Qualified and not qualified

We are in the last stages of the World Cup qualifiers. 

In Europe two decisive playoff matches saw Portugal and Poland qualify by defeating North Macedonia and Sweden respectively; both were 2-0 home victories. The Macedonians were never really close to pulling another surprise against the Portuguese, while the Swedes play without fantasy or passion, and will not really be missed in Qatar. One team remains to qualify: Wales will face the winner of Scotland-Ukraine, which was postponed due to the war in Ukraine.

In South America there was little to play for for everyone but Peru and Colombia. A victory for Peru against Paraguay would put them in the play-off match, while Colombia had to defeat Venezuela and hope that Peru did not win. Both Peru and Colombia won, but it was not enough for Colombia, who will be missed in Qatar (I am personally very sad not to see them qualify), but they only have themselves to blame for missing another World Cup (the last they missed was 2010). Peru in the meantime is going into a play-off match in June against Australia or the United Arab Emirates. It seems it will be Australia, and against them I think Peru's chances will be 50-50 of making it to their second World Cup in a row.

In Africa there was enormous excitement as the second legs of the playoffs took place with some upsets. Firstly, Nigeria will miss their first World Cup since 2006 when they only managed a 1-1 at home to Ghana, who I am personally happy to see back in the World Cup after they missed Russia 2018! 

In a near-repeat of the Africa Cup of Nations final Senegal eliminated Egypt after penalty kicks, following a 1-0 victory that had equalized Egypt's 1-0 victory in Cairo. The Senegalese fully deserved the victory as they were the ones looking for it, rather than the defensive Egyptians. That said, the victory was marred by the fans, who abused laser-lights at the Egyptian players, making the match appear like a rave party.

The other big upset was Cameroun, who defeated Algeria 1-2 in Algeria after having lost 0-1 at home. The match had to go into extra time, and after Ahmed Touba scoring an equalizer for Algeria in the 118th minute, Cameroun seemed eliminated, but a goal by Karl Toko Ekambi in the last kick of the match (124th minute!) put Cameroun in Qatar in what was surely a devastating blow for the talented Algerians. At the same time it will be great to see Cameroun back in a World Cup after the missed out on Russia 2018. 

Tunisia and Morocco will make up the rest if African contingent to Qatar.

Only three teams remain to qualify, and it will (likely) be decided among these: Wales, Scotland, Ukraine, Peru, Australia, United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and Costa Rica.

Confederations Cup semifinals

There are not major surprises in the two semifinals of the Confederations Cup: the European champions and the World champions each won their groups, followed by the Latin American teams, namely the South American champions and the North American champions. So the semi-finals will be as follows:

• Portugal-Chile: Portugal seems like a team that really wants to win this tournament, while Chile are certainly also committed, but look shaky. Chile often starts their matches well, but second half often seem tired, and in particular their defense seems vulnerable, led by a Claudio Bravo who does not seem too confident. I think the European champions will make it to the final.
• Germany-Mexico: Joachim Low is experimenting with this German side, and although they have not looked like the best team in the world, they have made it to the semifinals through victories over Australia and Cameroon, and a tie with Chile. Mexico have been up and down, looked bad against New Zealand, but took points from their European counterparts of Portugal and Russia, and could certainly surprise a German side that is not wholly invulnerable.

The Russian hosts have been a disappointment, only managing a meager victory against a mediocre New Zealand, but were not up to the task against qualified opposition. It does not augur well for the World Cup, as Russian fans will not be motivated if their team is eliminated early on. The African champions of Cameroun were also disappointing, despite low expectations, but it shows that a potential African world champion is very far away. In the meantime Australia did well representing Asia, and New Zealand fulfilled all low expectations of the champions of Oceania.

Stuck in no-mans land when Cameroun won

I was unable to watch the Final of the Africa Cup of Nations because I was stuck in Morocco when their lousy national airline could not get me off the ground to go to beautiful Liberia. And how is it that there was nowhere to watch the final?

