Issue No.588
Sports
Previous issue
Site map
|
|
30 May - 5 June 2002 Issue No.588 Sports |
Current issue Previous issue Site map | |
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Only the Lions will roar
Of the five African countries in the World Cup, Cameroon will be the most successful
In the 1990 Italy World Cup finals, Cameroon stunned the world by becoming the first African nation to reach the quarter-finals before being eliminated by England following a Gary Lineker penalty. In that World Cup, Africa had only two representatives, the other being Egypt which failed to progress beyond the group stage.
Click to view captionThanks to Cameroon's giant-killing performance, Africa now has five World Cup automatic slots, equal to that of South America. But while South America boasts two-time champions Argentina and four-time winners Brazil, no African team has ever won the cup and in Japan and South Korea, Cameroon is again the continent's lone shining star.
The other African representatives -- Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia and Senegal -- face early elimination.
A few years back, Cameroon would not have expected a better fate. In the wake of the 1990 heroics, a whole generation of stars started to hang up their boots while others, like striker Omam Bik, who scored the team's winner against Argentina in 1990, goalkeeper Thomas Nkono and ageless wonder Roger Milla were in the twilight of their careers.
Cameroon was shown the door early in 1994 when a cash row with team officials contributed to the side's premature ouster which included a 6-1 thrashing against Russia in its final group match. Four years later in France, it was also sent home quickly following a poor first-round showing.
But thanks to the rise of new stars like Rigobert Song, Lauren Mayer and Patrick Mboma, the Indomitable Lions, began to roar again. They won the gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and this year became the first country to repeat as African Cup of Nations champions since 1965.
The team's German-born coach, Winfried Schafer, remains upbeat about the country's chances in the World Cup despite the draw that placed Cameroon with three-time winners Germany and formidable opponents the Republic of Ireland and Saudi Arabia. Speaking to reporters after the draw, Schafer tipped his team to progress to the second round with the Germans.
And despite more pre-World Cup money woes that delayed the arrival of the Cameroonians in Japan, Schafer said he can see a last-four appearance for the Lions. "The moment for an African team to reach the semi-finals has come," he said during an official send-off in Yaoundé by the prime minister. "It is Cameroon that represents Africa, not South Africa or Nigeria, and for us to make Africa proud we need courage, discipline, good preparation and luck."
Another African football official echoed similar sentiments. "Cameroon has a good chance to shine in the World Cup finals," said Mustafa Fahmi, secretary-general of the African Football Confederation (CAF). "In fact, it is the only Africa team that can do well in South Korea and Japan," Fahmi told Al- Ahram Weekly earlier this month in Cairo where the draw for the quarter-final stage of CAF's club competitions was held.
"Cameroon has unbeatable physical fitness and that will help it get past the first round," Fahmi said. However, he made the officiating a condition for success. "They were subject to biased refereeing in the 1998 edition and for them to be able to progress this year, the game should be played fair."
Fahmi predicted that all the other African entries would face first-round eliminations, citing tough draws and sub-par performances. "Nigeria might have had a chance but the draw was unkind to it," he said.
Just reaching the last 16 will be a major achievement for Nigeria's Super Eagles this time around after being grouped with hot favourite Argentina, England and Sweden.
There will be no braver coach in the Far East than 64-year-old former schoolteacher Adegboye Onigbinde, who axed long-serving midfielders Finidi George and Sunday Oliseh from the Nigerian squad. In doing so, Onigbinde changed course dramatically as, in the past, coach after coach succumbed to political and media pressure ahead of major tournaments and recalled big names, irrespective of fitness or form.
Onigbinde succeeded Amodu Shaibu after the Eagles could finish only third two months ago at the Nations Cup in Mali. He will be encouraged by wins against Scotland and the Republic of Ireland and in the fact that in almost any other group, Nigeria would have had a reasonable chance of progressing. But in the "Group of Death" even its best shot is unlikely to be good enough.
The same applies to South Africa which was drawn in Group B with Spain, Slovenia and Paraguay. South Africa made a first- time appearance in the World Cup in France four years ago, dreaming of a second round. But a three-goal hiding by France set the tone for a disappointing tournament as draws with Denmark and Saudi Arabia led to an early shower. Several of the squad remain, including goalkeeper Hans Vonk, defender Lucas Radebe, midfielder Quinton Fortune and striker Benni McCarthy, a constant disappointment since being voted best player at the 1998 African Nations Cup. Bafana (The Boys) will also miss the services, through an ankle injury, of captain and leading scorer Shaun Bartlett.
Senegal, which reached the finals at the expense of Egypt and Morocco, will face a tough test in Group A with defending champions France, its opening match opponent. It must also contend with two other tough clashes against Denmark and South American outfit Uruguay. However, French coach Bruno Metso showed no lack of confidence after the draw was made. "I will prepare a nice surprise for the French team in the opening," Metso said. But the lack of experience in such events remains a big hurdle for the African debutants and it will be to no one's surprise should it bow out quickly.
Tunisia's immediate future is not much better. The Eagles of Carthage, playing in their third World Cup, had a disastrous 2002 Africa Cup of Nations campaign, eliminated from the first round without finding the net even once in three matches. Following that debacle, the association fired coach Henry Michel's assistant, Albert Rust, which consequently forced Michel to resign after a stormy four-month tenure.
Following Michel's departure in March, Tunisian coaches Ammar Souayeh and Khamies Labidi took charge of the North Africa side, but they go to the Far East in disarray, having failed to register a single victory over an international side since qualifying for the World Cup finals last year.
The confusion was compounded with last month's sudden retirement of prolific goalkeeper Chokri Al-Ouaer who cited health problems. The team also lost key midfielder Iskandar Souayeh, who failed a drug test after a friendly against Norway, while teammate Osama Sallami was ruled out before the tournament due to injury.
Tunisia's preparations for the World Cup ended inauspiciously, losing to Japanese league side Gamba Osaka 3-0.
|
 |
| |||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
