Sometimes I'm not surprised that online piracy is so rampant when it comes to soccer. Trying to find out who has the rights to a game or tournament is very difficult, and even when you find a stream, you're not sure whether it's an official one or not.

Take, for example, the African Nations Cup which kicks off in a few hours from Angola.

With the number of football stars that Africa has, it surely knows how to disappoint when the stakes are really high. In fact, disappointment does not entirely capture the feelings being experienced right now. With Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and South Africa virtually out of the World Cup, African fans are angry not only at the poor performances exhibited by our so called powerhouses, but also at the indifferent approach shown by the coaches toward crucial fixtures.

We get a lot of product emails here at The Offside & World Cup Blog global headquarters (located just left of sanity). Some are good, some are bad, most promise to love us long time. This one is, without a doubt, unique, simply because it isn't.

Puma has unveiled a universal third kit for African countries in 2010 in partnership with the United Nations good partner to have which will be worn by all African teams sponsored by, you guessed it, Puma.

This weekend football authors Simon Kuper and David Goldblatt published the kind of book reviews that warm an author's heart.
"Nobody understands the background to African soccer better than the Italian-American historian Peter Alegi," writes Kuper in the Financial Times.

World Cup Group G:- Brazil North Korea Côte d'Ivoire Portugal As a neutral, your heart goes out for Côte d'Ivoire. Despite boasting of some of the best talent in African football, it is unlikely that they will progress far in this World Cup. The Elephants have once again been drawn in the Group of Death in a World Cup, just [.

Book Review: Feet of the Chameleon by Ian Hawkey
Every two years, managers from across the continent seem to join forces in their criticism of that which has become the most despised competition in European football: the African Cup of Nations. Being deprived of some of their best players for up to a month in the middle of the season can have a highly unnerving effect on managers, particularly if results start going against them during that period.

Another original video of FIFA's official theme song "Waving Flag" from Somalian-Canadian Artist K'naan. This video has great images highlighting Africa's natural beauty and the beautiful animals that inhabit the continent. I am hoping the African football nations do well and perhaps get past the quarterfinals, as only Sengal and Cameroon have been able to achieve that milestone.

By Eric Beard

With recent news coming out of South Africa that England captain Rio Ferdinand will miss the World Cup due to a knee injury suffered in training and Ivory Coast national hero & captain Didier Drogba is questionable for the cup as well thanks to an elbow fracture suffered in a friendly match against Japan, it seems like the right time to recognize a few truly special players that fans from all around the world would have loved to see partake in this summer's festivities.

Not sure if they are wearing this at the world cup but I do think this was a good idea
Puma African Unity shirt
"To celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa, Puma have teamed up with nine African football federations to launch the African Unity kit – a revolutionary sporting concept designed to promote harmony across the great continent.

In the CAF Champions League semi-finals this weekend defending champions TP Mazembe made the most of home advantage as they fought out a 3-1 win over Algerians JS Kabylie whilst in Cairo Al Ahly, also at home, got the better of Espérance by two goals to one.

TP Mazembe are hoping to defend the title they won last season and, thus, win a fourth title overall.

UEFA Champions League holders Internazionale FC of Milan are the new FIFA Club World Cup winners having defeated surprise package TP Mazembe of Africa by a 3-0 scoreline in Abu Dhabi this evening. Goals from Goran Pandev, Samuel Eto'o and late substitute Jonathan Biabiany sealed the deal for the Nerazzurri and gifted coach Rafael Benítez with his second trophy as coach of the Milanese giants having won the Italian Super Cup at the start of the season.

If it can be said that one of the principle aims of terrorism is to raise the profile of a specific cause, then through any means necessary, the actions of Chibandan seperatists yesterday could probably be said to be a success. Their ambush of a coach carrying the Togo national football team to the African Cup of Nations has sent shockwaves out through African football and on to the rest of the world.

The Desert Foxes began the Cup of African Nations in the worst possible fashion. A three to nill thrashing at the hands of Malawi squarely placed under fire Manager Rabah Saadane close to the sack. In the match Algeria, was terrible for the first forty minutes and then simply poor for the final fifty minutes.