But much more important is that Cameroun won! The fact that I did not see it does not diminish the accomplishment of a team that not much was expected from at the start of the tournament, but who, most of all, showed discipline and camaraderie. They were perhaps the team that most wanted it, and to come from behind against such a defensively disciplined team as Egypt was a great achievement.
It is great to have the Indomitable Lions back among the best in the world!

Semifinal disappointments

The two semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations are over, and many did not expect the outcome, and are rightfully disappointed (myself included).
Burkina Faso played a great match against Egypt, and in particular in the first half were in total control. But the Egypt of Hector Cuper are extremely well-organized in defense and are deadly in counter-attack. Although Burkina Faso scored the first goal against the Egyptians in the tournament, the end result of 1-1 tokk the match to a penalty shootout where the veteran goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved the day for Egypt.
The Burkinabe are understandably disappointed, but expect to see more to them in the future.

Then there is Ghana: a dominant African power who have been in the last 6 semifinals, but have not managed to win the tournament since 1982. And again they were favourites to beat a Cameroon side that has been full of problems in this tournament. But the problem with Ghana is that they see themselves as rightul champions: and you are no kind of champions until you have won the final. Cameroon won 2-0 on a match were they fought hard and just seemed to want it much more than Ghana. And that is the real credit of the match: an excellent Cameroon side that will surely give everything to defeat Egypt!

I had been hoping for a Ghana-Burkina Faso final. But while we can see these teams play for bronze, the final will nevertheless be very interesting!

Africa Cup of Nations Quarterfinals

The year has for me started a bit oddly, with a lot of travels and work that has not fully permitted me to dwell into football. This is a pity since one of the best tournaments that modern national team football has to offer has started in Gabon, namely the Africa Cup of Nations. And although I have only watched a few matches from my base in Monrovia, it is full of excitement!
Firstly, the hosts from Gabon were eliminated in a group won by Burkina Faso ahead of Cameroon. The most talked about was the elimination of the Gabonese, but credit to a tournament-oriented Burkinabe side and a Cameroon side of indomitable lions who have not gone beyond first round since 2010.
Gabon's elimination was not as sensational as that of the highly rated Algerians, who with a team full of stars were expected to make it far. But a defeat to Tunisia and ties to Senegal and Algeria saw them out with meager 2 points, while an exciting Senegal side won the group ahead of Tunisia.
Another big team eliminated were the defending champions of Ivory Coast. Much was also expected, but like the Algerians they also only managed 2 points with ties against DR Congo and Togo, while losing 0-1 to Morocco in the last all-important match. Morocco are not exciting to watch, but solid, and Ivory Coast's stars seemed to underestimate them. The big surprise was probably the DR Congo, who ended up winning the group ahead of Morocco, and will be one of the sides to watch.
In the last group Egypt and Ghana did what they were expected to do, easily outplaying Mali and Uganda and playing for first place tonight, in a match Egypt won 1-0, playing very intelligently against a Ghana side that could surely go all the way with its experience and talent.
With this great first round, we now have the following quarterfinals:

• Burkina Faso-Tunisia
• Egypt-Morocco
• Senegal-Cameroon
• DR Congo-Ghana

The matches promise to be great in a tournament full of surprises. Most of these teams follow their dreams of victory instead of dear of losing!!
Although I will not be in Africa to follow all the quarterfinals, be sure I will!

The lucky last quarterfinalist

Yesterday Group D in the Africa Cup of Nations was decided: with Ivory Coast beating Cameroun 1-0, they won the group. But in the other match Guinea and Mali tied 1-1. This was the third 1-1 tie for each of them, and meant a draw would decide the quarterfinalist.
Guinea won, and will be excited to face Ghana in their next match, where Ghana will undoubtedly be the great favourite.
This must leave a bitter taste in Mali's participation, and one has to wonder whether there could not have been another better way of deciding this..?
Everyone knew that the teams were head to head when the matches ended yesterday. So why could they not have played extra time? Or perhaps gone directly to a penalty contest? One can argue that these are as much lotteries, but are they not better than a simple draw?
Guinea cannot deny they are the luckiest of all teams in the Africa Cup of Nations, no matter who wins!

