By Amr Shaheen BBC Sport, Cairo

El Gohary is one of Africa's leading coaches

Mahmoud El Gohary, the only African to win the Nations Cup as a player and manager, said four nations are in contention for this year's Nations Cup tournament in Tunisia.

"Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt are the serious contenders for the title," El Gohary told the BBC Sport website in an exclusive interview.

The 1959 and 1998 Nations Cup winner is currently the manager of Jordan's national team, leading the desert nation to the finals of the Asian Nations Cup for the first time in their history.

"There are a lot of good African teams but these four have all it takes at the moment," he stated.

Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal and Egypt are the serious contenders Mahmoud El Gohary

El Gohary thinks that the order of Egypt's group C matches will work in their favour.

"We are lucky to play against Zimbabwe followed by Algeria and then Cameroon, which is the tough side."

But he warned his countrymen against taking the Nations Cup debutants for granted.

"Winning the match against Zimbabwe should not be a questionable exercise for Egypt."

Gohary believes Egypt's north African derby against Algeria could be a tense battle of nerves.

"It is the team that will keep its calm that will end up winning the tie," El Gohary opined.

The 64-year-old, who will be honoured by Caf during the Nations Cup finals, praised the merged system of the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers.

"This is the best thing Caf has ever done. It will force all teams to do their best until the final group match, which gives all participating teams a fair chance."

Egypt is drawn with Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Benin, Sudan and Libya for the final stage of the 2006 qualifiers.

Gohary warns that the Ivory Coast are real contenders for a World Cup spot.

"When I was coaching Egypt, everyone talked about us and Morocco [qualifying for the 2002 World Cup].

"But the Senegalese shocked the whole group. The Elephants can do the same," he warned.