Togo

[ronaldo2006yes]

I am just curious: how the heck did Togo qualify for the WC2006?

[tomwilhelm]

To give the straight answer you probably weren't looking for:

By beating out Senegal and Zambia in Group A.

Oh... and barely defeating Equitorial Guinea in a home/away in the 1st round.

Honestly, I have no idea. Even with the weak group they drew, they are way out of their depth.

[Timbers_Roberto]

They also had a stiker Emmanuel Adebayor who was on fire during qualifying. He is also the biggest headache after he fueded with manager Stephan Keshi at the African Nations Cup. Togo is certainly weak, but they managed to get through and it is a great story for a small, impoverished country.

[nutbar]

Their first qualifier against Equitorial Guinea was actually a loss if you can believe it. I think it was 1-0, but then Togo won the next game 2-0.

Angola had the same thing. Their first game was against Chad. It was a 3-1 loss, but they won the next won 2-0 and advanced on away goals.

[nutbar]

You have to give Togo credit for beating and drawing Senegal though. I can't quite understand how they did it, but Senegal have been pretty sluggish recently.

[happii20]

You have to give Togo credit for beating and drawing Senegal though. I can't quite understand how they did it, but Senegal have been pretty sluggish recently.

They had a Nigerian coach who made them believe in themselves. Their target was to qualify for African cup of Natioins, but he helped them to dream a little bigger. For this achievement the coach was sacked after the cup of Nations for non-performance, when we all know the problems and their lack of talents.. How ungrateful this tiny country is underlines its poverty. With such mentality, the country is doomed to perennial poverty till they change their mentality. In other countries the coach would have been celebrated as a National hero.