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African Teams in a Dogfight for World Cup Slots
Posted 23 Sep 2009 at 10:23 PM by John Jagou
Tags africa, world cup qualifiers
The Black Stars will shine in South Africa
Brazil is known as the neutral’s favorite, but I have always been partial to the African teams. They seem to play without the crushing pressure that causes other teams to implode. The pride the players feel when playing for their country is a little more palpable. I felt bad for Cameroon in 1982, who lost out to Italy on goal difference to advance. But I felt worse for Algeria, who had shocked Germany 2-1 only to see them get bounced after the Anschluss in Gijon (Germany's 1-0 victory over the Austrians that conveniently allowed both European teams to advance, at the expense of Algeria). 8 years later, though, the Indomitable Lions quarterfinal run was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal tournament. When Senegal upset France in 2002, I made sure to look up a Dakar newspaper to see the local euphoria. There was plenty of it. And let’s face it, the African team have the coolest nicknames.
Four years ago, I was on the roof of the Cotton Bowl, desperately trying to connect to the web to see what was happening on the last day of qualification for Germany 2006 before the annual Texas-OU game. Most of the spots had already been claimed, but every single ticket from Africa was still in play. Once I got online, I was expecting to see the usual suspects: Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, etc.
But those flags were nowhere to be seen. We saw 4 countries make their world cup debuts: Togo, Angola, Ghana and Côte D’Ivoire joined past participants Tunisia. The perennials were ousted. Such is the qualifying dynamic in Africa.
With 2 matches left in African group play, only one country, Ghana, has won their place.
Group A
Cameroon – 7pts -- +2 GD
Gabon – 6pts -- +1 GD
Togo – 5pts -- -2GD
Morocco – 3pts -- -1GD
Cameroon hosts Togo and is away to Morocco. A win over Togo would eliminate Emanuel Adebayor’s team from contention, but a tie against the Atlas Lions in Morocco will not be enough if Gabon somehow manages to win both its fixtures. Either way, this one is going to Matchday 6. The Gabonese (the azingo nationale) have the Little General, Alain Giresse, as their coach.
Prediction:
I have no idea. So I just asked my wife, and she says Cameroon.
Group B
Tunisia -- 8 pts - +3 GD
Nigeria – 6 pts +3 GD
The Carthage Eagles have the upper hand on the Super Eagles in the group and in the tiebreaker. The only way Nigeria goes through is if Tunisia does not get to twelve points.
Prediction:
Tunisia gets the job done to make their 4th straight World Cup, and the rest of us will have to suffer from the absence of the Super Eagles and their creative goal celebrations.
Group C
Algeria -- 10 pts - +5 GD
Egypt – 7 pts - +2 GD
Egypt, The two-time defending Africa Cup of Nations Champs, screwed the pooch by tying Zambia at home in matchday 2. The Pharaohs have to get a win in Zambia and then win by either 2-0 or 3 goals at home to Algeria.
Prediction:
The Desert Foxes should make their first World Cup in 24 years, but crazier things have happened.
Group D:
Ghana have qualified for the World Cup, and the Black Stars will be a very strong candidate to advance to the knockouts and beyond because of their superb midfield.
Group E:
Côte d'Ivoire – 12 pts - +12 GD
Burkina Faso – 6 pts - -3 GD
Unless the Côte d’Ivoire suffer a calamity of Houston Oiler-like proportions, we should all get to see the Elephants strut their stuff in South Africa. They seemed a little trigger shy in Germany. I expect that won’t be the case next summer. They are another who have the horses (well, elephants) to make a deep run.
The 6 teams from Africa will field strong sides and all will be playing home games. In other words, they are going to be a very tough out. It would not surprise me at all if up to 3 teams make it as far as the quarterfinals.
Net week: CONMEBOL
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Long live the Oilers!Posted 23 Sep 2009 at 10:33 PM by Art Vandaley 
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Which tiebreaker? Since Nigeria got knocked out by Angola on head-to-head for the last World Cup, I thought FIFA/CAF did away with that and just reverted to goal-differential as the first tie-breaker (in which case, if they both end on 12 points, then the numbers will decide for themselves).Quote:The Carthage Eagles have the upper hand on the Super Eagles in the group and in the tiebreaker.
The regulation says that if teams are tied on points, then GD is the 1st tie breaker, goals scored is the 2nd, head to head is the third, goals scored in the head to head is the 4th. They tied their fixtures, so if they both end up on 12 points with the same GD and goals scored, then FIFA could either draw straws or impose a special home and home playoff (dates available in November).
I thought away goals had weight in the tiebreaker. They do, but only in the special playoff, not in group play.Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 12:38 AM by usafan12
Updated 24 Sep 2009 at 01:10 AM by John Jagou -
For me, Brasil is not the neutral's favorite. One cannot help admiring their futebol, but it's a very large ( if somewhat poor ) nation. I'm partial to the Nederlands.
One-tenth the population of Brasil. And the Dutch are willing to play in one color, not three. What's that about?Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 01:20 AM by royalstilton 
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Come on Gabon!!!Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 03:35 AM by El Chuma
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Côte d’Ivoire fan myself, if for no other reason than their jerseys in Germany. I kept looking for the white version here in the States (I do not do orange) but never found one.
Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 10:52 AM by Jasonma
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Thanks for doing that legwork. I know that info is out there, but that was exactly what I was looking for.Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 02:09 PM by Crimen y Castigo
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fun stuff. i've always been partial to cameroon.Posted 24 Sep 2009 at 08:51 PM by agrippa_x
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A semi of Spain v. Ghana or Ivory Coast, and USA v. Cameroon, with a Spain v. Cameroon final.
Sweet...and you could switch the african teams around, just don't like the idea of losing out to Ghana in successive WCs...okay, maybe a Spain v. Ghana final...yeah, I could live with that.Posted 25 Sep 2009 at 10:07 PM by Martininho
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I hate that the final CAF qualifying round is done in a group stage which makes it more likely that our best won't qualify. Unfortunately, there are simply too many countries in CAF to finish with a single table group stage. I don't know but I'm probably just grasping for a way to make sure that the best 5 teams make the tournament each time out.
I would advocate going to 2 groups with the top two going in automatically and each of the third place teams having a playoff. The problem is that there would be more games and that takes into account two weaknesses that CAF faces; lack of money and the fact that most of their best players play far from home. But I think that it would be workable.
Just me complaining bc there is a real chance that Nigeria, Egypt and Cameroon won't qualify for what is basically Africa's home field advantage. A waste if you ask me.Posted 27 Sep 2009 at 08:30 AM by Unak78
Updated 27 Sep 2009 at 08:49 AM by Unak78
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