tclogo


HotelsCombined.com

Recent Comments

Hugo on Eurosport beams Nations Cup matches: Really hoping Nigeria do well in this tournament b ...
Delivery Hero on England, France paired in Euro 2012: Can't wait for Euro 2012! ...
Wes on 2011/12 English Premiership Preview: Thanks Sybil, I think Man City cannot easily be di ...
Wes on 2011/12 English Premiership Preview: Thanks Bambo for the comment. I think its going to ...
Phil on 2011/12 English Premiership Preview: Good post, this looks like a very unpredictable se ...

African World Cup teams review


I am normally used to seeing Cameroon and Nigeria at the World Cup but this year there are four new African teams compared to the last World Cup and so its going to be interesting to see how they perform.
When I saw the draw for Ivory Coast in December 2005 I just thought that was the end of it for Ivory Coast because theirs is a very tough group and one would normally expect at least Argentina to go through. But over the last few months I have to come believe that Ivory Coast could potentially go into the second round. With the emergency of Eboue they have a very good defence marshalled by the dependable Toure and up front they have Drogba and so it looks like they could pull through but I should say its not going to be easy for them.
Ghana didn't do well in the African Nations Cup but with Essien in the team they look like a different team now. They have played well in their friendlies but having said that their group is very tough. The Czech Republic is a very good team and so are Italy and the USA and its interesting to see if Ghana goes through who will miss out.
From the little I have seen of Angola I don't think they will be in the second round. Their squad is mostly the one that took part in the Africa Nations Cup and they also failed in their bid to get some players who ply their trade in Portugal and have played for Portugal before to play for them. I would fancy Portugal to be top in their group with Mexico slight favourites for second although Iran are quite capable of an upset because they now have a stable and experienced team.
Tunisia is only African team that were there in the S Korea/Japan World Cup that will be in Germany. They have a very experienced coach and in the Africa Nations Cup they did quite well and I think their group is an open one and they could potentially be in the second round. I actually think they have the best chance of progressing to the round of 16 of all the African teams.
I don't know what to expect from Togo but I think they will get 'special' treatment from France. Having lost to Senegal in the last World Cup, I think France will make sure they win this game. Togo should have a good chance of reaching the second round if they can get at least four points from the Switzerland and South Korea matches but again that's its quite a tall order for them. They now have a new coach after having had Keshi at the Nations Cup and hopefully they will up for their game for the World Cup.
What do you think?

Tyndale
I fear the other teams will be wary of an African upset and will be extra careful when playing Africans .I rate Tunisia the highest then Ivory Coast .

Post a comment:

(required)

(required, but not published)

(optional)





Notify me of follow-up comments via e-mail

chris
What lets African teams down are the pay rows like the Togo one. Cameroon had a similar one before the last world cup and in the end didnt achieve much.
reply