WHEN South Africa won the Rugby World Cup last year, Johannesburg's Ellis Park rang to the tune of Shosholoza ("go forward"), a black working song that had become the Springboks' unofficial anthem.

The only trouble was that most of those singing were white, and did not really know the words. It will be a different matter in Soweto's FNB stadium today, when South Africa's soccer team kicks off against Cameroon in the opening game of the 1996 Africa Nations Cup. Like most Africans, South Africa's blacks are soccer mad, and for them last year's Rugby World Cup victory was only a pleasant curtain raiser for the real national sport.

This year's tournament is likely to be the biggest African Nations Cup yet. Firstly it is being held in South Africa, a relatively prosperous country that is keen to put on a second good show. FIFA's president, Joao Havelange, is already saying that the 2006 World Cup finals could be held in South Africa. Secondly, it follows two World Cups in which two African teams - Cameroon and Nigeria - showed they could take on the world with flair and flamboyance.

Their performances turned the international spotlight - and the attention of scouts from clubs all over Europe - on the largely untapped reservoir of footballing talent in Africa. Some of those playing in the tournament - notably George Weah of Liberia and AC Milan, the European Footballer of the Year - bear witness to the scouts' past shrewdness.

The main shadow over the tournament so far has been the abrupt withdrawal of Nigeria, the defending champions and the strongest team in Africa. Their decision to pull out follows South Africa's strong stance against the hanging of nine Nigerian minority rights activists last month and leaves only 15 teams to fill out the four pool groups in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.

Nigeria's opening game against Zaire, scheduled for tomorrow, has now been cancelled, but the footballing authorities will wait until Monday to discuss disciplinary measures. A lengthy ban from competition and possible exclusion from the 1998 World Cup is expected to be imposed.

All hopes of a last minute appearance appeared yesterday when Nigeria rejected a personal plea from FIFA president Havelange, who appealed to Nigeria's president, General Sani Abacha, to allow the team to travel.

But Nigerian officials turned down Havelange in a fax received yesterday, repeating their intention to not participate in the continent's premier tournament. "They're not coming," Sepp Blatter, secretary general of FIFA, said. "That's what it says.

In the absence of Nigeria, South Africa's Bafana Bafana ("the boys") have become the favourites to win the final on February 3rd - at least in Johannesburg - followed by Ghana and Egypt. This may seem somewhat fanciful, given that this is South Africa's first ever appearance in a major soccer tournament. The years of sporting isolation during the apartheid era also affected soccer more adversely than cricket or rugby, whose affluent white fans could pay to import foreign stars and rebel tourists.

But South Africa comes into the tournament unbeaten in 13 matches and with a number of seasoned professionals from the European leagues, including Phil "Waltzing" Masinga - band Lucas Radebe, both of Leeds.

Another factor that could work in their favour is the venue for their home games, Johannesburg, which is over 1700 metres sea level. And then there will be the impassioned home crowds, and the dreaded Shosholoza Effect.