he five African representatives at the 2018 World Cup in Russia-Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and Senegal-are ready to do the continent proud when the tournament kicks off in Russia next June.
It was not an easy ride for the five qualifiers, but they all braced the odds to win their group tickets.
For example, not even the most incurable optimist of Moroccan football would have predicted that the Atlas Lions will beat the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan to qualify.
Also, Senegal might have succeeded in making various betting companies smile to the bank after they defeated South Africa at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, South Africa. This win ensured that Senegal qualified for the World Cup.
Not many will believe that Nigeria will qualify for the tournament with a game to spare from the group termed ‘group of death’ when the draws were conducted.
One remarkable feat among the qualifiers is that but for Egypt that lost a match, none of the other four countries lost a match en-route the qualification.
The performances of the five teams in their group matches will be a yardstick in assessing them and possibly how far they can go in Russia.
Tunisia topped Group A with 14 points with four wins and two draws. They scored 11 goals and conceded four in a pool that had DR Congo, Libya and Guinea. They piped DR Congo to the ticket with a point. The Carthage Eagles will be making their fifth appearance, having qualified first in 1978 where they became the first African team to win a World Cup match with a 3-1 defeat of Mexico. They played goalless against the then defending champions, West Germany. Their second appearance was at the 1998 World Cup in France, 2002 in Korea/Japan and 2006 in Germany before the Russia adventure. The Carthage Eagles have, however, never reached the knockout stage.
In Group B, no one would have anticipated a smooth ride for the Super Eagles when the draws were made in 2016 and rightly too given the pedigree of the national teams in the group. By then Algeria were the continent’s top ranked side and among the first 25 in the world, while Cameroon were riding high and capped that up with winning the Africa Cup of Nations last year, and then came Zambia. All the countries had at one time or the other being African champions. Nigeria then were battling for renaissance after a string of misses at the Africa Cup of Nations and avalanche of poor results, resulting in the hiring of Gernot Rohr as the coach.
The coming of the Franco-German reinvigorated the team with a day one 2-1 defeat of Zambia in Ndola and followed with a 3-1 thumping of Algeria in Uyo before hammering Cameroon also in Uyo 4-0. A 1-1 draw in Yaounde was followed by 1-0 defeat of Zambia in Uyo which sealed the ticket. The 1-1 draw in the last group match against Algeria in Constantine was a mere formality. Nigeria topped the group with 14 points, scoring 12 goals and conceded four.
Group C that has Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Gabon, lived up to its billing with the ticket won on the last day, even on away soil. Pundits of African football believe that Elephants of Cote d’ Ivoire will take the group. But the Atlas Lions of Morocco won the ticket, doing so in style beating Cote d’Ivoire 2-0 in Abidjan when the host needs just any win to take the group ticket. Morocco took the group with 12 points, scoring 11 goals and conceding none. They won three and drew three.
Senegal and South Africa were tipped to contend for Group D ticket on the premise that these teams were the most experienced in the group.
However, Burkina Faso and Cape Verde were given outside chance. But after the proceedings, Senegal, a 2002 World Cup quarter finalists, won the ticket with 14 points and scoring 10 and conceding three, leaving South Africa last in the group with four points having won only one and drawing once. Senegal, qualified without losing a match. The highpoint of their qualification was beating South Africa 2-0 in Polokwane.
In Group E, Egypt stunned bookmakers to qualify ahead of Ghana. When the draw was made in 2016, all eyes were on Ghana and then Egypt as the two gladiators to fight it out in the group. But incidentally, Egypt qualified losing only one match and the loss was not inflicted on them by Ghana but by less fancied Uganda. Egypt qualified with 13 points and +4 goals difference after winning four matches and drawing one.
With Nigeria qualifying for the World Cup and doing so without losing a match, coupled with their 4-2 friendly win over Argentina, all eyes might be on them. But is not the case as Joachim Low, Germany coach, believes that Morocco are the team that the world expects to pull any surprise in Russia.
