Mane, Abubakar set to help their respective Lions roar to continental glory.

Senegal and Cameroon trust in their big stars as they begin their AFCON campaign as title favourites.

Vincent Abubaker of Cameroon

Sadio Mane and Co would have probably watched Nigeria’s opening match against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday to know that nothing is to be taken for granted at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Senegal begins the defence of their title with what many would consider an easy clash against Gambia on Monday, and the punters are sure to put the smart money on the Lions of Teranga to bag maximum points.

But sport – particularly football – can be very fickle at the top, as evidenced by Nigeria’s failure to win their opener after being held 1-1 by the Nzelang Nacional, and the Senegalese will do well to be wary of the potential banana peel that is their first match against the Scorpions.

Eager to join Cameroon and Egypt as the third country to ever hold on to the AFCON title, Alilou Cisse’s team will continue to be heavily reliant on their talismanic winger and captain Mane, who has switched from the top European Leagues (England and Germany where he won trophies with Liverpool and Bayern Munich) to the money-spinning Saudi Arabia League. Many are keen to see how that change from the highly competitive leagues would have impacted Mane’s sharpness.

But with the Saudi League teeming with many big international stars, expect Mane to still be the dangerous goal-scoring winger he has always been and to lead Senegal’s charge for a second title. And the fact he will be ably assisted up front by the emerging young talent that is Lamine Camara suggests Dakar has every reason to anticipate welcoming the golden trophy yet again.

Camara is the reigning CAF Young Footballer of the Year, the 20-year-old Metz player set to light up the tournament and no doubt eager to shine on the biggest continental stage just as he did on the smaller ones – the CAF African Championships as well as the CAF U-20 Championships at which he was the Player of the tournament.

To make a statement of intent, Senegal will have to thoroughly beat a Gambia side looking to show that their quarterfinal showing from the previous campaign was no fluke. Intriguingly, Gambia’s Belgian coach, Tom Saintfiet, is not beaming with confidence they can repeat that performance.

“Have we progressed? No, we have lost a lot of players” he was quoted by news agency AFP “Some of my starting players have abandoned football, while others have been without a club for a long time. Expectations are higher now, but the quality is lower if I am being honest, and our group is harder. So it is going to be difficult.”

It is a tough group, what with Cameroon in there too. The Indomitable Lions open their campaign against Guinea as the central African country seeks to continue their tendency to be successful when the tournament is hosted in West Africa. Of their five titles, three were won in the west – one of those in the only tournament the Ivory Coast hosted back in 1984.

Cameroon – with a star-studded team that includes Captain Vincent Abubakar of Besiktas, manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana and Napoli midfielder Andfre-Frank Angguissa - are my favourites to reign victorious come February 11.

Abubakar was the top scorer in the previous edition and celebrates some key milestones during the tournament that should serve as inspiration for him to deliver great performances. He celebrates his 32nd birthday during the group stages and will be joining the century clubs (players with 100 caps and more) as the tournament progresses and I expect him to be in imperious form as he also goes on to become Cameroon’s second-highest scorer behind Samuel Eto’o. He has scored 40 times and is currently in third place behind Roger Milla who has scored three more. Eto’o has 56 goals for Cameroon.

It is a very tight group this with Guinea no pushovers. But I expect Mane and Abubakar to help their respective Lions roar into the knockout stages and keep on progressing until the very end of the tournament.

Monday, January 15 fixtures (All on live on SABC and SuperSport)

Senegal v Gambia: 4 pm

Cameroon v Guinea: 7 pm

Algeria v Angola: 10 pm