The countdown to the 2014 football
world cup in Brazil has ended and the tournament has already kicked off. It
seems appropriate to look on the qualifiers especially from an African
perspective, how the teams prepared and how that might affect them in Brazil. There was drama, thumpings,
comebacks that did materialize and those that never materialized both on and
off the field during the qualifiers and the playoffs.
.
Gianni Brera, the late Italian sports
journalist, famously argued that the perfect game would end goalless. According
to his logic, two flawless teams would make no mistakes, and thus no
opportunities to score would arise. What Brera did not foresee was that a
flawless team could still lose a game through mistakes that are made off field
rather than on it.Even he would have struggled to come
to terms with the events that unfolded on the African continent. There are
never enough words to describe how poor football is administered in our part of
the world.
Proper football administrators, commentators,
and observers will be furious if alive, and turn in their graves if dead after their
observation of the events that unfolded in the African section of the 2014
world cup qualifiers. How victories have been turned to defeats, hopes to disappointments
and pride to humiliation and vice versa. How all this unfolded is shockingly
pathetic and brings to the fore how the beautiful game is managed on the
continent.
First it was Sudan, then Burkina
Faso, Ethiopia, Equitorial Guinea, Togo, Cape Verde and so the list went on.
And all these happened because of the fielding of as Federation of
international Football Associations (FIFA) puts it an “ineligible player”. How
on earth is it that officials in a country’s football administration cannot
check about the eligibility of players before fielding them, or seek
clarification from FIFA on player eligibility. Absurdly, eight games in African qualifying section have been
awarded as walkovers for use of “ineligible players”.
It has meant that victories in the
qualifiers for Sudan, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and Cape Verde have all
been turned to defeat. Just when we were talking of Cape Verdean (who
themselves have benefited for the use of ineligible player by Equatorial
Guinea) fairytale after their victory over Tunisia, it turned out they used an
ineligible player for that game and therefore forfeited the points earned.
Arguably no team will be delighted
and sad like Tunisia. They thought they had done enough to qualify. And after Equatorial
Guinea’s points were deducted, it meant they had to wait till the final game. The
suffered heartbreaks after defeat on the field, they thought they had failed
only for the points to be awarded to them. Classical case of on, off…. then
back on. A lifeline they never expected, but probably deserved given previous
results. After that delight, they then lost to Cameroon in the playoffto restore their sadness. As things stand now, Cameroon will be the happiest of the teams that were awarded points for games they had originally lost. It has been so poor all around that
Congo even tried to use that route to see if it can overturn its fortunes for
its failures against Niger which ultimately failed. Who can blame them after
all these messiness.
Come to think of it, all these
issues are synonymous with the continent’s administration – Confederation of
African football (CAF) - of all issues. The issue of the Presidency of the body
itself calls to question its capability and its long term future. Also, the
changing of rules immediately before presidential elections with the main
purpose of disqualifying the only challenger to the incumbent. All this is for another day.
The structure of the current world
cup qualifiers although guarantees drama, it is nonsensical. Africa is
guaranteed five places at the world cup. First the least ranked teams played
off each other to prune the number of teams to 40. These teams were then put in
ten groups of four with each group winner advancing to the next round which
were then paired into five ties with each winner qualifying to the world cup. This ensured that Africa might not have
put its best foot forward.
The decision to have this format was
arrived in order to accommodate the changes in the year the nation’s cup takes
place from even to odd years. Instead of waiting that to happen in 2015 so that
a proper world cup qualifier is established as in previous qualifiers, it was hastily
done in 2013 leaving us with the current format.
African football already faces enormous challenges in terms of finances and infrastructure, but we also at times let ourselves down badly with issues of basic competence. Until these issues are sorted out, it is difficult to see African teams make significant strides on the global stage both on and off the field.
African football already faces enormous challenges in terms of finances and infrastructure, but we also at times let ourselves down badly with issues of basic competence. Until these issues are sorted out, it is difficult to see African teams make significant strides on the global stage both on and off the field.
So now to matters on the pitch alone. Africa’s representatives in Brazil after
the playoffs are: Ivory Coast (who defeated Senegal to qualify) is in a group
containing Colombia, Japan and Greece. Ghana (who defeated Egypt) is in a group
containing Germany, USA and Portugal. Nigeria (who defeated Ethiopia) is in a
group containing Iran, Bosnia and Argentina. Algeria (who defeated Burkina Faso)
is in a group containing Belgium, South Korea and Russia. Whiles Cameroon (who
defeated Tunisia) is in a group containing Brazil, Croatia and Mexico.
On paper Ivory Coast and Nigeria
should have no problems qualifying to the next round from their group should
they perform to their abilities – something they rarely do. Algeria and
Cameroon do not have a difficult group either, but due to the poor performance of
the former in previous competitions since 1982, and the shambolic preparations
of the latter (including a row over allowances leading to player strike that
was resolved very late before the team travelled to Brazil), I do not expect
them to qualify from their group. That leaves us with Ghana who will need a
miracle to qualify; should they do that, then they are Africa’s team that is
likely to go the furthest.
Good luck to all and may the best
teams win. Hopefully, they will all make Africa proud.