Day 7 of the World Cup: s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

After the amazing victory of the Netherlands over the World Champions, I thought I would visit a friend in the Duke's Bush, or s-Hertogenbosch, in the Netherlands, to watch the match that the orange side would play against Australia. Taking the train from Brussels, it is often not immediately obvious that you are changing country, but for the fact that the colours displayed on windows suddenly changed from red to orange.

On my way to s-Hertogenbosch I decided to do a bit of exploring, and went off the train in the small and lovely city of Breda, where I visited the Gothic church of Grote Kerk, where the ancestors of the house of Nassau-Orange are buried. The football connection is undeniable, as this is where the use of orange for the Dutch national team comes from. Indeed, the beautiful Grote Markt in front of the church was decorated with orange colours in preparation of the match.  And you could feel the World Cup fever getting higher as more and more people dressed in often creative orange garments would appear on the train to s-Hertogenbosch.

Another lovely Dutch city, I was received by a great Dutch friend who gave me an orange shirt and a cape adorned with the Dutch lion. I blended completely into the orange sea of people who we joined at one of the lively pubs showing the match in downtown s-Hertogenbosch.

The Dutch are committed; the national anthem was sung with loud national pride. And I must mention that Dutch ladies are the most beautiful football fans I have come across. The Netherlands wins on almost all fronts, if not on their tiny beers.

But the Dutch suffered. And here I must be honest; I was caught on by the Dutch, and celebrated their every goal (how could you not with beautiful Dutch girls celebrating all around you?), but at the same time I was happy they were suffering a bit, as the match then got much more interesting for... me.

In the end, it is all about me.

Australia are no pushover. They have proved that again and again, and therefore it is amazing to see that some countries, notably arrogant Europeans and South Americans, are again and again taken by surprise. I do not know if this was the case of the Dutch, who were a shadow of themselves in the first half. They were slow, imprecise and uncommitted. It was not deserved when they went ahead, but Tim Cahill's equalizer was fully deserved. And how ironic that a goal so fantastic that one would have expected to come from the feet of the great Dutch, came from an Australian!

The Dutch improved a lot in the second half, but had to suffer more when Australia went 2-1 up. In the end Van Persie and the young Memphis Depay gave them a deserved victory, and depending on the result between Spain and Chile, the Dutch could be the first team to qualify for the last-16.

Chile won 2-0 over the defending World Champions. Spain joins France in 2002 and Italy in 2010 as World Champions who have been eliminated in the first round. This Spanish golden generation gave the world of football a lot, but fell from greatness due to lack of preparation and respect for their opponents. I am sorry to say this, but the responsible is not Iker Casillas, Xavi, Diego Costa, or any of the players, but Vicente del Bosque. He did not set a team according to the opponents, whom he did not bother to study. Had he, Mr. Del Bosque would have known that Chile were a team to be reckoned with. Just being Spain is not enough to win a match; this is also to disrespect your opponents. As much as the Spanish team will be remembered as one of the greatest side ever, Chile did the world a favour.

Chile and the Netherlands will be playing for first spot in the group in what will be a great match. 

The last match of the day was Croatia-Cameroon. Cameroon proved to be perhaps the poorest side of the World Cup. They do not play like a team and are as committed as a cock to monogamy. Croatia's victory was too easy, and not too small. I guess we have all been expecting a lot from Cameroon since 1990, but truth is that since then they have gone out every time in the first round, and suffered some humiliating defeats. Of all those bad Cameroon sides, this is surely the worst of the lot.

Croatia will face Mexico in the last group match, a clash that will decide who goes on to the next round.

In my orange cape I have celebrated the Netherlands, and hope they get far, just because of this great day I had amid the awesome (and stunning) Dutch fans! Hup Holland Hup!

