Let’s go Africa!

Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 at 10:51 PM

It has been a fantastic year for African football. Egypt 2006 was the best African Cup of Nations Tournament in a long time. In terms of quality on the pitch the improvement from Tunisia 2004 was astounding. I remember watching a match with friends on TV during Tunisia 2004 and then switching to a Premiership match half way through. The gulf in quality was immediately noticeable and embarrassing. In Egypt 2006 things were suddenly reversed. Influential football journalists gradually switched their attention from the domestic European game to the African tournament. As one guy on TV said why would you sit through Charlton v Everton when you could be watching Cameroon v Ivory Coast? (Another journalist who was sent to Egypt to cover the tournament was heard complaining to his editor back in England, “I’ve been here two weeks and all we’ve had to cover is good football and not one decent witchdoctor story.” Hehe! )

In the Champion’s League final, a match that featured the best striker in Europe, Henry, the best player in South America, Ronaldinho, and the best player in Africa, Eto’o, the African shone brightest.

In the Premiership you have Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba leading the forward line for Chelski. Drogba’s countryman Kolo Toure is the rock of the Gooners defence assisted by yet another Ivorian, Emmanuel Eboue. At Liverpool Mali’s Mohamed “Momo” Sissoko has established himself as a vital part of what is probably the most dynamic midfield at a football club anywhere on the planet. At Nantes FC, Kenya’s own Dennis Oliech, is a fast rising star, banging the goals in.

So far, in 2006, so good. But the Big One is only a few weeks away and when you look at the draw for the World Cup you have to worry.

• Ivory Coast, Argentina, Holland, Serbia & Montenegro
• Angola, Portugal, Mexico, Iran
• Ghana, Italy, Czech Republic, USA
• Togo, Switzerland, France, South Korea
• Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Ukraine

Our strongest team on paper in this year’s tournament is the Ivory Coast. But they are in a heck of a strong group. The biggest thing Ivory Coast have to worry about is themselves. Will they get stage fright at their first every World Cup? Will their nerves hold? Will they manage to keep their discipline? Will the strong team spirit stay intact? If the deal with these things they will go far. I see them qualifying with Holland out of their group. Final group position: second.

Angola are enigma. They played very attractive football in the qualifiers. All one touch, passing to feet, moving into space. Solid and fluid stuff. But in Egypt we saw they lacked the killer punch. The one player who could bang them in. If, for example, Lua Lua was Angolan them this team would be 50% more dangerous. After Senegal spanked France last time round I see the revenge of the former colonies continue in Angola beating Portugal. If they do that (and that would be a massive upset) then they will do all right. If they get spanked by Portugal however, zero points is a possibility. Final group position: second.

Ghana, Ghana, Ghana. I’ve been on the Ghana bandwagon ever since Adebi Pele and his Vegebom adverts and Anthony Yeboah’s ridiculous goals for Leeds in the Premiership. This is another team that played well in the qualifiers but choked in Egypt. To be fair the draw was not kind to them in Egypt and it is even worse now. The one thing they need to draw on is teamwork and a “one team no stars” ethic. The Ghanaian government is certainly helping. Each member of the squad has been promised USD 20,000 for EACH game they win. The more cynical pundits predict that the Ghanaian government will not have to write a single check. I just want them to beat the USA so that Freddie Adu wishes he had choosen to play for Ghana. (Yes I know he is no where near making the USA squad, just work with me here.) I wish they win they win the group. Dammit these guys owe me for my loyalty! Final group position: third.

Togo. Ummm yeah, well. The BBC’s Durosimi Thomas says it will be a miracle if they win one game. I agree. I would love to see the revenge of the former colonies extend here as well but it looks unlikely. The one thing Togo had was team spirit, camaraderie. Striker Emmanuel Adebayor, the top African goalscorer in last year’s World Cup qualifiers, seems to have let it all go to his head and he has destroyed all that. I was hoping playing next to Henry at Arsenal would teach him some humility, maybe next year. Final group position: last.

Tunisia are irritating. They qualify every time, they get beaten every time. Tunisia is a team that knows its place. It knows when it is not expected to win, so they do not. They know when they are supposed to win, so they do. I hope this time they go with a do or die attitude. Roho Juu. They will spank Saudi Arabia and lose to the two UEFA teams, and in four years time they will qualify again. And get spanked again. Final group position: third.

My predictions are optimistic. I have two African teams going through to the second round. Most people predict a complete blow out with not a single African team making the knock out stages. Angola v Iran and Tunisia v Saudi Arabia being the only two games Africa has even a small chance of winning. If they do not win those then the dreaded nul points is a possibility. Zero points. I am always the optimist however.
Mungu abariki Africa! Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika! Etc etc!

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