Most African Nations Cup tournaments have been the launch pad for new African talent on to the international stage, but the current event in Tunisia is working in reverse.
It is players born outside Africa who have emerged among the top performers on the road to the semi-finals.
Frederic Kanoute is already an established fixture in his native France as well as in England, where he now plays for Tottenham Hotspur.
But the African continent is only now discovering his talent as he emerges as one of the catalysts behind Mali's march to the last four, with goals in all of the matches he has played at the event.
Lyon-born Kanoute, whose father comes from Kayes in Mali, benefits from new FIFA rules allowing a change of nationality for former junior internationals.
He has therefore been able to evolve from a French under-21 international into a central member of the Mali side, who play against Morocco in tomorrow's semifinal.
For Nigeria, diminutive striker Peter Odemwingie has stepped into the breach left by the expulsion from the team of Yakubu Aiyebeni and Victor Agali, two strikers sent home after breaking curfew rules.
Soviet-born Odemwingie, who grew up in Tashkent in what is now Uzbekistan, scored two cracking goals against South Africa in the first round and had his first run in the starting line-up when Nigeria knocked out holders Cameroon in Sunday's quarterfinal at Monastir.
Striker Marouane Chammakh has shone for Morocco. The 20-year-old from Girondins Bordeaux is French-born and was only capped by Morocco six months ago.
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