I've been following some of the African Nations drama on the box and t'internet over the last week & of course Dexy's outstanding previews, but I must say I was appalled as the news reports came in on Friday night regarding the devastating machine gun attack on the Togo team bus, resulting in 3 deaths and numerous injuries.

An African-themed shirt quiz today and not an easy one at that.

So, all of these footie shirts have been worn by African nations. Simply name them, feel great about yourself...

Good luck with those. As I said, not easy so many green kits in Africa.

I found this extremely interesting article on how African nations use over-age players in tournaments. The author thinks this is preventing the development of players and could be the reason why African countries seemingly underperform at major tournaments.The argument he puts forward is that: because African nations use overage players in Under 21 and Under 18 tournaments, they are not

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.

We're over the halfway stage now in Angola and it has proved to be everything I hoped for; excitement, bags of goals, ridiculous refereeing, gravity defying longshots and abysmal defending. What I didn't hope for was the terrible Togo shooting incident that overshadowed the earlier part of the tournament.

Sunday's mildly shocking result in the Cup of African Nations Quarterfinals reinforces what we wrote about on Friday here at MLS Talk: Algeria will be no pushover for the United States in the World Cup. The Desert Foxes eliminated pre-tournament favorite Ivory Coast 3-2 after extra time.

So here we are in 2010, a year that will again provide us with another month of top quality entertainment, our eyes stuck to the screen as we see great names perform to the highest levels of peak perfection until there can be left just one standing at the final whistle.........my money is on Vinnie Jones.

Group C – Benin, Egypt, Nigeria, Mozambique

Benin
Not a lot of people have heard of Benin and less have seen it, the gaff is tiny and the squad is tinier but they definitely have the best nickname, The Squirrals! Most of the ickle Benin team make Shaun Wright Phillips look like Crouchy on stilts.

That's Richmond Forson, midfielder for Togo's national team, commenting on being attacked on the way to the Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Angola. Here's the story from Sky Sports, Dossevi reveals Togo horror, and from Al Jazeera, Togo footballers attacked in Anglola. The Guardian story is here.

Dimitar sulked after the kitman refused to sew pockets into his shorts

Rumour No.1: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is set to put a number of his star players up for sale in an attempt to rejuvenate his squad in the wake of a number of stale performances this season, not least the toothless outing against Leeds last week.

Angola and Mali played out a thrilling 4-4 draw to open the Africa Cup of Nations and take some attention away from the unnerving events of Friday's act of violence against the Togo national football team.

Many notable figures in the world of football have called for the tournament to proceed despite the brutal attack on the Togo team bus, which reportedly left four people dead.

While most EPL fans saw the African Cup of Nations as a distraction, the continent's showpiece tournament actually had amazing potential.
An in-form Didier Drogba, perhaps the greatest striker in the world, a coming together of African nations, on the "up" on the world stage, in the same year that South Africa will host The World Cup.

Bayern Munich v TSG Hoffenheim
Bundesliga
Friday, 15 January 2010
Kickoff: 20:30 CET

Friday night sees the return of the Bundesliga after the winter break, and we couldn't have asked for a more mouth-watering clash. Bayern will go top of the table if they win, but it won't be that simple.

Host Kartik Krishnaiyer is joined by Set Piece Analysts' Richard Farley to break down the needs of all 20 Premier League clubs in the transfer market.

We also discuss which Premier League players have made the biggest impact thus far in the Cup of African Nations.

Don't forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free.

Algeria has been drawn into England's group in the upcoming World Cup tournament. Kartik Krishnaiyer and Richard Farley look at the Cup of African Nations performance for Algeria, who defeated Ivory Coast on Sunday in Quarterfinals.

Don't forget that the EPL Talk Podcast is the only Premier League interview and analysis podcast available for free.