Suprises for 2006

[astar24]

Which African teams do you think will suprise the world in the 2006 world cup?

I possibly see Ghana qualifying for the tournament and doing what Senegal did at 2002wc.

Ghanaian players like Samuel Kuffour of Bayern Munich and Stephen Appiah of Brescia will likely lead them in 2006.

[Canadian_Supporter]

Good question.

Not really a surprise, but I think Egypt stands a very good chance of qualifying for the World Cup again.

I will have to think about this... :)

[desertfox2]

Yeah I think that this is a tough question as well. 3 teams I think have about a 99% chance that they'll qualify:

1) Cameroon - easily qualified for 2002 and should do fine in the 2006 qualifiers as well.

2) South Africa - easily qualified for 2002 and nearly made it to the Round of 16. They have a good team and should do well in the 2006 qualifiers.

3) Nigeria - Although they struggled to qualifiy for 2002 they had a young team and still played well in the "Group of Death."

These teams all will have a very good shot:

1) Senegal - It's very tough to tell how this team will do. They stunned everyone in the 2002 WC by making the quarterfinals and are intending to qualify again for the 2006 WC. I think they have a great shot as they have great players including stars like El Hadj Diouf and Henri Camara and will be very tough to beat. I wouldn't be surprised if they qualify again.

2) Tunisia - This is the one team from the teams who qualified for the 2002 WC that I believe is most likely to miss the 2006 WC Finals. They played horrible in both the 2002 CAN Finals and 2002 WC Finals and right now are lucky that they don't have to qualify for the 2004 CAN since they are hosting it. It's still early yet, so don't count them out, but they need to turn things around quickly because a lot of other teams want their spot.

3) Morocco - After their heartbreaking loss to Senegal in Group C in the 2002 WC qualifiers, they would love to qualify for the finals again. They have a wonderful squad and if they can get a decent group in the 2006 WC qualifiers then they'll have a great chance to qualify.

The surprises:

1) Egypt - Also lost out to Senegal in Group C in the 2002 WC qualifiers. They have a better than average side and will pose a threat to the teams that they get grouped with. However, they will need to play above their level if they want to qualify for the 2006 WC.

2) Ghana - It seems like this nation is due to qualify for the WC Finals. They have great players but continue to kick themselves in the foot every time. If they can make sure to beat the minnows in the group and don't lose precious points, they have a pretty good shot at qualifying.

3) Ivory Coast - They have a good team and nearly qualified for the 2002 WC but lost points to easy nations near the end of the 2002 WC qualifiers. They have a slight shot, but will need to make many improvements before their qualifying campaign.

However, all of this is speculation. It still is very early to tell, but it's interesting to see what might happen. It should be a very interesting Qualifying Round and I can't wait!

[afgrijselijkheid]

mido will make egypt dangerous come 2006