African World Cup Play-offs

The African World Cup Play-off draw has led to the following clashes:

• Ethiopia-Nigeria
• Ghana-Egypt
• Ivory Coast-Senegal
• Tunisia-Cameroun
• Burkina Faso-Algeria

The exciting newcomers from Ethiopia will have to play their best against Nigeria's African champions, while Ghana and Egypt will be an epic clash between two of the strongest footballing nations in Africa. Burkina Faso will also have to play their best to make it to their first World Cup ever, but it does not look impossible against Algeria.
First leg will be on October 11th to 15th!

The first team out

Don't get me wrong: I was absolutely delighted that Denmark won 2-1 over Cameroon, and that we are now looking forward to a thrilling match between Japan and Denmark about who gets to the last-16. Howver, the lions of Cameroon proved quite domitable, and are the first team of the World Cup to be certainly out (Nigeria for instance, still has a theoretical chance). It is a pity that it is the great Cameroonian side, and well, it certainly augurs badly for African teams: South Africa and Nigeria have a slim chance pf progressing ; Ghana will be facing a tuff match against Germany; Algeria are up against a difficult USA, while Côte d'Ivoire will have to do their best against Brazil and North Corea.
It is looking difficult for African teams during the first World Cup in Africa. I heartily hope Ghana makes it though!

The own-goal, the surprise and the usual...

Denmark's defeat against the Netherlands wasn't as bad as I had feared: in fact, I felt quite good at some point, feeling I might even have a little celebration with myself in the restaurant in Caracas I was having breakfast at during the match.
But it wasn't to be; after a fine first half the Danes went one down by a silly own goal by Daniel Agger/Simon Poulsen, and after this, Denmark was unable to create a chance, and lost 2-0.
And the group is not looking easy: Japan surprised many by winning 1-0 over Cameroon, and the Africans are now playing an all-or-nothing match with Denmark on Saturday (and I will be in Denmark then!). But just shows that there is no reason to underestimate the Asian teams (although Australia got killed by the extraordinary Germans), and it will be interesting to see North Corea against Brazil tomorrow!
Finally, Italy and Paraguay tied 1-1. While a fine result for the South Americans, the world champions were probably expecting more, although they often seem to start a world cup with rather poor results (just remember 1982...). Everyone is rightfully expecting that Italy will take care of it all in their next matches against New Zealand and Slovenina, and things will be as usual.

Greatest World Cup matches: Cameroon-Russia (1994)

The match between Russia and Cameroon in the first round of the 1994 was completely irrelevant for both teams. Russia had lost their previous two matches 2-0 and 3-1 to Brazil and Sweden respectively, while Cameroon had tied Sweden 2-2 and lost 3-0 to Brazil. This meant that while Cameroon had a small theoretical chance of progressing, Russia was out. With Brazil and Sweden tying 1-1, the match was nevertheless irrelevant.
Still, the match in Stanford, California, is worth mentioning since two incredible records in world cup history were made in the same match.
After 15 minutes Oleg Salenko, striker from the CD Logroñés in Spain, opened the scoring for Russia, and by half-time, the same player had made a hat-trick by scoring two more goals (one of them on penalty). Cameroon, an ageing team that had been the sensation of the 1990 World Cup where they made it all the way to the quarterfinals, was being humiliated, and the saviour from the 1990 World Cup entered the pitch, the 42 year old Roger Milla.
Roger Milla had played some years in France during the 1980s and in 1976 had been awarded the African Footballer of the year award, but his career came came to the wider world’s attention in 1990 when, at the age of 38, he had controversially been selected for the world cup squad after Cameroon’s president had put pressure on the coach. Entering against Colombia in the last-16, he had scored the winning goal, and had been instrumental in Cameroon’s 2-1 lead against England in the 1990 quarter-finals. Then, Milla had been the oldest player to score in a World Cup. As he entered the pitch against Russia, it was only one minute before he beat his own record when scoring as he strongly held off a Russian defender in the penalty area and placed the ball in the goal.
Roger Milla’s record as the oldest man to score in a world cup is unlikely ever to be beaten.
However, this was not the first record to be broken. Cameroun was unable to score again, and instead Russia, and notably Oleg Salenko, proceeded to tame and destroy the African lions. Halfway through the second half Oleg Salenko scored his fourth goal on a comfortable right-foot shot after a quick Russian attack.
Only eight players before Salenko had ever achieved the feat of scoring four goals in a world cup match, the last being Emilio Butragueño in 1986, when Spain defeated Denmark. However, no player had ever scored five goals in one world cup match, and this was exactly what Oleg Salenko achieved only three minutes later, when he scored a fifth for Russia on a quick attack that tore apart the tired African defense. To this day Oleg Salenko remains the only player that has scored five goals in one world cup match.
Dmitri Radchenko from Zenit Leningrad scored a sixth for Russia before the end of the match, but that is only an anecdote in a match that had already seen two world cup records.
Roger Milla played his last world cup match in this match, as Cameroon returned home. He is still a legend in Cameroon, and widely considered one of the best players Africa has ever produced;
Oleg Salenko only played eight matches for Russia, and his club career was not prominent in spite of his talent, playing for Valencia, Glasgow Rangers, Istanbulspor, Córdoba and Pogon Szczecin with mixed success. In spite of this, he remains in the history books because of his record in this match, and including the goal he had scored against Sweden, he became top-scorer of the tournament together with Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoitchkov.

