Prior to this entertaining match, I have to admit that I was too carried away by Ghana's 1-0 victory against Serbia in their first match as well as Australia's 4-0 collapse against Germany in which I should not have been like that at all. This culminated when a family member (who is not well versed in football at all) asked me, “What's so good about Ghana? Ghana is bad!”. Well, I strongly felt that Ghana is a strong team, due to the aforementioned illusion from the first games, as well as a fond memory of Ghana gloriously defeating Czech Republic back in 2006 World Cup in which I still remember what Stephen Appiah had said in his interview after that victory. So there was a conflict between the “I and me” in my mind as I wanted to answer him that Ghana is very strong while my subconscious football instinct whispered me otherwise. Thus, I settled by answering him that “At the very least, Ghana is much stronger than a certain country” (sorry but I don't wish to name that country, but that answer will create a definite impression to anyone let alone that family member of mine that Ghana is a strong team). I should have known better that Ghana is after all not that great, especially so in attack.
In this match, the Jabulani debate once again rears its ugly head once again. After a few days of relative quiet about this, Jabulani simply refuses to let go of the microscopic attention as well as the massive spotlights on it. It seems that it is trying its best to obtain the World Cup 2010 golden ball and even more ambitiously, it seems intent on winning this year's TIME Person of the Year. Australia started the match with technically no striker at all since the one leading their attack was Harry Kewell whose natural position is not a striker, let alone a targetman. Joachim Low, the Germany manager was also seen in the stands seemingly to scout on Ghana, their next opponents. Australia started attacking aggressively, seemingly desperate to banish all those criticisms and condemnations directed to them no thanks to their heavy 4-0 defeat against Germany. The aforementioned Jabulani debate erupted again when the Aussies scored after only ten minutes of play. The Ghanaian keeper Richard Kingson becomes the next goalkeeper to spill a long range shot, this time from Mark Bresciano's direct free kick and Brett Holman was only too happy to pounce onto the rebound and score to give Australia the 1-0 lead. As mentioned previously, Jabulani seems not ready to give up the spotlight, isn't it? A ball who has plenty of balls. Good pun, no?
Sense of urgency for Ghana, but they did not seem to be incisive in their attacks against the Aussies. (A chronic illness in this Ghanaian squad which I realized only much much later in the game). However, first major drama in the game as well as a major controversy in this match. At the 23rd minute, Ghana launched a long shot from outside of the penalty area which was destined to be into the net, but Harry Kewell was at the right hand post and he simply used his chest to keep the ball out. However, the ball simply bounced along his body and hit his right arm in the process before going out. The Italian referee Roberto Rosetti simply treated it as a deliberate handball to prevent a clear goalscoring opportunity and he promptly dished out a red card for Kewell and thus Australia have 2 sending offs in a row, and Ghana was awarded a penalty kick due to handball, just like the previous match against Serbia. Also, just like that match, Asamoah Gyan sent Mark Schwarzer the wrong way to score with his ice cool nerves from the spot. 2 out of 2 for Gyan from the spot. 1-1. So far, Nigeria and Germany have collapsed due to a sending off, and had that happened to Australia and had they lost heavily to Australia, it would have served the Aussies nothing more than intensifying their Italophobia as World Cup 2006 is still fresh in their minds.
The second half of the match simply saw the increasing intensity of the attacks of both teams, especially Australia. Surprise surprise. Despite having one less man than the Ghanaians, the Australians didn't show any signs of hindrance to their game let alone the potential collapse. In fact, the Australians were trying to gun down a victory, basically trying to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat as they brought on two strikers from their bench on the 65th and 67th minute and they are Scott Chipperfield and Josh “Jesus” Kennedy. The nickname comes from his beards and long hairdo that he sports by the way, but he didn't manage to live up to that nickname by becoming the Aussie's messiah tonight. Despite the see-sawing of attacking moves between the two teams, Australia was the team that looked like scoring at anytime and clinch a victory compared to Ghana who statistically dominated the game (with about 20 shots throughout the game) but they are so impotent in front of goal that those shots count for nothing. Their impotence in front of goal is simply what I was trying to point out about the “chronic sickness” that this Ghanaian team is unfortunate enough to have. At the 84th minute, the Australians brought on even more attacker by bringing in the Ukrainian born Nikita Rukavytsya. While the Ghanaians brought on Quincy Owusu Abeyle, Sulley Ali Muntari at the 56th and 76th minute respectively and also bringing in Matthew Amoah at the 87th minute, but still, it did not cure their impotence.
Although in the end, none of the teams managed to score more goals for the match, amazingly, the Australians ended up having no less than three strikers on the pitch with ten men when they started the match without any striker as mentioned earlier. The match, however, ended rather unceremoniously ith the sight of John Pantsil being stretchered off with his white shirt heavily stained red with blood due to a collision with Josh Kennedy in an aerial duel.
