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