Match Stats:

• 28th June 1994, Stanford Stadium, Stanford
• Attendance: 75,000
• Referee: Jamal Al Sharif (Syria)

Russia-Cameroon 6-1
Goals: 1-0 Salenko (15), 2-0 Salenko (41), 3-0 Salenko (44) (pen), 3-1 Milla (46), 4-1 Salenko (72), 5-1 Salenko (75), 6-1 Radchenko (81)

Teams:
Russia: Cherchesov; Nikiforov, Ternavski, Tetradze, Korneev (Radchenko), Tsymbalar, Onopko, Lediakhov (Beschastnykh), Salenko, Karpin, Khlestov
Cameroon: Songo; Kana, Ndip, Libiih, Omam-Biyik, Mfede (Milla), Kalla, Tataw, Agbo, Foe, Embe (Tchami)

Greatest World Cup Matches: Cameroon-Argentina (1990)

African teams had slowly been rising since 1978 when Tunisia had been the first African team to win a match. In 1982 Algeria had been the first to defeat a European side, West Germany, while Cameroon had been eliminated without losing a single match, and in 1986 Morocco had been the first African group winners. However, when Argentina and Cameroon were to play the opening match of the 1990 World Cup at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, nobody really thought that the Africans had a chance against the Argentinean defending world champions.
Argentina’s team was a combination of veterans from the 1986 team, and some new players, but the one overshadowing them all was Diego Maradona, who as a Napoli player felt at home in Italy.
Cameroon’s team, on the other hand, was a combination of players from the domestic league and low-key French clubs, with the exception of the goalkeeper Thomas Nkono from RCD Espanyol, arguably one of the best African goalkeepers of all time.
Argentina did not play a bad match, but were perhaps surprised by the tactics of the Camerooneans who, with strong support for being the underdogs, played very well but with very poor sportsmanship. Within the first half hour the Camerooneans had received three yellow cards and made a number of bad fouls, in particular targeting Maradona. The Argentineans, although no aliens to playing dirty, seemed unable to counter the harsh play of the Africans.
Although the score was 0-0 at half-time, Argentina could have been ahead, and things seemed to be going the right way when in the 61st minute, the Cameroonean defender André Kana-Biyik was shown a direct red card for taking down the dangerous Atalanta striker Claudio Canniggia on a free run towards the Cameroonean goal. However, only five minutes later Cameroon got a free kick on the left side. Emmanuel Kunde centered rather poorly, but the ball was deflected on a high curve towards the center where Kana-Biyik’s brother, Francois Omam-Biyik, rose above the Argentinean defender. His header was not particularly powerful, and Argentina’s veteran goalkeeper from Betis Seville, Nery Pumpido, must be blamed for fumbling the ball into goal. Pumpido was injured in the next match, and his substitute Sergio Goycoechea became the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Cameroon were sensationally ahead, and one man down defended heroically against the oncoming Argentinean attacks. In particular Claudio Canniggia was creating havoc, and on a spectacular run towards the end of the match he was violently brought down by Benjamin Massing, who was also given a red card.
The score held.
Cameroon had sensationally defeated the world champions, and immediately became the darlings of the tournament. Cameroon made it to the quarter-final where only England’s Gary Lineker was able to stop the Africans. For many, this was the game that definitively brought African football to the fore of world football.
Although Argentina had suffered what seemed a humiliating defeat, the team still fought hard and in spite of not playing good football, still made it all the way to the final, where they lost to West Germany in a repeat of the 1986 final.