In the end, Ghana failed to clinch a victory and progress to the last 16 while the Australians would be happy with their performance with 10 men in the game and the fact that they are pretty much still alive in the competition. They play Serbia next and it is of course a must win game now for them to have any hopes of progressing but they will not be with the sent off Kewell and solid veteran defender Craig Moore who collected his second yellow card of the tournament, although Tim Cahill will be back to boost their chances.
While for Ghana, they are up against Germany next. On paper, it is no contest, as Germany have too much class to lose against Ghana. However, football matches are not won on paper, but still, judging from how impotent Ghana is besides from the penalty spot (and how many times could they rely on that?) and how Germany must be fired up now to win the remaining game as to progress into the last 16 and to forever bury the embarrassment they suffered in their recent defeat against Serbia once and for all. Ghana is in a tight spot, unless they are able to cure their impotence in front of goal, I am afraid to say that they have little chance of getting anything from the last game against Germany let alone a victory against Joachim Low's boys.
Showing posts with label Ghana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ghana. Show all posts
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Serbia 0-1 Ghana World CUp 2010 Group D
This match is the first match in which my prediction was totally spot-on in which I had predicted a 1-0 victory for Ghana against Serbia and turned out that it was really the case. Based on what I have observed in the match itself, this was a match between thesis and anti-thesis. Ghana have extreme pace and great strength as well as being more mobile on the pitch while Serbia was totally a rigid and solid wall at the back with systematic and solid attacking moves when they are attacking.
In the first half, Ghana's goalkeeper was the busier of the two as both teams attack each other in trying to break the deadlock. However, the aforementioned fact of this match being a battle between thesis and anti-thesis inadvertently cancel out each other and thus each team simply absorbs the others' attack. Thus, it was 0-0 at half-time.
The second half saw both teams becoming more intent with Ghana being denied a clear and legitimate penalty call as their player K. Asamoah was fouled quite heavily by two Serbian defenders. In this half, Ghana was the better attacking team as they continued to bombard Serbia's goal but they continued to fail to convert those chances into goals. Both teams tried to inspire changes by making substitutions but still, the deadlock was not to be broken.
The turning point of the match came at around the 73rd minute when the Serbian defender A. Lukovic was sent off as he received his second yellow card of the match. It seemed that the match was to become a carbon copy of the Group C match between Algeria and Slovenia earlier on the day. However, the Serbian manager in my opinion initiated a masterstroke substitution by introducing a defender, Nenad Subotic to replace the sent off defender by sacrificing Milan Jovanovic, an attacker. Thus, their formation became something like a 4-4-1 or 4-3-2 variant instead of trying to keep on attacking with a disoriented 3-4-2 formation for example. Thus, it could be seen that with the sending off, Serbia seemingly was not really affected. In fact, they attacked more and more valiantly and intensely.
At the 82nd minute, Ghana earned a penalty as the Serbian substitute Kusmanovic handled the ball deliberately to break a Ghanaian attack. Asamoah Gyan who had missed many chances in the game finally able to make the score 1-0 as the striker sent the Serbian keeper V. Stojkovic to the wrong way.
The slender 1-0 lead by Ghana proved to be quite precarious as in the last few minutes of the game, especially during the four minutes injury time of the game, Serbia was attacking in a very intense manner and just like how we have seen Liverpool FC when trailing in club football, there was signs of Serbia about to equalize at anytime by then. However, at the very last moments of the game, Asamoah Gyan managed to hit the post at the other end before being substituted with Quincy Owusu-Abeyle to earn his standing ovation from the Ghana fans as well as to run the clock down. Finally, Ghana managed to hold on to their slender lead and becomes the first African team to taste victory in World Cup 2010 and staking their claims to the knockout stages of the competition. While Serbia now needs to regroup swiftly as they tackler Germany next in which if they lose again, they will all be knocked out from the competition.
In the first half, Ghana's goalkeeper was the busier of the two as both teams attack each other in trying to break the deadlock. However, the aforementioned fact of this match being a battle between thesis and anti-thesis inadvertently cancel out each other and thus each team simply absorbs the others' attack. Thus, it was 0-0 at half-time.
The second half saw both teams becoming more intent with Ghana being denied a clear and legitimate penalty call as their player K. Asamoah was fouled quite heavily by two Serbian defenders. In this half, Ghana was the better attacking team as they continued to bombard Serbia's goal but they continued to fail to convert those chances into goals. Both teams tried to inspire changes by making substitutions but still, the deadlock was not to be broken.
The turning point of the match came at around the 73rd minute when the Serbian defender A. Lukovic was sent off as he received his second yellow card of the match. It seemed that the match was to become a carbon copy of the Group C match between Algeria and Slovenia earlier on the day. However, the Serbian manager in my opinion initiated a masterstroke substitution by introducing a defender, Nenad Subotic to replace the sent off defender by sacrificing Milan Jovanovic, an attacker. Thus, their formation became something like a 4-4-1 or 4-3-2 variant instead of trying to keep on attacking with a disoriented 3-4-2 formation for example. Thus, it could be seen that with the sending off, Serbia seemingly was not really affected. In fact, they attacked more and more valiantly and intensely.
