The 17th edition of the FIFA World Cup has come and gone and the African teams were once again on parade. It will not be true to say that we have seen the very best the Africa continent has to offer when it comes to the world cup at the senior level.
Since the debut of Africa teams with the Egyptians in 1934 in Italy, to the just concluded world cup in Korea/Japan, one must agree that the best of football ever exhibited by an African side was found in the Nigerian USA'94 team. Although the team did not get to or break the record of the Quarterfinal stage being held presently by Senegal and Cameroon, the level of soccer artistry displayed by the team still remains unparalleled. The cohesion, confidence and tenacity shown by the team is what every African country should emulate. Little wonder then when the team was named second most entertaining team just behind eventual champions, Brazil. The 3-0 smashing of Bulgaria, who came fourth at the mundial, in its debut match still leaves Africa with one of its most resounding victories and impacts ever felt at the world cup.
Now putting this behind us, what can we say about our performance? It is usually said that to whom much is given, much is expected. This was supposed to have been the case for Cameroon, who pocketed two African Cup Nation tournaments before the world cup in Korea/Japan, but still could not deliver the goods and dashed the hopes of a whole lot of Africans and even other countries outside Africa, who almost believed in them and thought they could perform far beyond the Italia'90 side and most probably bring to pass the prophecy of Pele and former England coach, Walter Winterbottom, of an African team wining the world cup.
But what happened, the Cameroonians only escaped with a draw in their first match against Republic of Ireland, and once again escaped with a lucky 1-0 victory over Saudi-Arabia. But there was no escape route when it came to the Germans who exposed the weakness and inability of the team and sent them packing at the first round.
For the Nigerian team, they were clearly a shadow of the 1994 team earlier discussed and could not stamp their presence in the so-called "Group of Death". Raising a team barely three months to the tournament with a new coach, Chief Adeboye Onigbinde, who many questioned his competence, the Super Eagles could not put their acts together, losing their first two matches against Argentina and Sweden respectively and pulling a draw in a lack luster match against England, who played without much desperation to win. They only provided one moment for every one to cheer about and it only lasted a couple of minutes, when they took the lead in its second match against Sweden. Coincidentally, this was the only goal they scored in the championship.
As for the Tunisians, it had already been said before the commencement of the mundial that they were just going to make up the numbers and this was almost the case except for the 1-1 draw they pulled against Belgium in their second match. With a poor performance at Mali 2002 and some strings of losses after then, nobody gave the Tunisian side a chance of doing well at the world cup, and the team is still left looking for its first victory in 2002.
The South African team was definitely an improved side compared from what we all saw in the last world cup in France and even in Mali 2002, and with a little bit of luck on their side, they could have made if to the second round. They fought from behind in their mach against Paraguay to earn a well deserved 2-2 draw, defeated Slovenia by 1-0, and lost 3-2 to the giant of the group, Spain. Although they were eliminated in the First round, the South Africans can still hold their heads high, as the team did not lose scandalously and they were only edged out on aggregate goals to Paraguay.
Finally, Kudos must go to the Senegalese team for bringing joy, pride and hope to the African continent. Getting to the quarter finals in its Maiden appearance is a great achievement. They attuned the world especially in their first match when they defeated France who came into the tournament as defending champions and favourites to capture the trophy.
But the team started showing signs of weakness and inexperience when in their third group match gave away a 3-0 lead to Uruguay, and were left with a 3-3 score at full time. And when they got to the quarter finals, where everyone expected them to raise the tempo of their game, the Senegalese team just seemed satisfied with kicking the ball around without much purpose thereby allowing the Turks to run rings round them and escape with a golden goal victory which the Turks deserved.
Germany 2006 is just around the corner. Hope and expectations will always be high, the African teams have to start building now and ensure that all lapses are covered.