Ahead of Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso (live on ITV4 from 6.30pm on Thursday 26th January) Quinton Fortune tells ITV Sport about why he thinks the Ivorians are the strongest team at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
The former South Africa and Manchester United midfielder also picks out Youssef Msakni of Tunisia and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu of Ghana as young players who can make a mark at the tournament and recounts a couple of tales of his own experiences from playing in Africa.
"Ivory Coast have a lot of European based players, a lot of quality in the team," Fortune says. "Without the likes of Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon being there I think this is their best chance to win it."
"Msakni of Tunisia has shown good quality … there’s been a lot of talk about Badu from Ghana who’s playing for Udinese in Italy."
Asked about his strangest experiences at the tournament, he said: "My first one in Burkina Faso – we flew from Ouagadougou to Bobo … it was half an hour flight … it wasn’t the best flight. The players came off the plane looking like ghosts. We were praying, we were just doing everything we can to get through it."
Watch Ivory Coast v Burkina Faso on ITV4 from 6.30pm on Thursday to see if Fortune is right about their chances …
Follow ITV Football on Twitter