Africa’s World Cup on African Soil

When FIFA decided to give the World Cup 2010 to Africa it sounded like good news. Africa saw it as the much needed opportunity to make a statement and make history following the steps of Japan and South Korea who both got to the round of 16 and semi finals respectively in 2002 when they co-hosted the World Cup. For the first time, Africa would have six teams representing the continent in the World Cup. Expectation was high leading up to the event, South Africa was the destination and the world was getting ready for history in the making. 10stadiums in 9cities will host the 64games of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The six teams that qualified to represent Africa in the 2010 World Cup were, Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria and of course the host South Africa. These are supposed to be the best teams in Africa at the moment, save for Egypt who got eliminated by Algeria in a play-off played in Sudan after both had tied during the Qualifiers. Predictions had it that at least one African team would make it to the Semi-Finals this time, having the home advantage. Here is a breakdown of the African team’s performance in the 2010 world cup in order of how they got eliminated.


Cameroon (19)

Grouped along with The Netherlands, Japan and Denmark in group E, Cameroon is just about the most disappointing African team in the 2010 World Cup. The Indomitable Lions got eliminated after just two group games despite the fact that they were the highest ranked African team going into the World Cup. A disappointing (0-1) loss to Japan in the first game and another (1-2) loss to Demark in the second left the Indomitable Lions with no chance of qualifying, going into the final match of the group games against the European super powers Netherlands, which they eventually lost (1-2), leaving them with no points and condemning them to the bottom spot of a group that they were touted to come out from easily.


South Africa (83)

Grouped alongside France, Uruguay and Mexico in group A, South Africa became the first host team in World Cup history to get eliminated from the competition in the first round. The Bafana Bafana team with determination and heart, well prepared for the competition by their Brazilian legend coach Zico tied (1-1) with Mexico in the World Cup opener on June 11. A disappointing (0-3) loss to Uruguay in the second game of the group happened to be the spoiler for the host team, meaning they had to win the 1998 World Cup Champions France by at least 3 goals in the final game and hope that the other game of the group between Uruguay and Mexico didn’t end in a tie. Uruguay won the game, but the hosts could not capitalize on the opportunity as they could only manage a (2-1) win over France; a score line which was not enough to get them through. South Africa finished with 4points behind Uruguay (7) and Mexico (4). France finished last with 1point.


Nigeria (21)

Nigeria had a fairly decent grouping with South Korea, Greece and Argentina drawn with them in group B. Just like Cameroon, the Super Eagles of Nigeria lost the first two games (0-1) to Argentina and (1-2) to Greece, but unlike their African brothers still had a chance to go through to the round of 16 with a win over the South Koreans, hoping that Argentina would win Greece. Argentina did their part of the job but Nigeria blew the opportunity, managing only a (2-2) tie with the Koreans, which guaranteed the Asians a spot in the knock out round ahead of the Africans who finished bottom of the group earning just 1point, with Argentina (9), South Korea (4) and Greece (3). The world Cup disappointment consequently led to the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s removal of the national team from international competitions for two years, before the decision was eventually rescinded.


Algeria (30)

Grouped alongside England, USA and Slovenia in group C. The Dessert Warriors were given little chance to make it through to the round of 16. Being the only African team in the World Cup with an African coach, Algeria never really disappointed. Their strong defensive play made it difficult for their opponents to break them down. An error by the Algerian goalkeeper gave Slovenian a slim (0-1) win over the North Africans. A goalless draw with England in the second game gave them a slim chance of qualifying for the knock out rounds if they could win the USA, and hope that Slovenia beats fellow Europeans England, but that was not meant to be, as Landon Donovan scored the lone goal for the American’s in stoppage time to shoot them top of the group ahead of England who had defeated Slovenia (1-0) in the other final group game. Algeria finished with 1point, followed by Slovenia (4), England (5) and USA (5).


Cote D’Ivoire (27)

Arguably the most talented African team of recent times, drawn in the so called “Group of Death” along with Brazil, Portugal and North Korea in group G, the Elephants knew the number of goals scored against the Asians might be the tie breaker in this group and they were not far from that. A goalless opening game against Portugal and a (1-3) loss to Brazil meant that the Didier Drogba led team would need to beat North Korea by as much as (8-0), hoping that Brazil beats Portugal in the last game to stand a chance of progressing, since Portugal had beaten the Asians (7-0) in their second game. The Elephants only managed a (3-0) win over the Asians which would not matter anyway, as Brazil and Portugal had tied goalless in the other group game. Cote D’Ivoire finished third in the group with 4points, Brazil (7), Portugal (5) and North Korea (0).


Ghana (32)

Being the youngest team in the World Cup and grouped along with Germany, Serbia and Australia in group D, the Black Stars knew they had a huge job on their hands to make it thorough and they started it all right with a (1-0) win against the more favoured Serbians. A (1-1) tie against a 10man Australia that they should have won put the 4time African Champions in a position where they had to get a point off Germany who desperately needed a win in the last game to go through. Germany won the game (1-0), but with the help of a (2-1) Australia win over the Serbians, Ghana managed to make it through behind Germany to the round of 16 with 4points, setting up a clash with the USA in one of the most entertaining games of the World Cup 2010, earning a (2-1) Victory after extra time to end the American dream, thanks an Asamoah Gyan extra time strike. A Quarter final match-up against Uruguay birthed the chance of seeing an African team progress to the Semi-final, but the match ended with the African’s heart broken. With the game stuck at (1-1) in the last minute of extra time, Ghana’s goal bound ball was handled on the goal-line by Suarez of Uruguay, earning him a red card, a game suspension and a penalty for Ghana. Asamoah Gyan booted the penalty against the cross-bar in the last shot of the game, swinging the momentum to the South American team’s favor going into penalty shootouts. Ghana lost (2-4) on penalties to became the third African team to get eliminated in the quarter finals of the World Cup after Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002).