“We know some very good teams from all over the World are coming, like in Africa Morocco did well in the qualifying series and they will be the team most people would be expecting to pull surprises from Africa,” he said, while discussing potential giant killers in Russia next year.
Although Nigeria was the first African nation to qualify for the World Cup, Morocco just like Nigeria stayed undefeated throughout the series but unlike Nigeria, they didn’t concede a single goal. Morocco were the first African team to reach the second round doing so in style at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.
Morocco couldn’t have announced their intention in Russia better than their 2-0 win over Cote d’Ivoire in Abidjan. They may not have players in the mould of Didier Drogba or Samuel Eto’o but much should be expected from a team that went through the qualifiers without conceding a goal and scored 11. This shows that they have a fortified defence, led by captain, Mehdi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia, who plays for Bayern Munich, Tottenham’s Mbark Boussoufa and Feyenoord’s Karim El Ahmadi Aroussi, is.
The World Cup might not be an unfamiliar terrain to most of the teams given that some of their players are playing in the top leagues. Senegal may not get the favourites tag and might not even be fancied to get past the group stage, but in Sadio Mane and Balde Keita, they have two game-changers. Mane produced a master class to ensure that the Teranga Lions qualified even with a match to spare in South Africa.
While many believe that Egypt is a one-man team in Mohamed Salah, anything is possible for Egypt in Russia. They are not just a one-man team; in fact, they have four or five highly skilled players but Salah is their talisman, the difference-maker in the side.
In Nigeria, the Alex Iwobi and Kelechi Iheanancho have proven to be virile against strong oppositions with their unassailable understanding in Nigeria’s 4-2 win over Argentina. It will be recalled that both players set the tone for Nigeria’s roller-coaster in the campaign after they each found the net in 2-1 defeat of Zambia in Ndola; then comes Victor Moses, unarguably Nigeria’s best footballer presently, who shone like million stars in Chelsea’s league win last season. Now the strength of Nigeria is not in the quality of players but the understanding and coherence Rohr has brought into the team, leading to what Nigerians have come to know as ‘Oyinbo Wall’, referring to the solid and near impregnable central defensive abilities of William Troost-Ekong and Leon Balogun.
Tunisia, like others, qualified in style without losing a match. The Carthage Eagles won four and drew two, amassing 14 points, scoring 11 goals, conceding four. They have a lot of tested players like Monaco’s Aymen Abdennour.
Certainly, a lot will be expected from the African teams, even as Egypt and Morocco are returning to the global stage after a long absence. It is definite that the expectations might vary from country to country. Victor Ikpeba, former Super Eagles forward, said that anything short of a quarter-final berth for the Super Eagles would be a failure.
“It surely should be a quarter-final,” he said while speaking on SuperSport. “We have gone beyond the group stage on a number of times. We should aim at the quarter-final no matter the group we find ourselves,” he said.
Sey Olofinjana, former Nigerian international, agreed with Ikpeba thus: “We’ve been to a few World Cups in recent years, and we need to be looking at progressing further – rather than crashing out in the early stages,” Olofinjana told BBC Sport.
“I think the country should be looking at perhaps the quarter-finals,” added the former midfielder, who won over 40 caps for Nigeria before bowing out at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.
Abedi Pele, while speaking to ghanasoccernet.com, said that time had come for Africa to aim for the last four of the World Cup.
“We have the materials and the national teams but self-belief has remained our greatest enemy. But in Russia next year, the qualified countries should aim higher and go to as far as the semi-final but that will mean that they have to believe in their abilities,” he said.
To Mutiu Adepoju, former Super Eagles midfielder, how far Africa can advance in Russia would depend on the draw.
“We should be talking about the draw first before we set a target but I know that the best are representing the continent. For Nigeria, I think we should pray for a favourable draw and from there, aim for the quarter-final,” he said.
via: - ndependent.ng
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