Cup tomorrow.

Portugal manager Paulo Bento will be forced to field a weakened backline in tomorrow’s friendly against Panama at the Estádio Algarve after central defenders Pepe and Bruno Alves pulled out through injury.

THIS has been an extremely difficult tournament to cover. Anybody who’s attempted to move from one venue to another is already feeling the effects of a night spent huddled on an airport floor, or squashed into a packed train for an overnight journey. Little wonder there are swathes of empty seats at stadiums for the first time at a European Championship since 1996.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter today labelled penalty shoot-outs “a tragedy” and challenged Franz Beckenbauer to come up with an alternative.

Champions League matchwinner Didier Drogba believes it was destiny that Chelsea should finally scoop the prize in Munich last night.

Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic has revealed deep divisions within the squad, saying some players used witchcraft against their own team-mates.

Andre Villas-Boas is confident Didier Drogba’s latest African Nations Cup heartache will not spill over into his Chelsea performances.

We know that sensitive types often complain that newspapers are only interested in bad news.

Arsenal will be without German centre-half Per Mertesacker for tomorrow’s Champions League last 16 first-leg clash at AC Milan because of the ankle injury he sustained in the Barclays Premier League victory at Sunderland.

There have been four direct free-kicks scored in this Cup of Nations.

Zambia clinched their first African Nations Cup crown with a poignant penalty shootout win over Ivory Coast last night.

Zambia 0 Ivory Coast 0 (after extra-time, Zambia win 8-7 on penalties)

Emmanuel Mayuka’s second-half strike fired Zambia through to the Nations final against Ivory Coast as they upset 10-man Ghana in Bata last night.

Ivory Coast set up a final showdown with Zambia after Gervinho’s solo goal saw them past Mali in Libreville last night.

What this tournament has shown, more than anything else, is the value of cohesion, of having a well-drilled side that knows its plan.

The smallest nation ever to host an African Nations Cup caused one of its biggest shocks last night, as Equatorial Guinea dumped Senegal out of the competition with a dramatic 2-1 victory in Bata.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA is not a football nation. Or at least, that’s what everybody said before the start of the 28th Cup of Nations, which the tiny former Spanish colony is co-hosting with Gabon.

THE Libyan squad had a few decisions to make.

Zambia has dismissed an international rights group’s call for the arrest on torture charges of former President George W. Bush, who has been touring Africa to raise cancer awareness.

Padraig Carmody

Ivory Coast coach Sven-Goran Eriksson heads into his first game at the helm tomorrow confident his team have the ability to progress from the World Cup’s ’group of death’ next month.

Mohammad Idrissou put Cameroon on course for a spot in the African Nations Cup quarter-finals with a late winner in a topsy-turvy Group D clash against Zambia.

Ivory Coast became the second African nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup tonight after a second-half strike from Chelsea star Didier Drogba earned them the point they needed to secure their place in South Africa.

Amr Zaki’s agent Nader Shawky claims Wigan boss Steve Bruce wants to keep the striker at the JJB Stadium despite last week branding him the most unprofessional player he has ever worked with.

Furious Wigan manager Steve Bruce will heavily fine on-loan striker Amr Zaki after the Egypt forward failed to return from international duty on time for the fourth occasion this season.

CROATIA hitman Eduardo has targeted a return to action with Arsenal by the end of the year.

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa, a trenchant critic of Robert Mugabe who won praise for his handling of Zambia’s inflation-prone economy, died yesterday in hospital in France aged 59.

A SHIPMENT of Chinese arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload the vessel and neighbouring countries barred it from their ports, China said yesterday.

A SHIPMENT of Chinese arms bound for Zimbabwe will be recalled after South African port workers refused to unload the vessel and neighbouring countries barred it from their ports, China said yesterday.

Zimbabwe said today it was prepared to brief an emergency summit of southern African leaders on the situation in the country, but did not indicate whether President Robert Mugabe would attend.

Cameroon defender Geremi has hailed his team for their performance in the African Cup of Nations despite losing to Egypt in the final yesterday.

RANGERS took a major step towards ending their trophy drought by sweeping aside Hearts to book a place in the CIS Insurance Cup final at Hampden last night.

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o equalled the African Nations Cup scoring record with his 14th in finals as Cameroon defeated Zambia 5-1 in the Baba Yara Stadium.

Southern African leaders meeting this week were likely to be preoccupied with the economic and political crises in Zimbabwe that are sending thousands of refugees into neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

TWELVE SUPPORTERS were killed and 46 others were wounded in a stampede at a stadium in northern Zambia following an international football match.

Zimbabwe’s neighbours are under increasing pressure to do something about its chaos – in part because it is already spilling over in the form of migrants fleeing economic collapse and political clampdown.

DEBT and Development Coalition Ireland yesterday called on the Irish Government to take steps to stop “vulture funds” from undermining debt cancellation by pursuing debts from poor countries.

SOUTH AFRICA, who will host the 2010 World Cup, exited the African Nations Cup without a point or even a goal to their name following defeat to Zambia yesterday.

South Africa, who will host the 2010 World Cup, exited the African Nations Cup without a point or even a goal to their name following defeat to Zambia.

GOALS from Franciluedo Santos and Slim Ben Achour saw Tunisia defeat South Africa 2-0 and with it advance to the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations yesterday.

IT was a tale of two strikers at the African Nations Cup yesterday one who covered himself in glory and the other in shame.

Star striker Lomana LuaLua has told managerless Portsmouth they could have to do without him again for up to six games during the African Nations Cup next month.

England have been pooled with hosts Australia in a tough draw for next year’s Commonwealth Games sevens.