AFCON Managers: Rigobert Song is aiming to lift the trophy a third time

International tournaments can be a reputation-maker or breaker.

AFCON is no different. Herve Renard and Aliou Cisse have won great acclaim with their recent successes in the tournament and at the World Cup.

It's a stomping ground for grizzled veterans as well as up-and-coming bosses. Lead your team to glory and your fame in the homeland will last a lifetime.

From Chris Hughton to a former Arsenal flop taking his first babysteps in the dugout, this year's edition has it all.

Mail Sport looks at the names you might recognise - as well as one requiring rather niche Premier League knowledge...

Chris Hughton

There is only one Brit managing an African national team and that honour falls on none other than Chris Hughton.

Hughton, having traversed his entire playing and managerial careers on the shores of England and Ireland, took the bold step of taking the Ghana job in February 2023.

In one way it was a shot in the dark, in another a generational homecoming - Hughton admitted he felt a connection to the nation which his father, Willie, had left in the 1950s.

It was also a punt laced with risk. Four managers had been and gone before him since 2020. Only one of them has a managerial job now.

Their last AFCON appearance saw a group stage exit. Same for the World Cup. For a country with expectations as big as Ghana - recollections of that 2010 quarter-final still linger in the fingerprints of memory - success, at least in Africa, is coveted.

Hughton has had a mixed start with Ghana. AFCON qualification was secured by topping their group but unconvincingly so. A recent 4-0 hammering by the USA - who they beat in the World Cup last 16 in 2010 - and a humbling 1-0 loss to Comoros in qualifying suggest Ghana have a long way to go.

Ahead of the tournament, he has tempered expectations, saying that progression beyond the group stages is the target.

The former Brighton boss isn't the only recognisable name who will feature in the dugout at the Africa Cup of Nations this time around, starting on Saturday.

On we go.

Rigobert Song

Cameroon's manager, Rigobert Song, spent several seasons playing for Liverpool and West Ham around the turn of the century.

The now-47-year-old was a popular figure at Anfield, with the stands chanting 'We've only got one Song', and won the UEFA Cup with the club in 2001.

He played in four World Cups and has the distinction of being the only player to be sent off in two different editions of the tournament, also holding the record for the youngest player to be given his marching orders at the competition aged 17.

Song has something of a rockstar reputation in his homeland. His face, wreathed with grey beard, adorns roadside billboards, while he often sports a baseball cap.

He's also a steely character who has faced huge setbacks. Song's father died when he was young and when his nephew, Alex Song, faced an equal bereavement aged three, he took the youngster under his wing. That Alex went on to play for Arsenal, Barcelona, and West Ham.

Aged 40, in 2016, Song collapsed at home in Yaounde after a stroke and went into a coma for two days. He suffered a brain aneurysm and needed specialist treatment, taking six months to recuperate.

Twice he won AFCON with his country and now he hopes to lift the trophy a third time.

Hard times have fallen on the national team after two wins in 10. Seven wins in 23 under Song does not represent the form they demand long-term, especially with a squad packed with talent: Andre Onana, Karl Toko Ekandi, and Vincent Aboubakar are some of the headline names.

Aliou Cisse

Aliou Cisse is one of the highest-rated managers in Africa for his achievements with Senegal over a long time.

Formerly a captain of the great Senegal side who reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002, he has already delivered them one AFCON title in 2022 as a manager and led them to the last 16 of the World Cup in the same year.

He has been in the post since 2015 and in that time has faced plenty of criticism for his conservatism, but trophies help - he also won them the 2022 African Nations Championship.

Cisse is an outspoken proponent of African football, dismissing any disrespect from haughty Euro-centric detractors when AFCON rolls around, and highlighting the equal importance of football in Africa as anywhere else.

You might know him from his days at Birmingham and Portsmouth in the Premier League, when he was a tough-tackling defensive midfielder. He was sent off on his Premier League debut - and Birmingham's - against Arsenal in 2002, though the sending-off was later retracted.

Avram Grant

In the hotseat of Zambia is Avram Grant, the former Chelsea boss now in his 13th managerial job.

After the heights of reaching the 2008 Champions League final with Chelsea, and the lows of being sacked by them three days after having lost on penalties to Manchester United, Grant no longer makes many headlines in England.

Zambia gave him a lifeline in December 2022 after four years out of work, and it has been a solid start for him with nine wins in 15 games.

There's some buzz around Zambia, who won the AFCON title in 2012 but haven't qualified since 2015.

Frontline options including Patson Daka and Fashion Sakala provide excitement for a side who outscored and finished above Ivory Coast in their qualifying group, with the former among the top scorers.

Kaba Diawara

Maximum points if you can remember this name from Premier League days of yore.

Kaba Diawara, the Guinea boss, spent most of his playing career in France, but did find some time in his schedule to turn out for three English sides between 1999 and 2001.

The striker first graced the Emirates but was unable to score in 15 games as Arsenal lost the 1998-99 title race by one point to Manchester United.

Via stints at Marseille and PSG he found himself in England, back on loan at Blackburn and then West Ham from the French capital.

However, Diawara would score just one goal in English football - a first-round EFL Cup goal against Rochdale, a game which Blackburn won 6-1 thanks to a hat-trick of penalties from David Dunn.

He could bank on more prolific form from Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy this tournament, who has 19 goals in 16 games for Stuttgart this campaign. Though he will hope Guirassy is fit after suffering an injury in a friendly prior to the tournament.