At the 82nd minute, Ghana earned a penalty as the Serbian substitute Kusmanovic handled the ball deliberately to break a Ghanaian attack. Asamoah Gyan who had missed many chances in the game finally able to make the score 1-0 as the striker sent the Serbian keeper V. Stojkovic to the wrong way.
The slender 1-0 lead by Ghana proved to be quite precarious as in the last few minutes of the game, especially during the four minutes injury time of the game, Serbia was attacking in a very intense manner and just like how we have seen Liverpool FC when trailing in club football, there was signs of Serbia about to equalize at anytime by then. However, at the very last moments of the game, Asamoah Gyan managed to hit the post at the other end before being substituted with Quincy Owusu-Abeyle to earn his standing ovation from the Ghana fans as well as to run the clock down. Finally, Ghana managed to hold on to their slender lead and becomes the first African team to taste victory in World Cup 2010 and staking their claims to the knockout stages of the competition. While Serbia now needs to regroup swiftly as they tackler Germany next in which if they lose again, they will all be knocked out from the competition.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Likelihood of an African World Cup 2010 Winner (Part 2/2)
By now, it would be noticed that the host nation South Africa has yet to be featured. Don't worry, it is not that I have forgotten about the hosts themselves amid the hysteria surrounding the star-studded teams. That's not to say the Bafana Bafana is not star-studded though. The South African team is the most locally represented out of the rest of the six African teams in the competition, but they are augmented by a few superstars in the squad such as the 101 capped Aaron Mokoena and 50 capped Steven Pienaar, just to name two of the most known members of the Bafana Bafana. Although many pundits and fans alike have condemned Bafana Bafana to be the very first host country in the World Cup history to be knocked out from the Group Stage, we must not underestimate South Africa as well as the advantages that they are going to have as a host nation.
In the World Cup, or any other huge competitions for that matter, underdogs usually go to overdrive mode while the top teams might churn up a sub-par performance, although it's not so apparent such that the semi-finals consist of four underdogs, but it's still playing a huge role in the competition. Besides, South Africa is coached by an experienced Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira and thus he is able to navigate his way through the toughness of the World Cup as he has been there before when he won the 1994 World Cup. Thus, I won't be surprised if South Africa survives the Group Stage or even winning Group A altogether. Besides, Group A is not that tough a group. France huffed and puffed their way through qualification, and many would argue that they avoided failure to qualify to the World Cup no thanks to FIFA's last minute seeding of the play-off teams in the European zone of qualification as well as the infamous Hand of Henry. Uruguay, just like France is not a team at top form and is as shaky as the French. Also, just like the French, they are only in the World Cup no thanks to an offside goal in their own play-off match against Costa Rica. The last participant in Group A, and South Africa's first opponent in the tournament's opening game, Mexico has just survived a total destruction under the ill-fated regime of Sven Goran Eriksson. The trauma won't dissipate that shortly, and also, it is a team pretty much in transition. Thus, it is pertinent to note that South Africa might spring a few surprises in their vuvuzela fuelled campaign on home soil. Also, I dare say that in South Africa's campaign, which I would say that they would at least get to the last 16 or even go to the quarter finals or even the semi finals with a stroke of luck or two, it won't be just all about Aaron Mokoena and Steven Pienaar. There will be other players in the South African squad who would emerge from the shadows to let the whole world notice their talents, and it is likely that these stars will be poached by top European clubs after the World Cup. Whether they will be the El Hadji-Dioufs and the Salif Diaos of this world, it is another thing altogether, but nevertheless, expect a few stars or two from the Bafana Bafana to earn themselves lucrative transfers to top European clubs after the World Cup.
The last team, and the one which I think the most likely African team to go furthest and even win the whole thing is Cameroon. As far as star names is concerned, Cameroon possesses at least one recognizable and proven star name in each position. In goal, they have Carlos Idriss Kameni, a proven reliable goalkeeper in La Liga. In defence, they have the ever reliable Rigobert Song and the solid Sebastian Bassong. In Midfield, they have the commanding and imposing Jean II Makoun. In attack, medals attracting Samuel Eto'o needs no introduction. Also, Cameroon's squad consists of players who are at the peak of their powers (ie. Between the age of 26-30+) and that every single one of them, exept for the youngster Vincent Aboubakar, ply their trades in top European clubs in top European leagues. Their manager, Paul Le Guen is also a recognizable name in world football and also he has been in charge of Cameroon since 2009. Thus, this squad is relatively stable and with the players at the peak of their powers eager to live up their nickname the “Indomitable Lions” will look forward to be indomitable and also to dominate everything and anything standing in their path to glory. Their Group is also a relatively easy group and expect them to beat the shaky Denmark and Japan, and they might even do a Senegal and shock Netherlands as well as the world and top the group. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, expect Cameroon to be this World Cup's Senegal and go all the way to the quarter finals at least and even if they are not able to win the World Cup, I won't rule out Samuel Eto'o collecting yet one more medal even if that medal is the bronze medal. Nevertheless, history would have been made for Africa if that happens. Also, despite everyone claiming that Eto'o has started to dwindle and that they cite Mourinho moving him back to play on the flanks for Inter in the recently concluded club season, I would still say that at 29, Eto'o is still pretty much at the peak of his powers, and he will play really well as a striker for his country and he will score plenty of goals as Cameroon charges for glory!
