The CAF Africa Cup of Nations kicks-off in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon on Saturday, with 16 of the continent's best footballing countries battling it out to be champions.
The 1992 winners Ivory Coast are the favourites to lift the trophy for a second time, while Senegal are hotly-tipped to win the tournament for the first time.
While Ivorian Guy Demel may be missing the competition through injury and Senegalese duo Papa Bouba Diop (pictured) and Abdoulaye Faye are no longer involved regularly at international level, the West Ham United trio will be keeping a close eye on proceedings on television.
The tournament kicks-off in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, on Saturday with the host nation taking on Libya and Senegal facing Zambia. Ivory Coast begin their challenge against Sudan in Malabo on Sunday. The tournament ends in Libreville, Gabon, on 12 February.
2006 Africa Cup of Nations runner-up Demel sat down with 2002 FIFA World Cup hero Diop and three-times Africa Cup of Nations finalist Faye to talk exclusivley to whufc.com about the tournament.
So, who is going to win the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations?
PBD: I think Senegal is going to win the African Nations Cup because we have a new team of young players. Senegal, Ivory Coast and Ghana are the best teams but Senegal has the best squad and a big chance to win it. They have four or five top strikers like Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse and Moussa Sow.
AF: Why are you asking this question? It will be Senegal, of course! We have a big team with the best strikers playing in Europe now. We have Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse who has signed for Newcastle and the others who play for French teams. We have the chance to win this for the first time. We have been to the final before and I think we can do it again.
GD: I hope that my country is going to win the competition. The people of Ivory Coast deserve it and I think we are one of the best teams in Africa. We have to prove it because we have failed a lot of times before. This one is going to be a good one for us.
Which other nations to do see as a threat?
PBD: I think Ivory Coast or Ghana will be the other strongest teams.
AF: We will go to the final and there we will play the Ivory Coast and we will beat them 1-0.
GD: To be honest, Ghana is a good team and Senegal have a good team too. Ivory Coast are the favourites and there are some others like Burkina Faso who have a lot of players who play in France. They are not bad, too. I think normally the big three are Ghana, Senegal and Ivory Coast but I think we are much better than the others.
Which player do you think will be the star of the tournament?
PBD: Yaya Toure from Manchester City.
AF: Oh, that's a tough question, but maybe Demba Ba.
GD: All of the players have the chance to be the star of the tournament, especially for Ivory Coast. Demba has played a great season with Newcastle. We have a lot of players from Ivory Coast who could help us to win the cup - Gervinho, Yaya Toure or Cheick Tiote. Ghana have Andre Ayew and I played with Jonathan Pitroipa at Hamburg and he plays for Burkina Faso and he could be the star, too.