New Africa
THE COMBINED World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifiers will long be remembered for the many surprises they generated. What with the advent of new continental standard-bearers, the decline of the traditional superpowers and the emergence of exciting new goalscorers, this preliminary tournament has required the redrawing of the African football map to take in previously uncharted territories.
The day after the five Germany 2006 qualifying groups were drawn for the African zone, observers were as good as awarding places in Germany to those countries with a recent track record in major international competitions. But come 9 October last year, things had not quite worked out that way as four new nations with no finals history set about celebrating their qualification. How do you explain this wind of change, originating in the west of the continent, that has swept Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Angola past their more celebrated peers? Perhaps their desire was greater; all of them certainly prepared meticulously, while some drew added motivation from revenge. Whatever the reasons, the upshot is that these four upstarts have snatched the tickets to Germany that many saw as almost the divine right of erstwhile giants Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria.
Of the five African nations that took part in the World Cup in Korea/Japan, only Tunisia have made it again this time around, at the expense of their great rivals Morocco. In the end, Tunisia just managed to outdo their North African neighbours, who had dominated Group 5 throughout the qualifying campaign.
A large slice of the credit must go to former France coach Roger Lemerre, who succeeded in saving the Carthage Eagles from the same fate as the other African big guns by concocting a judicious blend of youth and experience comprising both home and foreign-based players. Having benefited from their confidence-boosting performance at the Confederations Cup last summer, the reigning African champions returned to Germany to take part in their third consecutive World Cup (their fourth overall).
Throughout the African qualifiers, it seemed as if one thrilling encounter was immediately topped by an even more pulsating tussle. With the exception of Group 2, where Ghana always looked bound for Germany barring a major disaster, literally everything was still to play for right up until the final match day. The duels between Togo and Senegal (Group 1), Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon (Group 3), Angola and Nigeria (Group 4), and Morocco and Tunisia (Group 5) all had to wait until the night of 8 October to be resolved. The matches between these nations were memorable occasions and tightly contested too. Indeed Angola only edged out Nigeria on the head-to-head meetings rule. Such was the high standard of competition, African football clearly has some exciting days ahead of it.
They were feared throughout the continent, having dominated the African scene thanks to wells of talent that never seemed to run dry. But their glorious pasts were not sufficient to protect them from the sheer will to win of the emerging nations. Symbolised by Cameroon, who missed out on a fifth consecutive qualification, these former powers must now go back to square one. But how has it come to this? Ageing teams, ill-conceived preparatory programmes and temperamental, slightly complacent players are just a few explanations and are equally applicable to Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa. So have we just turned the page on a new chapter in African football history?
The likes of Samuel Eto'o, El-Hadj Diouf, Mido, and Shabani Nonda were already well- known, but the qualifiers unearthed some new African sharp-shooters. With Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor, Didier Drogba, Haykel Guemamdia and Akwa, Africa's reputation for spawning attacking prodigies is in safe hands. Monaco's lanky Togolese attacker Adebayor emerged from the qualifiers as top scorer on the continent with 11 goals, just ahead of Chelsea's Ivorian phenomenon Drogba. Having fired their countries all the way to the World Cup, these strikers will be looking to confirm their world-class pedigree on football's greatest stage.
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