Sport
Africa’s hopes at World Cup 2014 in Brazil
African teams bring life to an event that, in recent times, has appeared to be losing some of its gloss. Who can forget the youthful exuberance of the 38-year-old Roger Milla in 1990 celebrating each goal by dancing at the corner flag and wriggling his waist with a delighted grin on his face?
Can any of the African representatives in Brazil reignite such passions again? Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Algeria, the same countries that represented Africa in the 2010 World Cup, are again the flag bearers against the best teams in the world. This emphasizes the dominance of the Western and North African teams, which has continued for the past three decades.
Four years ago, only Ghana’s Black Stars made it beyond the first round, reaching the quarter-final, and the going is expected to be even tougher in Brazil. Their prospects of success depend on rigorous preparation and avoiding the internal wrangles over allowances and maladministration that often undermine teams at major tournaments.
Côte d’Ivoire
Yaya Touré has emerged as the most successful African player in recent times, winning the Confederation of African Football’s African Footballer of the Year from 2011 to 2013. His imposing performances for Manchester City have taken the underachieving club to the summit of English football.
Now that he is at the peak of his powers, he seeks to bring the same level of achievement to an Ivorian team that has flattered to deceive for the best part of a decade. Pundits believe that this Ivorian team does not have the quality of players who were expected to dominate African football in the mid-2000s.
With Didier Drogba now past his best form and Kolo Touré in the final stages of his career, their replacements are hardly of the same stature. In the past, gross indiscipline and clashes of egos undid all the hard work the team put in once they got to the tournament. There is also the matter of their inexperienced coach Sabri Lamouchi, who is still to convince that he is capable of managing a team at the highest levels of the game. One plus in their favour is a group that is regarded to be the weakest, with Colombia, Greece and Japan as first-round opponents.
Prediction 2014
Quarter-final, if the players are in the right frame of mind and they get a favorable draw.
Previous form 2010
first round; 2006 first round.
Ghana
André Ayew has courted controversy since he made the Ghanaian team at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations as a 17-year-old. Some fans questioned whether he had done enough to earn his place or if he was being included for sentimental value as the son of Ghana’s greatest player, Abedi Pele.
Ayew won over his critics through his swashbuckling displays for the Black Stars, running himself into the ground in every match. In 2009, he captained Ghana’s youth team to success at the U-20 World Cup. In 2013, André and his younger brother Jordan announced their retirement from the national team after a disagreement with coach Kwesi Appiah.
They returned five months later, after the intervention of Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama. The team has made a seamless transition from one era to another with stalwarts like John Mensah, Anthony Annan and John Paintsil giving way to a new generation that includes the Ayew brothers, Abdul Majeed Waris, Jonathan Mensah, Dominic Adiyiah and Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu.
In a group that includes Germany, Portugal and the United States, Ghana will need to be at their very best to progress beyond the first round, after reaching the second round and quarter- finals in previous tournaments. If they can surmount the first hurdle, anything is possible.
Prediction 2014
First round exit.
Previous form
2010 quarter- final; 2006 second round.
Cameroon
Even in the face of the proverbial ticking clock, Samuel Eto’o, at 33, remains Cameroon’s most important player. With Chelsea, in the English Premier League this season, he has shown that he retains the ability to find the back of the net on the big stage. Cameroon’s fortunes in Brazil are inevitably intertwined with his own. He will be making a fourth appearance at the FIFA World Cup, having first made his debut in France in 1998 as a 17-year-old.
His appearances in 2002 and 2010 also saw Cameroon fail to progress beyond the first round. Eto’o prominent status in international football allows him to exert a disproportionate influence on the Cameroonian team, which has led to clashes with coaches, players and the football association.
This turbulence has led to pronouncements of his retirement from the national team, with him only then to return after discussions with the football authorities. This World Cup is likely to be Eto’o’s final chance to help Cameroon try to emulate the 1990 team that became the first African side to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup. It looks unlikely, given the paucity of quality players on the team and the opposition they face from Brazil, Mexico and Croatia.
Prediction 2014
First round exit, with Brazil favorites and Croatia or Mexico to take second place.
Previous form
2010 first round; 2002 first round.
Algeria
When Sofiane Feghouli chose to play for Algeria over France, it was to be a reversal of the trend that had seen the likes of Zinedine Zidane represent Les Bleus at the highest level. The talented Feghouli made his debut for Algeria in 2011 and has not looked back. He played a pivotal role in Algeria’s qualification in the 2014 World Cup. If the Algerian side are to have any impact in Brazil, much depends on the form he shows at the tournament. His time in the Spanish league with Valencia has allowed him to polish the skills he showed as his career evolved in France.
After years in the doldrums following a protracted war against Islamic fundamentalists in the country in the 1990s, Algeria returned to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010, 24 years after their last appearance. They gave a solid, if unspectacular, performance. They held England to a goalless draw and for large parts of the match outplayed their more experienced foe. This time around they go to the World Cup a more refined team. In a group with Belgium, Russia and South Korea, they face opposition that will be difficult to beat. They will have to raise their level a notch to eke out a place in the second round.
Prediction 2014
First-round exit. Russia and Belgium favored to go through.
Previous form
2010 first round.
Nigeria
When Nigeria surprised African football by winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, they owed much to the finishing power of striker Emmanuel Emenike. He was one of the players elevated to the starting line-up by the then newly appointed coach Stephen Keshi. After years of disappointing performances by the national team, Keshi opted for a wholesale change, excluding many of the established players who had failed to deliver.
Though Emenike may lack the polish of past heroes like Jay-Jay Okocha or Nwankwo Kanu, he epitomises the new generation of players with his never-say-die attitude and effort. The Nigerian team under Keshi has taken the country back to the World Cup. They have done so without much glamor, preferring instead to rely on endeavor and discipline, two attributes that were previously missing.
The players may not be at the biggest clubs in Europe or be the most recognized names in the game today, but the team’s spirit and will to win more than makes up for their lower profiles. In a group made up of Argentina, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iran, they have the potential to target second place, behind favorites Argentina, to get to the second round.
Prediction 2014
Second round with Argentina.
Previous form
2010 first round.