Match Stats:

• 8th June, 1990, Stadio Giusseppe Meazza, Milano
• Attendance: 73,780
• Referee: Michel Vautrot (France)

Cameroon-Argentina 1-0
Goals: 1-0 Omam-Biyik (67)

Teams:
Argentina: Pumpido; Batista, Balbo, Basualdo, Burruchaga, Lorenzo, Fabbri, Maradona, Sensini (Calderón), Ruggeri (Caniggia), Simon
Cameroon: Nkono; Kana-Biyik (RC, 61), Massing (RC, 89), Ebwelle, Kunde, Omam-Biyik, Mbouh, Mfede (Libiih), Tataw, Ndip, Makanaky (Milla)

Interesting friendlies

The world cup is soon starting, and this week's friendly matches can perhaps give us a small indication of what forms some teams are in:

• The defending world champions from Italy tied another world cup participant, Cameroon, 0-0 (repeating their 1982 world cup feat). While both are looking solid in defense, the match said little about their offensive capabilities.
• Spain again showed that they must be considered favourites for the title after a 2-0 away victory to France on goals by David Villa and Sergio Ramos.
  
• England, immersed in scandals about some players, had a difficult time defeating the African champions of Egypt, and even went behind 0-1, but managed to pull back a 3-1 victory.
• Ghana, one of the African hopefuls, lost 2-1 to Bosnia in a match where they did not play too well, but were also missing many of the stars.
• Another African participant, Algeria, was destroyed 3-0 by Serbia. In the meantime, the Serbians, who qualified in an awesome manner, are cementing a position as an important "Dark Horse" for the World Cup.
• Uruguay defeated another World Cup participant, Switzerland, 3-1 away, where three of their extraordinary strikers scored a goal each: Diego Forlán, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Uruguay will also be a team to watch in South Africa, particularly due to their awesome strikers.
• Another of the favourites for the title is surely Argentina. Although coach Maradona has been heavily criticised their 1-0 away victory against Germany should send warning signs to anyone who underestimates the Argentineans. The entire team stood well, played intelligently, and their strikers gave the Germans trouble. Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuaín, who is currently in great form, scored the Argentinean winner.
• The Netherlands defeated the USA 2-1.
  

Heading to South Africa

New Zealand and Nigeria qualified for the World Cup yesterday, but other countries also either made sure they are going to be in South Africa, or took steps to it.
In Africa Cameroon finally qualified with a 2-0 away victory over Morocco, and are now the African nation that has participated in most World Cups.
One of the most awaited matches was surely Egypt-Algeria in Cairo. The match ended with a late Egyptian 2-0 goal that will force a re-match in Sudan on Wednesday, to decide which of the two will be going to the World Cup. According to some sources, before the match in Cairo, the Algerian team was attacked by Egyptian hooligans, and it seems the match was played in a very intimidating atmosphere. FIFA should certainly consider some sort of punishment for the Egyptians if this proves correct - these things don't belong in a World Cup participant!
In San José, Uruguay managed an important 0-1 victory against Costa Rica that puts them only one step away from South Africa, while in Europe, the four play-off matches left nothing for sure. Portugal barely managed to defeat an unlucky Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0, while Greece and Ukraine tied 0-0 in what sounds like a bore of a match.
Russia pressed and pressed for goals against Slovenia, but leading 2-0 gave away a late goal that can prove crucial for the next match on Wednesday in Ljubljana. France on the other hand seems to have taken a gigantic step with a 1-0 away victory against Ireland in Dublin with a goal of the ever-present Nikolas Anelka.
By next Wednesday we will know all the participants in the 2010 World Cup!

