World Cup - African debate
For the second time in history, Brazil will be hosting the FIFA World Cup. The first time that the FIFA World Cup was hosted in Brazil was in 1950. This country is only one of five to have hosted the tournament twice. The others are Mexico, Italy, France and Germany.
National teams and soccer fans from around the globe will travel to Brazil's 12 host cities. An estimated one-billion people will watch the World Cup's opening match between the host nation and Croatia, with 500 000 more expected to descend upon Brazil to observe the games in person.
The 32 teams competing in Brazil have now selected their World Cup squads. There were late withdrawals (like France’s Franck Ribéry, the most prominent of them, and late injury concerns for England’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Germany’s Marco Reus to mention a few), but there will be 736 players there to compete for the most coveted trophy in the game.
Moment of Truth for Africa
In 2010 we saw the Black Stars of Ghana progress beyond the World Cup group stage. They reached the quarter-finals in South Africa and were eventually knocked out by Uruguay.
Ghana are in Group G with the likes of USA, Germany and Portugal. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Black Stars managed to beat USA 2-1 in South Africa, but lost to Germany. Football pundits have predicted that Ghana will not progress beyond the group stage in Brazil. With their young squad and the fighting spirit they have shown in the previous tournament, it is safe to say this will be no doubt one of the toughest groups at the 2014 World Cup.
An African country that may surprise the world is Algeria. They are ranked number one in Africa and 22nd in the world. The Fennec Foxes, as they are affectionately known, will be making their fourth World Cup appearance and they will be looking to improve on their dismal performance at the 2010 World Cup where they exited without scoring a single goal. Algerians will be hoping to cause at upset similar to the class of 1982. At that World Cup in Spain they defeated West Germany 2-1. Algeria are in the same 2014 group as Korea Republic, Russia and Belgium.
The Cameroon national team will be looking to put the bonus scandal behind them and focus on the job at hand when they start their campaign against Mexico on June 13. The Indomitable Lions have qualified for the World Cup on seven occasions - more than any other African country. Cameroon is in the same group as Brazil, Croatia and Mexico.
Former Nigeria captain turned national coach, Stephen Keshi, will be hoping for a better performance from his troops, after losing to the USA in their preparation match on Saturday. The Super Eagles will face Iran in their opening World Cup match on June 16. The Super Eagles are returning to Brazil after participating in Confederations Cup last year, hoping to do better than the four previous showings at this event. Nigeria are in Group F along with Argentina, Iran and World Cup debutantes Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Ivory Coast are ranked number two in Africa and 23 in the world. Elephants fans are beginning to wonder if this will be their last realistic chance to make their mark on the international scene. The likes of Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, Kolo Toure and Didier Zokora have played important roles in title races over the past decade. They are all capable players and they are all over the age of 30. After being blessed with a so-called golden generation of players, the national team has reaped frustratingly little success out of it, though at club level the same players have triumphed in spectacular fashion. For this reason, and for the the fact that many of their players are exceptionally good and fun to watch, Ivory Coast are a team that I will be rooting for. If they do advance to the knockout stages, it will be for the first time in the country's history after two previous attempts. Ivory Coast are in Group C alongside Greece, Colombia and Japan.
(File Photo:Gallo Images)
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