Did You Know That.......? Facts & Figures Of African and the World Cup :All You Need To Know. Do you know that Ghana could maybe have qualified for the world cup in 1966 due to their strength as the in-form African team at the time,having won the 1965 African cup of nations but for a boycott by African countries in protest against the qualification process..? Did you know that ...24 African countries entered the qualification process for the 1974 FIFA World Cup, with the Leopards of Zaire eventually qualifying quite comfortably, scoring 18 goals and conceding 5 in the ten matches they played to qualify. Lets face it, we underestimated them. For fifteen minutes I wondered what the hell was going on, where the devil had this lot come from, playing stuff like that! -Scottish centre-half Jim Holton said after their match with Zaire at the 1974 world cup. At the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Zaire were placed in Group 2 along with Scotland, Yugoslavia (home of Zaire coach and 1970 Morocco coach Blagoja Vidinić), and Brazil. In their first match against Scotland, they impressed with their fast attacking style, and lost just 0-2. The next opponents Yugoslavia had noted holes in the Zairean defence, and fully exploited them to hammer Zaire 9-0 in a then record win for World Cup finals, with all but three of their outfield players getting on the scoresheet. Zaire striker Mulamba Ndaye, who was sent off for protesting that a goal by the Yugoslavians was offside, said after the match, The management had made off with our match bonuses, and wed threatened not to play the game. Frankly wed lost our morale. We could easily have let in 20 goals After the defeat, the Zairean team were told by the countrys dictator Mobutu Sese Seko - who had rewarded the players for qualifying with a house and a car each - not to come home if defending champions Brazil beat them 4-0 or worse. Zaire managed to keep Brazil to merely a 0-3 defeat, with Zairean defender Mwepu Ilunga receiving a yellow card for interfering with a free kick. Zaire left the tournament without scoring a goal. Did you know that ..Tunisia were the first African teamtowin at the worldcup? They were placed in Group 2 with West Germany, Poland, and Mexico. After Zaires fate in 1974, they were not expected to do well. They were 0-1 down to Mexico at half-time when their Tunisian coach Abdelmajid Chetali told them that they treated their opponents with too much respect, and that they could still win the game if they tackled hard and imposed their belief and self-confidence. Buoyed by the pep talk, the North Africans scored thrice in the second half to win 3-1 and become the first African team to win a match at the World Cup. They lost their next match to Poland 1-0, missing several chances, and held West Germany to a goalless draw. While this was not enough to progress to the next round, African football pride had been restored. In 1986,: Morocco became first African team into the Round of 16 In 1990,Cameroon became the first African country toreach the quarter finals followed by Senegal in 2002. in Group E,at the 2006 world cup Ghana began with up a 0-2 loss to eventual winners Italy with a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic and a 2-1 win over the USA. Thus the debutants ensured an African representative in the Round of 16 for the sixth successive World Cup. They lost 0-3 to Brazil in the Round of 16. The match was later alleged to have been fixed, charges immediately denied by the Ghana Football Association. In the 2010 World Cup Ghana progressed beyond the group stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and reached the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Uruguay. Ghana were defeated by Uruguay on penalties after Luis Suárez controversially handballed on the goal line deep into extra time, denying Ghana an almost certain winning goal. Had Ghana won their quarter final they would have become the first African nation to progress to the semi finals of the world cup. Of the 32 countries that participated in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, FIFA ranked Ghana 7th. 1930s: Egypts early appearance The inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup was the only one without any qualification process. No African teams entered. 1.The Pharaohs of Egypt were the only African team to apply to feature at the 1934 FIFA World Cup. As there were 32 countries competing for 16 places, FIFA organized the first qualification round. 2.Egypt was placed in a group with Turkey and Palestine,then a British mandate. Turkey withdrew, and Egypt beat Palestine 7-1 in Cairo and 4-1 in Jerusalem to qualify for the World Cup finals. The 1934 FIFA World Cup finals was organized as a straight knock-out. 3.Egypt lost 2-4 to Hungary in Naples with Abdulrahman Fawzi scoring twice to become the first African to score at the World Cup finals. However, a third goal by Fawzi was ruled offside by the Italian referee despite the player having dribbled from the middle of the pitch, and the fourth Hungarian goal involved a scuffle where the Hungarian striker broke the Egyptian goalkeepers nose with his elbow. The Italian newspapers heavily criticized their referee, but Egypt sailed home and only returned to the World Cup finals 56 years later. 