World Cup play-off matches

The last entries for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will be decided this week, and there are some very interesting encounters.
In Europe, FIFA changed the rules on seeding teams shortly before the play-off draw, giving the "big" teams a better chance at qualifying. The power of money and politics, but hopefully the underdogs can manage some upset in some of the following European play-off matches:

• Portugal-Bosnia Herzegovina
• France-Ireland
• Greece-Ukraine
• Russia-Slovenia

In Wellington, New Zealand will be taking on Bahrain in the second leg of the Asia-Oceania play-off match. The first leg ended 0-0 and the Kiwis are now looking towards their second World Cup participation, their first being in 1982.

In San José, Costa Rica will be playing the two-times world champions of Uruguay in the first leg of the CONCACAF-South America play-off match. The South Americans are probably looking for a good result before receiving the Costa Ricans in Montevideo. However, Uruguay has been known to underestimate visiting teams before, something that missed them their qualification in 2006.

Finally, the last African teams will be decided: In the CAF group A, Cameroon and Gabon will fight for the first spot in their away matches against Morocco and Togo respectively. Cameroon is currently leading the group by one point.
Tunisia is leading CAF group 2 by two points ahead of Nigeria. The Nigerians will be playing Kenya away, and must win, but a the same time must hope that Tunisia does not defeat Mozambique in Maputo.
Perhaps the most thrilling encounter of all will take place in Cairo, where the two North African giants Egypt and Algeria will be clashing in CAF group C. The first match in Algiers ended 3-1 for Algeria, so Egypt needs to win by more than two goals to qualify for the World Cup. In case of a victory by two, the teams will be completely equal on the table, and a play-off match will take place then. But be sure that the Algerians will fight for the first spot in the intimidating atmosphere of Cairo! This match is PG-13!

Goodbye and thanks for nothing

Cameroun and Italy, in the first round of this Olympic tournament, played some of the most boring football ever, and now, both teams are out, in the quarterfinals: farewell to both, and thanks for nothing.

I did not see Italy lose 2-3 to Belgium, but I am happy they did: every time Italy is out in football it is a reason to be happy!

What I did see though, was Brazil's extra time 2-0 victory against a Cameroonian team who did not seem to have gone to China to kick a ball, but rather to kick the men. This should not surprise about Cameroun though: they have always played physically, bordering on the outright violent, and are one of the teams ever with most cards in the world cups. And today they lived up to their style: destructive and boring football, nothing to do with that so-called "Olympic spirit".
While Brazil was not impressive, very slow and lacked fighting, they did the whole world a favour by eliminating Cameroun. And I hope Cameroun doesn't come back to the Olympics.

Olympic quarterfinals

The first round of the Olympic football tournament is over without major surprises: Brazil and Argentina have lived up to their aspirations with three straight wins each, and are ready to the quarterfinals. It has not been amazing though: Brazil seems to have eased their way through Belgium, New Zealand and China, while Argentina had to fight a bit more against Ivory Coast and Serbia, but looking awfully strong nevertheless.
The three European teams in the quarterfinals, Belgium, Netherlands and Italy, have been efficient, but an absolute bore of the kind that makes one want to watch paint dry rather than them. In their last match, Italy and Cameroun played for the 0-0 draw that would take them both through in some of the worse football ever seen.
Not really Olympic spirit there.
Finally, besides Cameroun, we have two other African teams in the quarterfinals, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, who will in fact each other in an all-African quarterfinal.
As it is now, the four quarterfinals on Saturday are as follows:

• Argentina-Netherlands
• Ivory Coast-Nigeria
• Brazil-Cameroun
• Italy-Belgium

I make no discrestion that I want an Argentina-Brazil final: it would be best for the Olympics and for football fans in general.

