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Pharaoh result

So it's goodbye Ghana and congratulations to Egypt, African champions for a record sixth time after Sunday's 1-0 win over Cameroon in the Africa Cup of Nations final. Mohamed Aboutrika's 76th-minute winner was enough for Hasan Shehata to become the second manager to win successive titles.

Egypt were the best team, if not the most talented individuals. The squad's make-up must have been a factor in that unity: almost all the Egypt side play in their nation's domestic league, and about half for Al-Ahly. Egypt couldn't even call on their most famous player, Middlesbrough's Mido, and Mohamed Shawky, also based on Teesside, was only a substitute yesterday. In contrast, almost all the Cameroon team ply their trade in Europe.

The Final countdown

So, here we go: after three weeks of intense, entertaining and occasionally bizarre action from Ghana, it's the final of the African Cup of Nations! (That sound you can hear is Premier League managers emitting huge sighs of relief).

Yes, it's goodbye to the tournament that turned Junior Agogo into a legend. Egypt, the holders, face Cameroon at 5pm UK time today. The Pharaohs are going for a record sixth win and will be confident since they beat their opponents 4-2 in the group stages and spanked Ivory Coast 4-1 in the semi-finals.

Alexandre Song, of Cameroon and Arsenal, should be fit despite picking up an injury in the semis, though the Indomitable Lions will indubitably be without Andre Bikey, of Reading, who is serving a two-match ban for shoving a medic in the win over Ghana.

Should I stay or should I go?

Didier Drogba has no regrets after the African Player of the Year award was taken away from him at the last minute on Saturday.

The Chelsea and Ivory Coast forward was expected to pick up the 2007 crown but he says that he was told that he would be overlooked if he did not leave Ghana and travel to the award ceremony in Togo. After a stand-off, Frederic Kanoute, the former Tottenham Hotspur forward who had finished second in the voting, received the award by default.

Up in smoke

Crazy name, crazy guy. Otto Pfister has come under fire in Ghana for smoking on the touchline during Cameroon's 5-1 victory against Zambia on Saturday. The 70-year-old Cameroon coach has been warned that he was breaking the law at the Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi by a local health organisation who have urged him to stop setting a bad example.

Sanchez gets back to work

How the mighty have fallen. Five weeks ago, Lawrie Sanchez was the manager of a Barclays Premier League club and his weekly Fulham press conferences were carried live on Sky Sports News. Yesterday, the former Northern Ireland manager popped up on Eurosport as a pundit for the station's live coverage of the African Cup of Nations matches between Nigeria and Benin and the Ivory Coast and Mali.

Goodbye Ghana

Henri Kasperczak, the Senegal coach, has resigned after his team's 3-1 defeat by Angola yesterday. The Pole told his players that he was quitting after the defeat in Tamale that leaves the west African side on the verge of an early departure from Ghana.

Senegal heading for early exit

Sir Alex Ferguson must be feeling very pleased with himself this evening. Not only did Manchester United make it through to the next round of the FA Cup by beating Tottenham Hotspur but Manucho, the Angola striker who is on the verge of moving to Old Trafford, scored twice for his country in their 3-1 victory over Senegal on Sunday.

Points of view

Everything you need to know about Garth Crooks is summed up in the following exchange between the great man and Gordan Strachan.

BBC employee: 'Garth Crooks is out on the pitch waiting to interview you'. Strachan: 'Tell him to start asking his question and I'll be out in five minutes'.

When Crooks was a player he somehow managed to keep his trap shut and score 128 goals in a career that included a successful spell at Tottenham Hostpur, but since those glory days he has been hanging around the BBC and popping up whenever a programme has needed somebody to bang on for ages without saying very much.

Window of opportunity

Taye Taiwo - remember the name. The Nigeria left back must be wondering what he has to do to hit the jackpot and secure a move to a Barclays Premier League club. Taiwo is exactly the kind of defender who would relish playing in England and he would have no problems fitting in at an ambitious midtable club such as Newcastle United.

The Marseille defender has been linked with a move to St James' Park but Inter MIlan and Valencia are also interested. Taiwo, 22, caught the eye in the Under-20 World Youth Championship in the Netherlands three years ago where he was voted the third-best player in the tournament, behind Lionel Messi and John Obi Mikel. 

Manucho lives up to the hype

Manchester United's attempt to conquer the world received a boost last night when Manucho scored a spectacular goal for Angola in the 1-1 draw with South Africa. Sir Alex Ferguson has steered clear of signing African players since he got his fingers burned after taking a disastrous £3.5 million punt on Eric Djemba-Djemba five years ago but the United manager was so impressed with Manucho during a three-week trial last month that he offered the 24-year-old striker a three-year contract.

Manucho needs to impress during the tournament to convince the Home Office that he meets the criteria to obtain a work permit and he made an impact after 19 minutes yesterday by scoring with a diving header from a cross by Flavio at the Tamal Sports Stadium.

Mixed news for Chelsea

Mixed news for Chelsea supporters from Ghana yesterday as Salomon Kalou scored a sensational goal for the Ivory Coast while Didier Drogba looked a shadow of the striker who was terrorising Premier League defences last season.

Drogba was so desperate to play in this tournament that he has rushed back from a knee injury and it showed. A fully fit Drogba would have spent 90 minutes haring down the channels and demanding the ball at every opportunity but against Nigeria he was happy to play a supporting role alongside his Chelsea team-mate.

The African Cup of Nations, Sepp Blatter and budgie smugglers

Forget grand-slam Sunday, today is the mother of all Mondays in the African Cup of Nations as Nigeria face Ivory Coast in the Sekondi-Takoradi Stadium at 5pm. The Nigeria and Ivory Coast squads are packed with 15 Barclays Premier League players so expect to see some familiar faces if you are tuning in to watch the game on Eurosport or the BBC.

As always the BBC are taking the tournament very seriously - not that you would guess from the cheap set that they are using and the stubble on Gavin Peacock’s face. As far as Match of the Day goes, Peacock is the twelfth man brought on only when Alan Hansen is off on a golfing holiday or when Mark Lawrenson has gone shirt shopping at Matalan, but when it comes to African football, the former Chelsea forward is in his element.

Out of Africa

Thirty five Premier League players, 16,000 journalists and some terrible defending - no, it's not Kevin Keegan's first training session at Newcastle United but the African Cup of Nations which kicks off in Ghana on Sunday.

The African Cup Of Nations used to be virtually ignored in this country until African players started making a name for themselves in the Premier League. You might have to be a Guardian reader to enjoy Ghana v Guinea, the opening fixture on Sunday, but you will have to wait only until Monday for the most mouthwatering match of the group stages - Nigeria v Ivory Coast.