In the World Cup, or any other huge competitions for that matter, underdogs usually go to overdrive mode while the top teams might churn up a sub-par performance, although it's not so apparent such that the semi-finals consist of four underdogs, but it's still playing a huge role in the competition. Besides, South Africa is coached by an experienced Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira and thus he is able to navigate his way through the toughness of the World Cup as he has been there before when he won the 1994 World Cup. Thus, I won't be surprised if South Africa survives the Group Stage or even winning Group A altogether. Besides, Group A is not that tough a group. France huffed and puffed their way through qualification, and many would argue that they avoided failure to qualify to the World Cup no thanks to FIFA's last minute seeding of the play-off teams in the European zone of qualification as well as the infamous Hand of Henry. Uruguay, just like France is not a team at top form and is as shaky as the French. Also, just like the French, they are only in the World Cup no thanks to an offside goal in their own play-off match against Costa Rica. The last participant in Group A, and South Africa's first opponent in the tournament's opening game, Mexico has just survived a total destruction under the ill-fated regime of Sven Goran Eriksson. The trauma won't dissipate that shortly, and also, it is a team pretty much in transition. Thus, it is pertinent to note that South Africa might spring a few surprises in their vuvuzela fuelled campaign on home soil. Also, I dare say that in South Africa's campaign, which I would say that they would at least get to the last 16 or even go to the quarter finals or even the semi finals with a stroke of luck or two, it won't be just all about Aaron Mokoena and Steven Pienaar. There will be other players in the South African squad who would emerge from the shadows to let the whole world notice their talents, and it is likely that these stars will be poached by top European clubs after the World Cup. Whether they will be the El Hadji-Dioufs and the Salif Diaos of this world, it is another thing altogether, but nevertheless, expect a few stars or two from the Bafana Bafana to earn themselves lucrative transfers to top European clubs after the World Cup.
The last team, and the one which I think the most likely African team to go furthest and even win the whole thing is Cameroon. As far as star names is concerned, Cameroon possesses at least one recognizable and proven star name in each position. In goal, they have Carlos Idriss Kameni, a proven reliable goalkeeper in La Liga. In defence, they have the ever reliable Rigobert Song and the solid Sebastian Bassong. In Midfield, they have the commanding and imposing Jean II Makoun. In attack, medals attracting Samuel Eto'o needs no introduction. Also, Cameroon's squad consists of players who are at the peak of their powers (ie. Between the age of 26-30+) and that every single one of them, exept for the youngster Vincent Aboubakar, ply their trades in top European clubs in top European leagues. Their manager, Paul Le Guen is also a recognizable name in world football and also he has been in charge of Cameroon since 2009. Thus, this squad is relatively stable and with the players at the peak of their powers eager to live up their nickname the “Indomitable Lions” will look forward to be indomitable and also to dominate everything and anything standing in their path to glory. Their Group is also a relatively easy group and expect them to beat the shaky Denmark and Japan, and they might even do a Senegal and shock Netherlands as well as the world and top the group. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, expect Cameroon to be this World Cup's Senegal and go all the way to the quarter finals at least and even if they are not able to win the World Cup, I won't rule out Samuel Eto'o collecting yet one more medal even if that medal is the bronze medal. Nevertheless, history would have been made for Africa if that happens. Also, despite everyone claiming that Eto'o has started to dwindle and that they cite Mourinho moving him back to play on the flanks for Inter in the recently concluded club season, I would still say that at 29, Eto'o is still pretty much at the peak of his powers, and he will play really well as a striker for his country and he will score plenty of goals as Cameroon charges for glory!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Likelihood of an African World Cup 2010 Winner (Part 1/2)
One day before the much anticipated and awaited World Cup 2010, the very first World Cup held in Africa. Just like People's Republic of China in 2008 Olympic games, this is the time for South Africa, a country that had a bleak reputation for its notorious Apartheid era, to show to the world just how they have gone from such a bleak era to rapid, harmonious, and stable growth. Same goes to the African continent in general, this is the event to show the world that Africa is on par with the rest of the world. The greatest footballer but not so great predictor Pele had predicted before the turn of the century that the world will be seeing an African Champion right after the aforementioned turn of the century, which is 2002 World Cup. But, a decade into the 21st century, we have yet to see a World champion hailing from a continent other than Europe and South America. Since this World Cup is one which is finally staged in Africa, we might well see the first African team to win the arguably pinnacle of International football. Six African teams, dubbed the “Six-Pack” by pundits all over the world will be vying to be the first nation to win the World Cup as well as to become the first African country(s) to surpass Cameroon's record in 1990 to go beyond the quarter-finals. These teams are (in no particular order for now) Algeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, hosts South Africa, and last but not least Nigeria. These countries have gone a long way in football and a look at their squad would reveal names of players who are so familiar to all of us football fans such as Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto'o, Carlos Kameni, and many more. It seems that everything has been set in stone for an African country to win the World Cup on African soil. It would be even more romantic than Mourinho's Champions League triumph in his new club's stadium. Assuming that an African country is poised to win the World Cup, which of the six countries are the likeliest to win the competition? It would be analyzed below from the least likely team to win it to the most likely African team to win it.
