African Places Still In The Balance

November 7, 2009

The mere fact that the 2010 World Cup is to be staged in Africa for the very first time has added special significance to qualifying for all the African nations.

53 countries were reduced to 20 through two preliminary rounds. From five groups of four, there are five group winners progressing to South Africa 2010. Two are already known – heavyweights Ivory Coast and Ghana can book their hotels now. Three places remain and none of the six teams in contention have a straightforward task.

In Group A, Cameroon lead the way with a one point cushion to second placed Gabon. The Indomitable Lions are looking to maintain a proud qualifying record of five in the last six, while Gabon are battling for a world cup debut. Both are away for tricky final games, at Morocco and Togo respectively.

Cameroon’s campaign got off to a disastrous start and with one point from their opening two games, qualification didn’t look likely with Gabon boasting a 100% record. They then put together a run of three wins that included two defeats of Gabon to turn the table on its head and put them in pole position.

However, anything other than a win for Cameroon would open the door for Gabon, who could even go through with a draw should Cameroon lose to Morocco by a couple of goals.

Group B sees Tunisia head the standings on eleven points, two ahead of Nigeria. Tunisia hold the African record, jointly with Cameroon, for most world cup appearances. The Super Eagles have played in three of the last four finals but missed out in 2006 and are keen to make up for that disappointment.

Again, both have away games to the other teams in the group – Tunisia in Mozambique and Nigeria at Kenya. A draw won’t be enough for Tunisia should Nigeria win, so both have to go for victory.

Tunisia & Nigeria are unbeaten in the group but will rue costly draws that could have seen them already safely qualified. Instead a nervous final day is in store for both and they can expect no favours from their opponents.

Group C is easily the most fascinating. Algeria have led the way and sit three points in front of arch rivals Egypt. The 2006 & 2008 African champions face an almighty battle to qualify. The final match sees Algeria go to Cairo and a 3-0 win will see The Pharoahs snatch the qualifying place.

Algeria were 3-1 winners in the reverse tie in Blida; a game that exploded into life in the last half hour with all four goals coming in that period. Slack defending cost the Egyptians dear that day and they can’t afford any mistakes in the decider.

Both teams started their campaigns with disappointing draws and since then Algeria’s defeat of Egypt is all that separates the two. Egypt have the chance to reverse the picture but will have to improve on form that has only once seen them score more than one goal in a game.

The continent will come to a standstill on November 14th as the final three places for South Africa 2010 are decided. Six into three doesn’t go and we can expect fireworks as the equation is worked out.

BruiseLee

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