With only one team out of six making it out of the first round, this was not the kind of World Cup the African teams expected, but on the lighter side, Africa would be proud to have brought 32 of the best footballing nations of the world, hundreds of top-class players and thousands of passionate fans all around the world together for this amazing spectacle. Two new terms that would be taken away this World Cup are… “Vuvuzela” and “Jabulani”. Vuvuzela is a horn, very noisy, sounds like the buzzing of bees, while watching on TV. Vuvuzela was used by many spectators in various colours of the teams they represented at the World Cup. Jabulani is the name of the special ball used for the World Cup 2010 to suit the high altitude in South Africa.


Congratulations to South Africa for giving the world a World Cup to remember; filled with action and drama. Congratulations to Ghana for carrying the African flag with pride all the way to the quarter final. Big thanks to all the players, officials and crew that sacrificed to represent African in this World Cup. Let’s do it better come Brazil 2014.


© DK

Nigeria’s 2010 Post-World Cup Submit

They were called the “new look” Super Eagles,
They were said to be blossoming with confidence like never before,
They said they have found the right man to take us to the promise land,
They even said they were going as far as the World Cup Semi-Finals.
But NONE of these were seen.


After three 2010 World Cup games, the only history they could make was stretch Nigeria’s winless world cup games to 8straight, taking the last world cup win back to a (1-0) win over Bulgeria on June 19th, 1998 (12years ago) in Paris with a 26th minute Victor Ikpeba goal. Since then Nigeria has lost 7games and tied 2 in the World Cup.

This is a team that qualified for the World Cup 2010 with no defeats, even though it took a last day drama to get through. A team accused of not having technical depth. A team that in January kept 3 clean sheets in the 6 games played at the African cup of Nations in Angola coached by Amodu Shuaibu, along with as many clean sheets in the World Cup qualifiers.


All of a sudden this same team has started leaking goals like a basket that can’t hold water. Conceded at least a goal in the last 5games, out of the 6games led by the new coach Lars Lagerback, and only won 1game under the new coach out of 6games; a (3-1) win over the 105th ranked team in the world, North Korea in a friendly game, a week before the commencement of the World Cup. Where is the technical edge now?


Now after defeats to Argentina & Greece, and a disappointing tie with South Korea in the World Cup, where does this once great footballing nation turn now? Nigeria might not have the level and top class players they used to have back in 1998 when they won their last World Cup game, but one encouraging factor is the fact that Nigeria has got many young talented players coming through. The heroics of Goal keeper Vincent Enyeama has brought him to the world’s attention. Youngsters like Nsofor, Lukman, Obasi, Mikel etc. still show that there is a bright future for this team.


With no major tournaments left for the National team until the 2012 Nations cup. Its time the team is rebuilt on young talented and energetic players with a blend of committed experienced ones. Based on these facts, Lagerback’s job is done and should not be resigned. A coach like Samson Siasia, who has brought up young players, knows them well and had multiple successes with them is the man to do this rebuilding job. If this is done, by 2012 Nations Cup, we have a strong cohesive team, and by Brazil 2014, we can be at our very best to reclaim our position on top of the world’s football nations.


By DK

Nigeria Vs Greece Match Analysis from Nigeria's point of view.

Coach Lagerback's Undoing:

1. You have your most defensive midfielder shown a red card.
2. You watched the opposing coach bring up a deadly attacker immediately after that.
3. You watched for 10minutes as they controlled the game and came closer to scoring on several occasions and did absolutely nothing.
4. Two times it took over 2 minutes to make a substitution with 8men playing on the pitch. Anything could have happened any second at those times.

I'm not a coach, but I'm wise enough to know that since I had a goal advantage and Greece had made a positive change that is getting closer to producing a goal, I had to bring in another defensive midfielder (Ayila) for Uche immediately to cut out the Greeks possession and control.

If he had done that, Greece would not have scored an equalizer and we might be talking about defeat right now.


Indiscipline:

Kaita is the biggest culprit of this loss. Before he acted stupid, the Super Eagles seemed to have had the game on the lock. His irresponsible act cost the team the game and probably the tournament. I'm sure many Nigerians will never forgive him for this heartbreak.


Lack of Communication in defense:

Time and time again, I watched the defense breakdown in communication. Most especially between Yobo and Enyeama. Seemed like all these defenders never knew each other before now. I saw so much space out of the box with defenders backing out and opening so much chance for shots. If Greece had players like Diego Forlan (URU) like I saw yesterday, it would have been another story.



In-ablitly to take advantage of chances:

When you are a man down and you get an open goal, you have to score with no exceptions but Obasi did not do that (Uche was guilty of that in the last game as well). That could have been a turning point in a game that looked like it was gonna be lost. That is what makes teams like Italy, Germany and even Greece great.


Credit:

The Dependable Enyeama. A spill from him cost a second goal, but we all knew it would only be a matter of time before the goal would come. Yakubu was lonely, yet strong in there and Odiah was also good.


With 2 games already lost, all that is left is a mathematical chance of Nigeria beating S.Korea well and Argentina Smashing Greece. The final drama would be unfolded on Tuesday. All the best to the Super Eagles.


By DK