Salah fit finally lift Afcon trophy as Morocco eye home glory?

Afta plenty debate whether players go dey available and di timing of di tournament, di Afcon don reach.

Di focus now don begin to shift to wetin go hapun for di pitch as di competition dey start on Sunday.

For di face - di two talking points be whether di host fit extend dia world record run of 18 consecutive wins and win only dia second title - and whether Mo Salah go finally lift di trophy wit Egypt.

Di 33-year-old dey inside di headlines lately for Liverpool afta he tok say dem "throw am under di bus".

Afta e don return from di bench to start liverpool game last Saturday, Salah go now focus on im fifth attempt to get Africa biggest prize - especailly afta two defeats for di finals.

Ivory Coast win di trophy for February last year afta dem sack dia coach during di group stage - while Senegal dey fine form afta dem defeat England in June dis year.

Elsewhere, Nigeria dey aim to go beyond di 2023 final to win di trophy but Cameroon wey also be strong team, even though dem dey in chaos, fit shock pipo afta dem miss out for di 2026 world cup.

Wit seven different winners from di past eight tournaments, Morocco 2025 go jolly, as teams battle for di trophy wey Benin assistant coach Tunde Adelakun describe as di "holy grail of African football".

"Na hard tin to win di Africa Cup of Nations. Pipo love us, but if [you] win, dem no go eva go forget you," Morocco midfielder Sofyan Amrabat tell BBC.

Morocco na favorites

Di Atlas Lions be di favourites sake of dia home advantage wey dem dey rank highest for Africa since dem reach di semi-finals of di 2022 World Cup.

For coach Walid Regragui and im players, wey comot for di last 16 for 2023, e go be di case of managing pressure.

Tickets to watch di host finish within hours - home fans expect say dem go dey di stadium for Rabat on 18 January to celebrate dia first Afcon trophy since 1976.

Dia captain wey be Afcon player of di year Achraf Hakimi dey for fitness race, but even if e no dey fit, Morocco still dey expected to reach di knockout stage.

"I tink we go try to create di atmosphere like di one we get for Qatar - everybodi gatz to be behind us," former Manchester United player Amrabat tok.

"For Africa, di most important tin be say you go play wit your heart. Di fans fit push us well well. We need dis energy, we gatz to show intensity."

"In Africa di most important [tin] na to play wit your heart. Di fans fit push us a lot. We need dis energy, we need to show intensity."

"I tink if we fit do dat, wit di quality we get, we fit go far."

Complaints ahead of di tournament

Anoda mid-season Afcon don cause wahala for European clubs - even though CAF no get many options ova di timing once dem put di extended Fifa club world cup for June and July dis year.

Wit more champions league dates for di calender wey choke, Fifa tok say clubs fit release di players seven days to di competition - instead of 14 days wey dem dey require for major tournaments.

Dis new arrangement don scata plans for many kontris; Mali coach Tom Saintfiet describe am as "catastrophic."

"Di world need to respect Africa football," di Belgian tok.

Mali dey group A wit Comoros - wey get all dia squad for overseas. Di tight schedule force dem to cancel one friendly match dem play; dis dey affect preparations ahead of dia opening game against Morocco on Sunday (19:00 GMT).

"We don vex about dat; e no be correct tin to tell us about di changes in one week, bifor di tournament," di Comoros coach Stefano Cusin tok.

"If we sabi dis from di beginning, we fit make oda plans."

Caf dey committed to hosting di tournament every two years - sake of di competition dey raise revenue wey dem fit use to sustain di game.

Confusion for Cameroon

For those teams wey fit challenge di host and odas for di trophy, South Africa don build solid team under Hugo Broos, wey lead Cameroon to victory in 2017.

Algeria get top scorer for di African World cup preliminary stage - Mohamed Amoura wit 10 goals, make di north Africans set wey dem go hope to pass di knockout stage for di first time in three tournaments.

Five-time winners Cameroon, meanwhile, get plenty wahala afta federation President Samuel Eto'o don sack coach Marc Brys wey dem remove goalkeeper Andre Onana togeda wit striker Vincent Abubakar from di squad.

"We wan do tins differently. Dem be good players but we need players wit different mindset," new indomitable lions coach David Pagou tok.

No first-timers dey for dis year competition even though Sudan bin qualify despite say dem play all dia qualifiers away from home sake of di country civil war.

Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania all dey find dia first Afcon wins - wey dem dey aim to comot di group stage for di first time.

Wit 12 former champions, e dey almost impossible for first timer to win, but sabi pipo know say Afcon always dey present shock and surprises.