Africa's best hope at this year's World Cup was drawn into the tournament's
toughest group.
That doesn't mean one of the five teams from the continent won't spring a
surprise like Cameroon did in 1990 and Senegal repeated four years ago, both
reaching the quarterfinals.
It does make the task much more difficult, though.
The Ivory Coast, led by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba, was expected to have
the best chance to advance through the group stage. That was until December,
when the Elephants were drawn into Group C along with two-time champion
Argentina, the Netherlands and Serbia-Montenegro.
"Anything can happen in football, so if we're among the 32 best teams in the
world at some point we will get the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals or
the semifinals or the final," Drogba said. "Or we will be eliminated in the
first round because the level of the competition is really high and the teams
that reach this far are the best."
The Ivorians, one of four African teams making their debut at the World Cup,
should be a tough team to beat with European-league veterans Bonaventure Kalou,
Kolo Toure, Aruna Dindane and Didier Zokora.
The easiest division at the World Cup also contains an African team, Angola.
But few are giving the Black Antelopes a chance to reach the knockout stage
from Group D, which also includes Mexico, Portugal and Iran.
"Angola is the most humble team at the World Cup, and so it's not going to be
easy for us," Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves said. "Our plan is to try to
draw with the bigger teams. But for us, we are already winners for qualifying."
The team is led by Fabrice Akwa, the striker who scored the goal against
Rwanda that helped Angola qualify for the tournament ahead of perennial African
power Nigeria.
Despite the difficult road ahead, Akwa is still optimistic.
"We know the favorites in our group are Portugal and Mexico, but we are going
there to surprise these teams," Akwa said.
The other three African teams playing in Germany are Ghana, Togo and Tunisia.
None is favored to reach the knockout rounds.
Four-time African champion Ghana boasts Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien,
but plays Italy, the Czech Republic and the United States in Group E. Togo faces
1998 champion France, Switzerland and South Korea in Group G.
The only African team in the tournament that has played at the World Cup
before, Tunisia, is in Group H with Spain, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.
Tunisia striker Zied Jaziri believes his team's opening match against Saudi
Arabia is the most important.
"They can beat us, but we can also beat them," Jaziri said. "It's an open
game and a very important one, particularly as we will meet Spain afterward in
the second game, which will be a very difficult one for us. It could be
decisive."
Tunisia has the added advantage of being coached by a man with a proven
record. Roger Lemerre led France to the European Championship title in 2000, and
then helped Tunisia win the African Cup of Nations in 2004.
In between, however, he coached defending World Cup champion France in the
2002 World Cup, where the defending champion was eliminated in the first round
without scoring a goal.
Tunisia's attack centers around Brazilian-born striker Francileudo Santos,
the speedy striker who has an impressive 18 goals in 28 appearances.
The Carthage Eagles may not be favored to advance ahead of Spain and Ukraine,
but that can't erase the memories of 1978, when Tunisia became the first African
team to win a match at the World Cup by beating Mexico 3-1.
Cameroon later became the first from the region to reach the quarterfinals,
getting to the last eight in 1990 after beating defending champion Argentina in
the opening match.
In 2002, Senegal mirrored that feat by upsetting France in the opening match
and reaching the quarterfinals by beating Sweden in the second round with a
golden goal.
Goncalves may not be expecting the same to happen for Angola in Germany, but
he will be hoping to make the people back home proud.
"We need to play as well as possible to dignify the name of Angolans and
Africans," Goncalves said. "Our struggle in Africa is to have as many nations
competing at the World Cup. So those who are playing need to be playing as well
as possible to make this a reality."