There is a significant degree of chance in the fact that the last two top overall picks in the MLS draft, Steve Zakuani and Danny Mwanga, were both originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both players took circuitous routes to the league through the unpredictability of immigration and the strange concoction that is American college soccer.

Dynamos F.C. from Zimbabwe will be one of the lucky teams to play in the CAF Champions League

The second round of the CAF Champions League has been completed this weekend and the eight teams who have qualified from this section look forward to the oncoming group stage. "Stoppage Time International Football Blog" reports on the winners and losers from the second round of Africa's elite club competition and highlights the latest developments in the Confederation Cup, Africa's equivalent of the UEFA Europa League or Copa Sudamericana.

Lippi makes his choices

Some English pundits have dubbed it the group of EASY. England, Algeria, Slovenia, and Yanks (USA), but like every World Cup group that does not feature a true accidental qualifier (like North Korea or New Zealand) each team in Group C has enough quality to cause problems.

It seems like only yesterday when Italia 1990 took place, probably the first World Cup that could honestly begin to claim it was a global spectacle. As if by magic, the Cameroon side that qualified for the 14th World Cup were able to explode all over the world and show people that African international football had arrived.

Ghana World Cup squad analysis (23 for 2010) is a post from: Just Football

With a training camp in France underway as of May 24th, Ghana's final preparations for the first ever World Cup on African soil have well and truly begun. But of the 29 players called up by Serbian tactician Milovan 'Milo' Rajevac, which 23 will make it to South Africa?

Five days away from their final exhibition against Australia in Roodepoort, and less than two weeks now until the opener against England, Bob Bradley and the U.S. squad arrive in South Africa. Hit the jump for more.

More pics below, but there's also a couple other links worth noting, the first of which is a feature Marlon touched on last week the official site has been running interviews with England-based American players, and today they've got an interview with Jay DeMerit, who's been with Watford since the start of the 2004 season.

Drogba Out - Big Blow to Africa

The 2010 World Cup created quite a lot of excitement, mainly due to the fact it was the first World Cup to be hosted in the continent of Africa, and the most suitable venue was South Africa, due to it having a rather strong economy. There are always hiccups in the process, and the odd scare thrown out by the media in order to sell a few papers, but in terms of building the stadiums, promoting the tournament and creating an exciting atmosphere, South Africa has done itself proud and with one week to go, we are ready for the World Cup.

By Dominic Vieira, writing from Portugal

Africa has gone silent. Ghana, the last remaining African team, were kicked out of the World Cup after losing to Uruguay in the cruellest of ways, by a penalty shoot-out. After 120 minutes of intense offensive quarter final football, neither side were able to break the 1-1 deadlock.

The most important development in African soccer taking place this year might not be the World Cup in South Africa despite its successful staging (oh, yeah, it seems to have turned out that Cabinda is not in South Africa) argues Paul Doyle in an excellent Guardian piece on domestic African leagues, specifically, the possibility that Kenya might be leading the way with new leadership in the Kenyan Premier League:

Africa is a football-mad continent but has only ever sent three teams to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Reggie Shelembe (1960-2010) -- iqhawe lamaqhawe (Photo by Peter Alegi)

African football has lost a giant. Reggie Shelembe (1960-2010), former player for African Wanderers, Durban Bush Bucks and AmaZulu and coach of Maritzburg City, has passed away from cancer. My heartfelt condolences to his family.

Al Ahly vs JS Kabylie Egypt vs Algeria in club format is a post from: Just Football

Al-Ahly's Mohamed Aboutreika against JS Kabylie in Tizi-Ouzou

The African Champions League will renew old North African rivalries this weekend, as Egyptian side Al-Ahly take on JS Kabylie from Algeria in Cairo.

TP Mazembe vs North African dominance CAF Champions League 2010 semi-finals is a post from: Just Football

Can TP Mazembe retain their trophy?

The 2010 African Champions League semi-finals have a very Maghreb/Egyptian feel to them this year. Perhaps this should come as no surprise.

By Eric Beard

The official FIFA statement read: "The FIFA emergency committee decided today, October 4 2010, to suspend the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) with immediate effect on account of government interference."

As if crashing out of the World Cup wasn't hard enough, supporters of the Super Eagles will be devastated to hear that FIFA has banned them from all competitions indefinitely.