The first African team, and the one least likely to win the World Cup is Algeria. Starting from the household names, Algeria have the least number of household names in comparison to the other countries. The biggest names in this Algerian squad are Karim Ziani of Wolfsburg and Nadir Belhadj and Hassan Yebda of Portsmouth (the latter on loan from Benfica). That's not to say that players' reputation alone will be the sole factor of a team's success in the World Cup, but on paper, that's the case. While there's no denying that Algeria has done a lot to reach South Africa judging from their amazing qualification campaign in which they had exhausted all tie-breakers in the group with Egypt to determine who qualifies to the World Cup and thus had to play Egypt one more time in a neutral venue (later determined to be Sudan). That was the last thing that both countries want as they had fought cataclysmic battles in the two matches against each other and also marred with extreme crowd troubles. The last match was won by Algeria, again in a very controversial and marred with crowd troubles, although the Egyptians would get their revenge in the African Nations Cup 2010 in Angola when they beat the Algerians 4-0 en route to their triumph in Angola. In any case, Algeria will be in the World Cup, and their group will not be easy. They have been drawn with England, USA, and Slovenia. This group is expected to be a foregone conclusion as England and USA are massive favorites to clinch the 1st and 2nd place respectively to progress to the last 16. Rabah Saadane will have to utilize his tactical prowess and vast footballing experience in order to spring an upset and knock one of the favorites (England or USA) and progress to the next round to go on to win the whole thing. Although they might well go through if they are able to clinch a victory against Slovenia in their opening match and at least grab 1 point from their subsequent encounters with USA and England. Even that is already unlikely, and even if they manage to do the impossible and go through to the last 16, they might well be knocked out against the likes of Germany or Australia or Serbia. Thus, although anything can happen in football, it would be a task too tall to go beyond the quarter finals, let alone winning the World Cup. Well, unless Pele suddenly publicly predicts that Algeria will be the whipping boys of Group C, and they might well win the World Cup!!! (Curse of Pele, infamous and well documented football “curse”)
The second least likely team to win the World Cup is none other than Nigeria. But they have a much bigger chance than Algeria to do so, that's for sure. Their hopes will hinge on players such as Obafemi Martins, Peter Odemwingie, Aiyegbeni Yakubu, and the aging but the ever reliable Kanu. The Super Eagles have not been soaring in world football of late. Missing the last edition of World Cup with frequent changes in management and various other problems such as difficulties in unearthing new Nigerian superstars. Although the Super Eagles might have been experiencing a renaissance of late, clinching the third place in the African Nations Cup 2010, the frequent management changes still go on as the previous manager Shaibu Amodu was sacked despite the third place finish and the Swede Lars Lagerback was appointed in February. Despite having quite a solid squad with a few eyebrow raising names in the squad, the fact that they don't have that “X-Factor” especially in the form of a new prodigy entering the scene as well as an established megastar in the squad, and also compounded by the fact that the manager only has 3 full months before the tournament proper to get to know all the players in the squad as well as trying to acclimatize himself to them, and also imparting his footballing philosophies to his players. There are too many problems in the Nigerian squad for them to win this World Cup. Although Group B is quite an open group with the seemingly erratic Argentina (although I beg to differ), South Korea and Greece. In any case, it is going to be hard with their key player John Obi Mikel injured. In my opinion, it is an open battle for South Korea, Greece, and Nigeria to fight it out to join Argentina to go through to the next round. However, despite what I said earlier about how Nigeria have a bigger chance than Algeria to win this one, but that's purely based on logic and paper analysis. Also, even if they are really more likely to triumph, it would still be too much for them to even match Cameroon 1990's progress to the quarter-finals, let alone winning the World Cup, just like how I concluded for Algeria previously.
