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| The Final Draw event for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a big success and has put real pressure on the host nation’s football team, Bafana Bafana, to at least reach the knock out stage of the World Cup competition. When the group was announced the majority of South Africans sighed in disbelief and shock. The other teams in Group A are Mexico, which is ranked fifteen, Uruguay nineteen and France is seven. The Bafana Bafana’s ranked a lowly eighty-six after the unsuccessful stay of Joel Santana paved the way for the return of Carlos Alberto Parreira. They will face Javier Aguirre’s Mexico in the opening match on 11th June 2010 in Johannesburg. Aguirre has provided Mexico with stability and guidance after the disastrous tenures of former great Hugo Sánchez and Sven Goran Eriksson as national team coaches. Aguirre’s team will not be underestimated. This will be South Africa’s third appearance at the World Cup. They have played six matches, won one and conceded eight goals. Compare this to Mexico who will make their fourteenth appearance, with forty-five matches, eleven wins and forty-six goals. “The first match is important,” said Parreira, “so is the second match and the third match. All these matches are important and permit you to qualify for the knock out stage of the competition. In order for Bafana Bafana to qualify for the last sixteen, we need to prepare ourselves thoroughly and believe that we can do it.” Uruguay was the first host of the World Cup in 1930. They were the best team in the World then and defeated Argentina to become the first champions too. They retained their title in a strange sort of way. They boycotted the World Cups in 1934 and 1938 in protest at the lack of European teams that competed in Uruguay. The Second World War prevented completion in 1942 and a war-weary world wasn’t ready for a World Cup in 1946, so 1950 was the next one and Uruguay broke Brazilian hearts. It was only the second time the tiny South American nation had competed in the World Cup and they won it again. Those days are gone, but Uruguay has World Cup pedigree. Oscar Washington Tabarez may have failed at AC Milan, but his Uruguayan team is not to be overlooked. The group also includes France who needed Thierry Henry’s hand to get past the Republic of Ireland. The beaten finalists of four years ago will be difficult opponents, even though coach Raymond Domenech is seen as a weak link by many. Small wonder Parreira looked a bit pale with the shock of the opponents in his group. It won’t be an easy group to get out of, but get a tan Carlos! Super-Chickens No More: Berti Vogts’ stay as Nigeria’s coach was awful. He delivered the worst ever showing of the Super-Eagles in the finals of the African Cup of Nations in 2008. Vogts had won the World Cup as a player and coached his country to success in 1996 in the European Championship, but had to resign as Nigeria’s coach shortly after the West Africans’ ignominious exit from Ghana 2008. He now coaches Azerbaijan. Shuaibu Amodu took over and transformed the Super-Chickens into soaring Eagles once more in the first phase of African qualifiers. The final group was more difficult. Despite being unbeaten leading into the final match the Eagles of Carthage as Tunisia is affectionately known were favourites to book their place in South Africa, but results worked out in Nigeria’s favour unexpectedly. Despite Amodu qualifying his country for Africa’s World Cup the African Mentality looks set to strike again as the Nigerian government want a foreign coach to take the Super Eagles to the World Cup. [1] Nigeria, ranked twenty-two by FIFA will be making their fourth appearance in the World Cup finals. They are up against Argentina whom FIFA considers the eighth best team in the world. The legendary Diego Maradona’s team has appeared in fourteen World Cups, starting with defeat in the final of the first tournament in Uruguay. They have won the trophy twice in 1978 and 1986, inspired by Maradona, who contributed far more than ‘The Hand of God’ goal to that triumph. South Korea is ranked fifty-two in the world and is not the force they once were, but they are still a nation to be wary of. They co-hosted the World Cup in 2002 with Japan, reaching the semi-finals – the best ever performance by an Asian team in World Cup history. Coached by Huh Jung-Moo in his third spell with the national team, they set an Asian record of seven qualifications in a row. The other team in Group B is the European Champions of 2004, Greece. Still coached by Otto Rehhagel who led the unfancied Greeks to glory by beating hosts Portugal twice, one of Germany’s most successful football exports has guided Greece to a ranking of twelve. It is only their second appearance in the World Cup Finals. Nigeria faces Argentina in their opening fixture on 12th June 2010 in Johannesburg and should know each other by now for they have squared up in youth and senior championships on numerous occasions. This will be a tough encounter and Nigeria needs to be wary of European player of the year, Lionel Messi and company, Argentina just about made it to the World Cup and would obviously show the world that they do belong at the football showpiece. Nigeria will expect to have the beating of the Korean Republic and Greece but we need to remember that this is the World Cup and that most of the competing countries are well prepared and seasoned campaigners. South Korea came fourth in 2002. They will surely be no walkovers and Greece has won the European Championship and is coached by the wily German. Maradona may not be suited to coaching, but Argentina is a very talented outfit, anchored by the sublime skills of Messi and the Super-Eagles may have a new coach parachuted in for the World Cup without adequate time to prepare and stamp his authority on the team. Will they ever learn? 1. For further information on the African Mentality see http://empower-sport.com/index.php?categoryid=1&p2_articleid=310 which was published in a previous edition of the magazine. |