By Chris Wright

Big, big news people! Equatorial Guinea's female football team have been accused of fielding two human beings with man bits by several of their rivals in the African women's championship.

The two fine, square-jawed fillies in question, captain Genoveva Anonma (back, right) and striker Salimata Simpore (bottom, left), were instrumental in Equatorial Guinea's run to the final of the championship and, although they eventually lost out 4-2 to Nigeria, the side still managed to qualify for the women's World Cup.

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it. | Subscribe: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Club World Cup reaches its climax and will have a fresh feel to it. The image of Barcelona is changed and Sepp Blatter makes the headlines for the wrong reason.

Ivory Coast are favourites to start a momentous year for African football by lifting the Cup of Nations in Angola.

So, if the only time you've ever come across this tournament is when certain Premiership managers whine about it, let me welcome to you to one of World Football's best kept secrets. Over the years, the African Cup Of Nations has grown and grown to be one of the most respected tournaments in World Football.

In 1957, at a time when FIFA still refused to let African teams participate in the World Cup, the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) - Africa's international football governing body set up the first ever African Cup of Nations. The competition was held in Sudan and involved just four participants - Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sudan, later reduced to three as South Africa were disqualified for the government's apartheid politics.

Sportswear manufacturer Puma continues its relationship with African soccer by launching the "World's First Continental Football Kit" in support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Using a design seen in most of the Puma 2010 African kits, the Puma Africa Unity kit is "designed to be worn by the 12 African football national teams that [.

Party time - but Ivory Coast have something to prove
Group B
Burkina Faso - Côte d'Ivoire - Ghana - Togo
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso must be getting sick of the sight of Côte d'Ivoire. Despite an excellent run in World Cup 2010 qualifying it was always going to be difficult to sneak into their group's top spot for South Africa ahead of Didier Drogba and co.

The mighty Egypt - but all is not well with the champions...
Group C
Benin - Egypt - Mozambique - Nigeria
Benin
Ever since Benin qualified for the Under-20 World Cup back in 2005, the national team has been on a steady upward spiral. Back then The Squirrels were ranked 125th in the world and had only ever qualified for one African Cup of Nations in which they fell at the group stage.

The Cup of Nations all-time top scorer - but can Eto'o add more silverware to the collection in Angola?
With the African Cup of Nations 2010 now but a few days away we turn our attentions to the final group preview, Group D:
Group D
Cameroon - Gabon - Tunisia - Zambia
Cameroon
Alongside Cote d'Ivoire Cameroon probably have the most talented squad in Africa, yet until Paul Le Guen took over as coach in July 2009 the Indomitable Lions were in real jeopardy of missing out on World Cup 2010 altogether.

Following the ambush of the Togo national team bus on it's way to Cabinda for the African Cup of Nations 2010, I wrote a preliminary piece on Just Football with some of the main issues that needed addressing. Reports were hazy at the time and as the hours have passed further details are beginning to emerge.

Yesterday i had the rare opportunity to watch some of the biggest stars when it comes to African football. The Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were live in action against our very own Harambee Stars in a friendly played at the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani. Well, we lost the match 3-1 but not without giving the visitors a run for their money.

There is of course a downside to the age of instant analysis, with blogs posting instant opinions about the political under-trappings of a football tournament held an ocean or a continent away, in a country very few knew much about geographically only a few days ago. I don't know how many times today I've read writers who in one sentence condemn the conflation of Angola and South Africa ahead of the 2010 World Cup, but in the next are content to speak about how Friday's attack on the Togolese football team bus in Cabinda has affected "African football's legacy" in "African football's biggest year.

After the drama and tragedy of last week's gun attack on the Togo squad it was a welcome relief to concentrate on football matters when Mali entertained the hosts in the opening game of the African Cup of Nations this weekend.
But the sombre pre-match atmosphere and two minutes silence showed how much of a cloud will hang over this tournament, whose very existence is being questioned.

The terrorist attack on the Togo national football team that precluded this year's Africa Cup of Nations rocked the football world. Raising heightened concerns for the safety of players and supporters for the remaining fixtures in Angola, many participants and media outlets argued for the competition to be abandoned.