Next is Ivory Coast, an African team I would consider to be the England of Africa. Star-studded: check. Overrated: check, Perennial favorites: check, wilting when everyone expects them to shine: check, Sven Goran Eriksson: CHECK! That's Ivory Coast for you. Don't get me started to list the big names that they have, before I could even mash my keyboards, I am already so starstruck that I am stunned! Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, Aruna Dindane, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho, the list goes on and on and on! Ask any ordinary fans out there about the title of this article, and I believe every single one of them would point out that Ivory Coast is by far the most likely African team to triumph, and they might even suggest that Ivory Coast will certainly win the World Cup 2010! However, from history, their patterns in the past tournament which prompted me to place the “England of Africa” tag on them Ivory Coast will fall short of expectations. If you expect them to win the World Cup, they would fall in the quarter finals, if you expect them to go through comfortably to the last 16, they would be humiliated in the Group Stage. In terms of firepower and star names, Ivory Coast have everything. Just like their nickname, they are like a giant indomitable elephant that will steamroll over anything and everything. But just like the real elephant which loses to small ants, Ivory Coast is also prone to be shocked by teams that they expect to beat comfortably (North Korea for this case). Also, if Lars Lagerback has 3 months before the start of the World Cup, his fellow Swede Sven Goran Eriksson only has less than 2 months to get used to the Ivory Coast squad and for the squad to get used to him and his style. This will certainly further impede the country's chances of finally living up to their expectations and sheer star-studdedness and firepower. One more thing which would impede them is the fact that just like in World Cup 2006, they are once again drawn in the competition's Group of Death with massive favorites Brazil and Portugal (to go through to the next round at least) and the unknown quantity and potential surprise package North Korea. No matter what, it is really hard to see both Brazil and Portugal go through to the next round of the competition. If all of these are still not enough, Ivory Coast still have one more problem, one which many would argue the biggest problem of them all. Didier Drogba , the player expected to be the sole bastion of hope for Ivory Coast to succeed suffered a broken right elbow in the recent warm-up match against Japan. Although he is expected to recover on time and the worst is for him to miss their first match against Portugal, it is enough to kill Ivory Coast's hopes of going through the group. Even if Drogba recovers on time, a player who has just recovered from an injury will not be at 100%, and it would be too much for Drogba, or any player for that matter to carry the weight of a nation on his own. Besides, totally depending on a 32 year old who might be featuring in his last ever World Cup in his career, superstar he might be, to bring the country to World Cup glory is not a good sign. Just like Nigeria and Algeria especially, they would do well to survive the Group Stage, and they are not somewhere in the first two paragraphs only because of the fact that they are in the Group of Death. Too bad Ivory Coast...
Next is Ghana. The Black Stars have enjoyed a meteoric rise to the footballing elites mainly due to their strong exploits in World Cup 2006 and also strong European contingent such as Sulley Ali Muntari, Stephan Appiah, and Michael Essien. Also, their under-20 team (the Black Satellites) have recently just clinched the World Under-20 title. Signs of big things to come for the West African nation? Not so easy. Their players' reputation cannot be undoubted. I would say they are even close to on par with Ivory Coast. But, just like Ivory Coast and Nigeria, Ghana is also feeling the brunt of the “Chelsea World Cup curse” as just like Ivory Coast, Ghana will not be with the player who is carrying the nation's weight on his own, Michael Essien. It is even worse as unlike Ivory Coast, Essien will be missing the whole tournament. Also, just like Ivory Coast, they are in a difficult group with Germany, Australia, and Serbia. This group is as open as it could be, in which in my opinion, any permutations and combinations of those teams can pan out at the end of the three match-days of the group. However, I would say that as much as they are likely to go far in the tournament, Ghana is also likely to fall short in the Group Stage. Why? The main reason is that although many people are still under the illusion of the fluid and great looking Ghana team in 2006, we have to accept that in four years time between two World Cups anything could happen and so much at that. One example would be that Adriano was tipped to be the next best player in the world in 2006, and now Adriano is considered a wasted player trying to rescue his fledgling and shaky career. Just like that, and thus, this Ghana team is now in a transition period between the old guards of 2006 and the new guards mostly consisting of the players featured in the under-20 triumph. Transition periods are never fun, again just ask Arsene Wenger, and thus Ghana is no exception. A glance at the current Ghana squad reveals a seemingly eclectic combination of the old guards and the new boys. However, in the actual fact, the transition from old to new is not that smooth, as there's a gaping gap between the group of old guards and the new boys. The former is a group of aging players with alarming dip in form, especially Stephan Appiah, and even the usually reliable keeper Richard Kingson has been labelled “shaky” in recent times. On the other hand, the new boys from the under-20 team who have just been promoted to the senior squad are too raw and inexperienced to feature at this level. I mean, winning a youth tournament is one thing, but winning a proper senior tournament is another thing altogether. Besides, it is too early to judge the potential of the players as there have been so many players all over the world who have starred in the youth championships, but failed to make the next step to superstardom and they settle to become average and mediocre players instead. Even if they do have the potential to become world beaters, their current ability at this stage will not enable them to excel at the senior level, not so soon. One notable example would be Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe. Thus, this team would need another 4 years at least to get over the transition period properly, then if the players from the under-20 triumphant squad really fulfill their potentials, then Ghana can dream of winning the World Cup in Brazil, but definitely not this year. Just like Ivory Coast, even going through the Group Stage is not a shoe-in. Thus, even Ghana, as one of the favorites are not really favorites and I would not be surprised if they are knocked out early despite all the hype.
