Home Eagles will tomorrow  begin their chase for the African Nations Championship glory with a Group A match against Mali at the Cape Town Stadium in South Africa.

Nigeria are making their debut in the biennial tournament for players playing their professional game in Africa and are cautiously optimistic of posting a good outing.

Housed in the same group with hosts South Africa and Mozambique, the Eagles, coached by Nations Cup winning coach and captain Stephen Keshi fancy their chances of progressing to the quarterfinal stage of the 16-team tournament.

No doubt, this year’s edition of the African Nations Championships promises to be an interesting spectacle for those who have their eyes on potential rising stars.

What sets this tournament apart from the rest is the fact that all the players participating must ply their trade in their respective country’s domestic league, and as such, one won’t be seeing too many of the more established or household names in African football.

To illustrate this point, reigning AFCON champions Nigeria will be without the services of a number of players, with the likes of Sunday Mba and Godfrey Oboabona set to miss out.

Zimbabwe, meanwhile, have lost the services of three of their players in Misheck Mburayi, Silas Songani and Tendai Ndoro due to various transfer related matters.

Be that as it may, there will still be plenty of quality on offer in South Africa in the month of January, with 16 teams set to do battle for the two places up for grabs in the final on February 1 at the Cape Town Stadium.

All of the Group B games will also take place in the Mother City, although the fixtures will be played at the 34,000 capacity Athlone Stadium.

Group B is comprised of Zimbabwe, Uganda, Burkina Faso and Morocco, with the latter seeing off the challenge of 2011 CHAN champions Tunisia to book their place at the tournament.

Ghana are undoubtedly the big hitters in Group C, which includes Libya, Ethiopia and Congo. Bloemfontein will play host to this group, with the fixtures set to take place at Free State Stadium.

Group D, meanwhile, contains two of the tournament’s so-called minnows in the shape of Burundi and Mauritania. They will do battle with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Gabon for a place in the knockout phase.

Nearly all of the Group D fixtures will be played at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

For the most part, predicting the winners of each group is a tough task, but picking out the potential group runners-up is an even tougher undertaking.

Having claimed the 2013 AFCON crown, the Super Eagles will be looking to maintain their momentum heading into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil by adding another trophy to their collection. Bafana Bafana, meanwhile, will be hoping their home advantage gives them the edge of their rivals.

From Group B, Morocco should progress to the knockout stages as group leaders, with Zimbabwe following suit in second place.

Morocco head coach Hassan Benaicha has a very strong squad at his disposal and they will certainly be one of the teams to watch at the tournament after defeating holders Tunisia in the qualifying play-offs.

Zimbabwe are a bit of an unknown quantity due to the fact that the majority of their regular first-team players ply their trade in South Africa’s domestic leagues. However, they do have a number of exciting prospects coming through, with the Warriors seeing off the challenge of AFCON 2012 winners Zambia to seal their place at this year’s CHAN.

From Group C, Ghana are the team most are expecting to progress to the knockout stages, while Libya should pip Congo to a second-placed finish.

Despite the fact that none of Ghana’s established players will be taking part in this tournament, the Black Stars have a rich pool of talent to choose from. Libya, meanwhile, are for the most part an unchanged outfit, owing to the fact that the majority of their regular squad players ply their trade in the local leagues.

From Group D, the Democratic Republic of Congo should be the team finishing top of the pile in the group stages. With a strong local-based contingency at their disposal, the Leopards are a shoe-in to make their mark at the tournament.

Picking a second team from Group D is a trickier task, but it is Gabon who should secure a place in the knockout stages if their qualifying play-off performance is anything to go by. The Panthers saw off the challenge of a strong Cameroon side in their play-off tie, and if they maintain their momentum, they could be one of the tournament’s dark horses.