Don't miss it: The African Nations Cup 2008

The African Nations Cup is starting on January 2008 in Ghana. It is bound to be an interesting spectacle, with some intense clashes in the Ghanaian heat and humidity, but I would not expect too much in level of quality: while there are many top players who perform in top clubs in Europe, quality in these types of national tournaments is far below what is seen in top clubs nowadays (with the World Cup being an example).
Nevertheless, with the intensity and nationalism these tournaments engender, it is not to be missed. Also, with the next World Cup 2010 being held in South Africa, it will be interesting to see the way the teams perform.
The groups with the 16 teams are as follows:

• Group A: Ghana, Namibia, Guinea, Morocco
• Group B: Nigeria, Benin, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire
• Group C: Tunisia, Angola, South Africa, Senegal
• Group D: Egypt, Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon

Obviously there are already in the first round some interesting matches!
In group A, the hosts of Ghana, supported by passionate fans, will be expecting nothing else but success at home.
Group B will see giants Nigeria and last cup's finalists Cote d'Ivoire in an interesting West African group, where Mali should be considered some serious outsiders with many very experienced players from European top clubs.
Group C sees some giants of African football, Tunisia and Senegal, with the South Africans, who will desperately be looking for success before the 2010 World Cup, and the new interesting Angolan side, who did so well in the 2006 World Cup.
Finally, group D will see Egypt, defending champions from 2006, and a Cameroonian side, led by Samuel Eto'o, who will be looking for the success they otherwise have the team for!
Don't miss it!!!

African Cup Finalists: Egypt and Ivory Coast

I have not been following the African Cup with an overly keen interest after Ghana's disappointing exit. But after some great quarterfinals and semifinals, I certainly believe we can look forward to a very good final next Friday, between two of the best teams of the tournament: Home team Egypt against the World Cup bound Ivory Coast.

The Ivorians are in the final after an intense quarterfinal against Cameroon (which was won 12-11 after penalty kicks. Eto'o missed the last penalty for Cameroon, ending in shame a great tournament. I only wonder if he will be treated as Wome was...), and a narrow 1-0 victory against Nigeria in the semifinal. Didier Drogba has been a leading player on the Ivorian side, and he also scored the lone goal against Nigeria.

I am not surprised Egypt is in the final. The home team, "the Pharaohs", have been strong all the way, pushed forward by a wonderful crowd of fans. They easily dispatched Congo 4-1 in the quarterfinal, but had more problems in the semifinal. Senegal put up a great fight, and Egypt looked like a team falling apart when Senegal equalized on a beautiful header. Then, Egyptian coach Hassan Shehata showed himself as a super-star coach: with ten minutes to go, he replaced the Egyptian star Mido with a Amr Zaki. Mido left in disgrace, furious; he almost hit his coach. Mido had not played a good match, and the change proved a brilliant move. Amr Zaki had some magical 10 minutes on the pitch, scoring the winning goal for Egypt.

Great players respect their coach's decision and show restraint. Mido's reaction to his substitution just shows he is not such a player. If I was coach, I would not let him play the final.

In the group stages Egypt already defeated Ivory Coast 3-1. However, the Egyptians should certainly not feel comfortable because of that. The Ivorians are very strong, and will surely do all they can to spoil any party in Egypt on Friday.

Super Samuel Eto'o

Of the games I have seen so far in the African Nations Cup, I have not been overly impressed by the teams. Specially some of the World Cup-bound teams have been a disappointment, and I do hope that this is just preparation, because I cannot see any of them getting far in the World Cup.

One team will be missed though: Cameroun. And that is not so much because of the team, as because of one single player: Samuel Eto'o. The Barcelona striker is at his best these days, and he is certainly showing that himself and Cameroun belong in the World Cup. In the first match he scored three goals against Angola, who is bound for Germany this summer. Today, Eto'o was the best player in giving Cameroun a well-deserved victory against another World Cup team, Togo.

Mr. Eto'o scored an absolutely astonishing first goal, and a brilliant play by him led to a beautiful goal with the heel by Menong-ze.

With the first two games, Samuel Eto'o has shown that he is the best striker in Africa, just as he often has shown he is the best in Spain, and one in the best in Europe. What a pity that he will not be able to show that he is indeed also the best striker in the World this summer!