The first African team, and the one least likely to win the World Cup is Algeria. Starting from the household names, Algeria have the least number of household names in comparison to the other countries. The biggest names in this Algerian squad are Karim Ziani of Wolfsburg and Nadir Belhadj and Hassan Yebda of Portsmouth (the latter on loan from Benfica). That's not to say that players' reputation alone will be the sole factor of a team's success in the World Cup, but on paper, that's the case. While there's no denying that Algeria has done a lot to reach South Africa judging from their amazing qualification campaign in which they had exhausted all tie-breakers in the group with Egypt to determine who qualifies to the World Cup and thus had to play Egypt one more time in a neutral venue (later determined to be Sudan). That was the last thing that both countries want as they had fought cataclysmic battles in the two matches against each other and also marred with extreme crowd troubles. The last match was won by Algeria, again in a very controversial and marred with crowd troubles, although the Egyptians would get their revenge in the African Nations Cup 2010 in Angola when they beat the Algerians 4-0 en route to their triumph in Angola. In any case, Algeria will be in the World Cup, and their group will not be easy. They have been drawn with England, USA, and Slovenia. This group is expected to be a foregone conclusion as England and USA are massive favorites to clinch the 1st and 2nd place respectively to progress to the last 16. Rabah Saadane will have to utilize his tactical prowess and vast footballing experience in order to spring an upset and knock one of the favorites (England or USA) and progress to the next round to go on to win the whole thing. Although they might well go through if they are able to clinch a victory against Slovenia in their opening match and at least grab 1 point from their subsequent encounters with USA and England. Even that is already unlikely, and even if they manage to do the impossible and go through to the last 16, they might well be knocked out against the likes of Germany or Australia or Serbia. Thus, although anything can happen in football, it would be a task too tall to go beyond the quarter finals, let alone winning the World Cup. Well, unless Pele suddenly publicly predicts that Algeria will be the whipping boys of Group C, and they might well win the World Cup!!! (Curse of Pele, infamous and well documented football “curse”)
The second least likely team to win the World Cup is none other than Nigeria. But they have a much bigger chance than Algeria to do so, that's for sure. Their hopes will hinge on players such as Obafemi Martins, Peter Odemwingie, Aiyegbeni Yakubu, and the aging but the ever reliable Kanu. The Super Eagles have not been soaring in world football of late. Missing the last edition of World Cup with frequent changes in management and various other problems such as difficulties in unearthing new Nigerian superstars. Although the Super Eagles might have been experiencing a renaissance of late, clinching the third place in the African Nations Cup 2010, the frequent management changes still go on as the previous manager Shaibu Amodu was sacked despite the third place finish and the Swede Lars Lagerback was appointed in February. Despite having quite a solid squad with a few eyebrow raising names in the squad, the fact that they don't have that “X-Factor” especially in the form of a new prodigy entering the scene as well as an established megastar in the squad, and also compounded by the fact that the manager only has 3 full months before the tournament proper to get to know all the players in the squad as well as trying to acclimatize himself to them, and also imparting his footballing philosophies to his players. There are too many problems in the Nigerian squad for them to win this World Cup. Although Group B is quite an open group with the seemingly erratic Argentina (although I beg to differ), South Korea and Greece. In any case, it is going to be hard with their key player John Obi Mikel injured. In my opinion, it is an open battle for South Korea, Greece, and Nigeria to fight it out to join Argentina to go through to the next round. However, despite what I said earlier about how Nigeria have a bigger chance than Algeria to win this one, but that's purely based on logic and paper analysis. Also, even if they are really more likely to triumph, it would still be too much for them to even match Cameroon 1990's progress to the quarter-finals, let alone winning the World Cup, just like how I concluded for Algeria previously.
