 |
| Return to Previous Page |
|
|
African Football
2002 World Cup African Football Update Music is a special treasure. It can exist in the darkest alleys and in the grandest ballrooms. It provokes in people a feeling of unfettered passion and intense discomfort. It is a beautiful and unifying force. Only one other thing on this planet has this same power: football. The World Cup Kicks off in South Korea on May 31, and the excitement is building. Since the qualifying campaign began in March of 2000, the world has been scrambling for the 32 coveted spots in the tournament. France 1998 was the first World Cup to involve 32 nations, thus increasing the treachery of the tournament. Each of the world's six regions (Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, Oceania, and North/Central America/ Caribbean) will send a certain number of teams specified by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the international governing body of football. The World Cup qualifications are the process of determining who will represent each region. For the continent of Africa, the 32-nation format is a valuable opportunity as it provides for five African nations to compete on the greatest global stage. The 50 countries who entered the initial qualifications were whittled down to 25 for the second round. Those 25 were divided into five groups of five teams. The winners of these five groups are World Cup-bound. In fact, all five teams have already proven themselves: They are Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria and Cameroon. Here are their stories. The darling of the qualifications, Senegal is the only African nation heading to their first World Cup. It has been an amazing year for the Lions and their coach Bruno Metsu who, in an October friendly (a match of no consequence), beat Japan, a tough team who reached the Confederations Cup Final in June only to lose 1-0 to reigning world champs France. Composed mainly of French First Division players, Senegal topped their fierce qualifying group of Morocco, Egypt, Algeria and Namibia. Morocco has participated in three World Cups and Algeria, two. Senegal dispensed of Morocco in front of 60,000 fans in Dakar in July with a single strike from Africa's leading scorer, Al Hadji Diouf. Then, with the same points and goal differential as Egypt, Senegal played Namibia on the same July day that Egypt played Algeria. While Egypt could only manage 1-1 tie, the Lions crushed their opponents 5-0 with goals from Pape Thiaw (2), El Hadji Diouf, Khalilou Fadiga, and Moussa N'Diaye. They can now pack their bags for Korea. For South Africa and Portuguese coach Carlos Queiro, the journey to their second World Cup was less of a test. Bafana Bafana's group of Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Malawi and Guinea was cut down to four when the feared Guinea team was expelled for failing to meet FIFA demands regarding their football federation. South Africa won all of their games except a 1-1 tie with Burkina Faso in July. Earlier in the campaign, Bafana Bafana played Zimbabwe in Harare, and when striker Delron Buckley scored his second, game winning goal in the 82nd minute, the Zimabwean fans rioted, police fired tear gas and 13 people were killed. Aside from this tragedy, the South Africans qualified for their second World Cup with relative ease. France 1998 was their first World Cup, in which they placed third in their first round group. Tunisia, the skilled North African team did not have much trouble topping their group of Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, and Madagascar. First Italian coach Francescdo Scoglio and then German coach Eckhard Krautzen guided the team through an undefeated qualifying campaign highlighted by a 6-0 home win over Congo and a 3-0 victory in DR Congo, their worst ever home defeat. This will be Tunisia's third World Cup. Their first was Argentina 1978 when they made history by beating Mexico 3-1, which was the first World Cup victory for an African nation. Tunisia placed last in their group in France 1998. Nigeria has been one of the more dangerous African nations of the last decade. In USA 1994, their first World Cup, after topping their group of Argentina, Bulgaria and Greece, Nigeria lost a tight 2-1 game to Italy in the second round. Two years later, the Super Eagles won the gold medal at the Olympic games in Seoul, but did not live up to expectations when they were knocked out of the second round of France 1998 by Denmark. Despite their history, the route to their third World Cup was quite a task for the Super Eagles of Nigeria. After losing 1-0 to Sierra Leone in April and 2-1 to George Weah's Liberia in July, Nigeria needed to win their game against Ghana in order to qualify instead of Liberia. Luckily, Ghana's European based players failed to show and the Super Eagles won the game 3-0 in front of 16,000 fans in their own Liberty Stadium. Now qualified for their fifth World Cup, Cameroon continues to be Africa's all time most successful team. Of recent times, they are the reigning African Nations Cup champs and hold the gold medal from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Their first World Cup competition was Spain 1982 when they tied Italy, the cup's eventual winner and were eliminated only on goal difference. Italy 1990 was a great tournament for the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon as they beat the defending world champs, Argentina on the opening day and were the first African nation to make it to the quarterfinals where they dramatically lost 3-2 to England in extra time. This tournament saw the rise of Cameroon's, if not Africa's best ever player, Roger Milla (no relation to the musician), who had four goals in Italy. Cameroon only managed the first round in USA 1994 but Milla became the oldest ever player (and goal scorer) in a World Cup at the age of 42. Cameroon again went out in the first round of France 1998 and now French coach Robert Cortou, Cameroon's fourth coach during qualifications, hopes to do better in this, their fifth appearance. In qualifications, they won six out of eight games, losing 2-0 to Angola in May and tying Zambia in July. The game that qualified the Indomitable Lions over Angola was a 2-0 win over Togo in which the African Footballer of the year, Patrick Mboma and Samuel Eto'o each scored. With the qualifications now behind them, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria and Cameroon are now occupied with the preparatory phase of the World Cup. With the African Nations Cup to commence in Mali in January, foreign-based players not being able to take time off from their clubs, and a host of other obstacles, including coach selection and financial issues, this process of team building can be rushed and insubstantial. After the World Cup Draw, when the tournament's groups are selected, in Busan, Republic of Korea on December 1, it is only a matter of months before the nations of the world meet on the football field. The African nations, looking more and more dangerous with each year, will all be teams to look out for. NOTE: Stay tuned to Afropop.org for a follow up feature on the African Nations Cup in Mali this January. LINKS
FIFA, the world soccer federation, info on African nations
The Confédération Africaine de Football official website
A great website with links and photos for all African nations Tunisia
Official Tunisian National Team website
Another Tunisian team website with lots of photos Cameroon
FIFA's info about Cameroon
A site with great photos of Cameroon as well as other African teams South Africa
Official South African National Team website Nigeria
Site with photos and news about Nigerian football Senegal
Website with info about Senegal Lions
Site with great photos of Senegal as well as other African teams
|
||
|
Dedicated to African music and the music of the African Diaspora
Copyright © 2001-2010 World Music Productions. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form without permission. |
||||
