Can Africa’s World Cup qualifiers respond and take their game to a higher level. There were precious few clues in Angola to suggest they could. One would tend not to identify Pussy Cats, Super Turkeys and Tuskless Elephants as World Cup winning species, but if Cameroon, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire apply themselves like Black Stars they could move beyond the shadow of the Pharoahs and rediscover their fierceness.
The Black Stars were not predicted to shine in Angola. A significant number of their established names were injured or sulking. But with Milovan Rajevec, an old Yugoslav in command of the x’s and o’s, and a squad of U20 World Cup winners to choose from, folks should not have been so surprised. There has been plenty of talk of those who filled the boots of Appiah, Essien, Mensah and Muntari. Agyemang-Badu, Asamoah, Ayew and Inkoom are now household names, the equal of any Pharoah or sulking star. Ghana’s graduates will give pause to Australia, Germany and Serbia, who should note the Pharoahs may not have been so pleased with themselves if Rajevec had also introduced goalkeeper Daniel Adjei and centre forward Dominic Adiyah. Ghana were just an Adjei fingertip and an Adiyah toe poke away from closing down the party at Club Pharoah.
So how will Les Éléphants, Les Lions Indomptables and Super Eagles respond to their inglorious exits from Angola? Will they promote from their junior ranks? Will they advertise for an old partizan with a chalkboard? They could do all of the above, but nothing will change for them if the likes of Drogba, Eto’s and Yakubu don’t believe.
Author: David Patrick Lane
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Props to the Pharoahs!
The 2010 African Cup of Nations provided a political appetizer to Africa’s first World Cup. A stubborn stain remains, but it should not distract from Egypt’s remarkable three consecutive African Nations Cups.
Props to the Pharoahs! Hassan Shehata had them playing some seriously penetrating football. They were passing and moving like a Bob Paisley machine — and that’s the highest of all high compliments one can make about a football manager. Aboutrika, Mido and Zaki, all seemed like yesterday’s men, as precocious and timely talents like Shikabla and Geddo combined with creative mainstays like Hassan, Motaeb and Zidan to persuade the ball into their opponents net. Gomaa and El Hadary ensured there would be few arguments at the other end. The Pharoahs will be missed in South Africa, especially when some European adventurers hack their way South in search of the treasure that is avoiding defeat.
And how will Africa’s World Cup qualifiers respond? The Pharoahs provided a clinic, but there were also important lessons to be learned from the performances of Malawi and Zambia. In a word: BELIEVE.
There have been goals in Benguela, Cabinda, Luanda and Lubango, but no goals are being scored in the Stade Slyvio Cator in Port-au-Prince. Haiti’s goalposts don’t exist anymore.
Angolans paused for Haiti before every Quarter Final, the carnage of their own wars against colonialism and as proxies in the Cold War never far from their thoughts. A nation blessed by the curse of geology showing solidarity with their brothers and sisters, torn asunder by the earth’s crust, an ocean apart.
France, Britain and the United States have a history of moving Haiti’s goalposts, naming and renaming Haiti’s coach and officials, tightening the touchlines, painting countless penalty spots across Haiti’s box, forcing Haitians to cheer from terraces made from shaky dumps of their own subsidized imports, with many supporters not able to read the terms and conditions of their own oppression as laid out in the match programme.
Haiti’s goalposts don’t exist anymore. The smashed and mangled uprights belong to the “Humanitarians” now. The Stade Slyvio Cator is a tent city with thousands crammed into the spaces once created by Haitian footballers. There are no calls for the ball, but for water, medicines, medical attention and food.
Like the African Cup of Nations, Haiti’s disaster is being broadcast across our globalized world. The world knows more about the grain and scale of Haitian suffering than any calamity it has ever encountered.
Our goal must be to help Haitians restore their own goalposts, and one day when Haitians are replenished with food, water, housing and control over their own lives, we can celebrate Haitian goals again.
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Confusão continua…
CAF have announced Togo will be disqualified if they do not materialize for the kick off of their fixture against Ghana tonight in Cabinda.
Rumours abound whether Botswana, The Republic of the Congo or Namibia will be invited to do a “Denmark”.
Cabinda’s separatist rebels, FLEC, have apologized for the attack, claiming it was a mistake to attack the Togolese, and have presented their condolences to the families of the deceased.
Pessimists supported by hustlers and vultures from the security and shock industry continue to make fear representations to the press about South Africa’s World Cup.
And it now seems Confusão has rubbed off on the Algerian defence, who are being torn to shreds by Malawi.
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Arsène’s Respect for Africa
The response to the attack on the Togolese team from much of the rabble that constitutes the English Premier League was predictable. The emirs and oligarchs did not say much, leaving it to some of the old fashioned brass merchants to bellow about bringing their players “home”.
Arsène Wenger was not of the same mind.
When asked if he wanted to bring his players back to Britain (where let’s not forget Irish continuity forces still use the occasional bullet and bomb), Wenger was a beacon of sensibility and preferred to express his respect for Africa.
“We won’t be asking Fifa to release them, and I’ll be happy for Eboué to play in Cabinda on Monday,” said Wenger. “I believe it would be disrespectful to Africa and the Africa Nations Cup [to bring them home]. You can’t always encourage Africa to develop and if something happens say ‘come back to Europe’.”
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Guns, Oil and Football
The intersection of oil and football has moved from a field in Fallujah to a Cabinda-Congo border crossing, where earlier today separatist rebels ambushed the Togolese team bus.
Terrified Togolese footballers told of how they dived to the deck of the bus as they were “machine-gunned like dogs”. The Angolan bus driver was killed and four others on the bus were wounded including the reserve goalkeeper, Kodjovi Obilale (pictured in the Togo team photo above), and young midfield prospect, Serge Gakpé.
Les Eperviers are in state of shock and soundings taken from the players suggest they are unlikely to fulfill their fixtures. Togo are scheduled to open their tournament against Ghana in Cabinda on Monday.
You can expect a flurry of charges of corruption and references to atrocities dating all the way back to Berlin conference of 1884 (which set the borders for present day Angola, a year after Portuguese occupation of Cabinda).
No doubt the oil emirs and oligarchs who control the heights of English football will feel empowered to pipe up and demand the Africans return their human “property”. I fear there are probably no players of the calibre of Obdulia Varela around to respond. I wonder what the great Uruguayan captain would make of being told to return to the ranch to drive a Range Rover around the Stamford Bridge Ice Rink for the viewers at home? It will be interesting to see how Michael Essien and Didier Drogba respond tomorrow to the prospect of playing their 1st round fixtures in the Angolan enclave that is home to between 60% to 70% of Angola’s oil.
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Adidas Puma Wars Slip into South Africa
The Adidas Puma war slipped into South Africa early in the new year. Skirmishes were expected, though few would have predicted a Zulu Puma alliance. Here’s South African President Jacob Zuma showing he can kick it during his New Year wedding ceremony in the village of Nklandla. His Excellency’s hamstring came through a late fitness test, though his overall match fitness has never been in doubt.