Next is Ivory Coast, an African team I would consider to be the England of Africa. Star-studded: check. Overrated: check, Perennial favorites: check, wilting when everyone expects them to shine: check, Sven Goran Eriksson: CHECK! That's Ivory Coast for you. Don't get me started to list the big names that they have, before I could even mash my keyboards, I am already so starstruck that I am stunned! Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure, Yaya Toure, Aruna Dindane, Salomon Kalou, Gervinho, the list goes on and on and on! Ask any ordinary fans out there about the title of this article, and I believe every single one of them would point out that Ivory Coast is by far the most likely African team to triumph, and they might even suggest that Ivory Coast will certainly win the World Cup 2010! However, from history, their patterns in the past tournament which prompted me to place the “England of Africa” tag on them Ivory Coast will fall short of expectations. If you expect them to win the World Cup, they would fall in the quarter finals, if you expect them to go through comfortably to the last 16, they would be humiliated in the Group Stage. In terms of firepower and star names, Ivory Coast have everything. Just like their nickname, they are like a giant indomitable elephant that will steamroll over anything and everything. But just like the real elephant which loses to small ants, Ivory Coast is also prone to be shocked by teams that they expect to beat comfortably (North Korea for this case). Also, if Lars Lagerback has 3 months before the start of the World Cup, his fellow Swede Sven Goran Eriksson only has less than 2 months to get used to the Ivory Coast squad and for the squad to get used to him and his style. This will certainly further impede the country's chances of finally living up to their expectations and sheer star-studdedness and firepower. One more thing which would impede them is the fact that just like in World Cup 2006, they are once again drawn in the competition's Group of Death with massive favorites Brazil and Portugal (to go through to the next round at least) and the unknown quantity and potential surprise package North Korea. No matter what, it is really hard to see both Brazil and Portugal go through to the next round of the competition. If all of these are still not enough, Ivory Coast still have one more problem, one which many would argue the biggest problem of them all. Didier Drogba , the player expected to be the sole bastion of hope for Ivory Coast to succeed suffered a broken right elbow in the recent warm-up match against Japan. Although he is expected to recover on time and the worst is for him to miss their first match against Portugal, it is enough to kill Ivory Coast's hopes of going through the group. Even if Drogba recovers on time, a player who has just recovered from an injury will not be at 100%, and it would be too much for Drogba, or any player for that matter to carry the weight of a nation on his own. Besides, totally depending on a 32 year old who might be featuring in his last ever World Cup in his career, superstar he might be, to bring the country to World Cup glory is not a good sign. Just like Nigeria and Algeria especially, they would do well to survive the Group Stage, and they are not somewhere in the first two paragraphs only because of the fact that they are in the Group of Death. Too bad Ivory Coast...
Next is Ghana. The Black Stars have enjoyed a meteoric rise to the footballing elites mainly due to their strong exploits in World Cup 2006 and also strong European contingent such as Sulley Ali Muntari, Stephan Appiah, and Michael Essien. Also, their under-20 team (the Black Satellites) have recently just clinched the World Under-20 title. Signs of big things to come for the West African nation? Not so easy. Their players' reputation cannot be undoubted. I would say they are even close to on par with Ivory Coast. But, just like Ivory Coast and Nigeria, Ghana is also feeling the brunt of the “Chelsea World Cup curse” as just like Ivory Coast, Ghana will not be with the player who is carrying the nation's weight on his own, Michael Essien. It is even worse as unlike Ivory Coast, Essien will be missing the whole tournament. Also, just like Ivory Coast, they are in a difficult group with Germany, Australia, and Serbia. This group is as open as it could be, in which in my opinion, any permutations and combinations of those teams can pan out at the end of the three match-days of the group. However, I would say that as much as they are likely to go far in the tournament, Ghana is also likely to fall short in the Group Stage. Why? The main reason is that although many people are still under the illusion of the fluid and great looking Ghana team in 2006, we have to accept that in four years time between two World Cups anything could happen and so much at that. One example would be that Adriano was tipped to be the next best player in the world in 2006, and now Adriano is considered a wasted player trying to rescue his fledgling and shaky career. Just like that, and thus, this Ghana team is now in a transition period between the old guards of 2006 and the new guards mostly consisting of the players featured in the under-20 triumph. Transition periods are never fun, again just ask Arsene Wenger, and thus Ghana is no exception. A glance at the current Ghana squad reveals a seemingly eclectic combination of the old guards and the new boys. However, in the actual fact, the transition from old to new is not that smooth, as there's a gaping gap between the group of old guards and the new boys. The former is a group of aging players with alarming dip in form, especially Stephan Appiah, and even the usually reliable keeper Richard Kingson has been labelled “shaky” in recent times. On the other hand, the new boys from the under-20 team who have just been promoted to the senior squad are too raw and inexperienced to feature at this level. I mean, winning a youth tournament is one thing, but winning a proper senior tournament is another thing altogether. Besides, it is too early to judge the potential of the players as there have been so many players all over the world who have starred in the youth championships, but failed to make the next step to superstardom and they settle to become average and mediocre players instead. Even if they do have the potential to become world beaters, their current ability at this stage will not enable them to excel at the senior level, not so soon. One notable example would be Real Madrid's Royston Drenthe. Thus, this team would need another 4 years at least to get over the transition period properly, then if the players from the under-20 triumphant squad really fulfill their potentials, then Ghana can dream of winning the World Cup in Brazil, but definitely not this year. Just like Ivory Coast, even going through the Group Stage is not a shoe-in. Thus, even Ghana, as one of the favorites are not really favorites and I would not be surprised if they are knocked out early despite all the hype.
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