4.Egypt was the only African country to apply to compete at the 1938 FIFA World Cup, but withdrew before playing any matches. 5.No African countries applied to compete at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. 6.Egypt was the only African country to apply to compete at the 1954 World Cup. They were placed in a two-team group with Italy, but lost 1-2 in Cairo and 1-5 in Milan, and thus did not proceed to the World Cup. 7.1958- Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan applied to enter the qualification process for the 1958 FIFA World Cup. Ethiopias entry was refused by FIFA. Egypt and Sudan competed in an Africa/Asia zone with ten Asian countries for one spot at the World Cup. Egypt progressed to the next round after Cyprus withdrew, but then itself withdrew. Sudan defeated Syria 2-1 on aggregate but eventually withdrew in protest at having to play Israel. (Eventually the spot originally reserved for Africa and Asia was taken by Wales. 8.1962 -Seven African countries entered the qualification process for the 1962 FIFA World Cup : Ghana, United Arab Republic (a joint football association by Egypt and Syria, who were politically united between 1958 and 1961), Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, Sudan and Tunisia. Ethiopia entered through the UEFA qualification process, where it was eliminated by Israel, while the rest entered through the CAF qualification process. Sudan and U.A.R. withdrew as FIFA would not allow them to rearrange matches to avoid the monsoon season, so the four teams formed two two-team groups. In the first group, Morocco and Tunisia both beat each other 2-1 at home, and then played a third match at a neutral location (Palermo, Italy) which ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time. Since penalty shootouts were not used by FIFA till the 1970s, Morocco advanced by drawing lots to eliminate Tunisia. Morocco then eliminated Ghana with a draw and a win to proceed to a UEFA/CAF playoff with Spain. They lost both legs of this playoff, meaning that no African nation made it to the World Cup finals for the fifth time in a row. 9.Seventeen African countries entered the qualification process for the 1966 FIFA World Cup : Algeria, Cameroon, French Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, and Tunisia. FIFA rejected the application of French Congo, and had already suspended South Africa for apartheid. To protest at FIFAs allocation of only one spot to three continents (Africa, Asia, Oceania), especially given the large increase in applications from newly independent African countries, the remaining fifteen African nations withdrew TOP 10 HIGHS TILL 2002 WORLDCUP:(BBC SPORT) The 1966 boycott: One of the highs was, at the time, a considerable low. With Africa awarded half a place at the World Cup by an intractable FIFA, the continent boycotted the 1966 finals. The drastic protest worked as Africa received its own berth for 1970. Tunisia 1978: Nearly 50 years after Africa first participated in the World Cup, the continent recorded its first victory as Tunisia beat Mexico 3-1 in Rosario (although the Carthage Eagles havent won at the World Cup since). Algeria 1982: Shocks had already rocked the World Cup but no one expected first-timers Algeria to beat the European champions. Rabah Madjer opened the scoring, West German captain Karl-Heinz Rummenigge levelled, leaving it to the great Lakdar Belloumi to seal a late victory. Germany had very good players but we also had a great team, with lots of experience and talent, says Madjer. Morocco 1986: The Atlas Lions continued North Africas pioneering World Cup role when becoming the first Africans into the second round. Nobody could believe what wed done because we were taking on Poland, England and Portugal, says goalkeeper Badu Zaki, whose team topped the group unbeaten. I think our performances persuaded Fifa that Africa deserved more places at the World Cup. Cameroon 1990: The Indomitable Lions Italian adventure is Africas proudest World Cup memory - headlined by Roger Millas goals and wiggling hips. Sub-Saharan Africa announced it could be a football power when Francois Omam-Biyiks prodigious leap sunk defending champions Argentina 1-0. Wins over Romania and Colombia followed and in the quarters, Thomas NKono, Cyrille Makanaky and co. were just seven minutes away from beating England. No African side has ever been so close to the semi-finals. Roger Milla: Milla made his mark in 1990 but furthered a personal milestone when netting against Russia at USA 94. The forward had reset the oldest goalscorer mark at 42 years - a World Cup record that will surely never be broken. Nigeria 1994: Packing power and flair, the Super Eagles routed Bulgaria 3-0 - Rashidi Yekini pumping his fists through the net in celebration - while Daniel Amokachi netted a screamer against Greece. Nigeria were then two minutes from the quarter-finals until ten-man Italy equalised. Its a shame we didnt realise how good we were, as we lacked experience, says Jay-Jay Okocha. But 1994 helped us win the 1996 Olympics. Nigeria 1998: The Super Eagles are the only African side to twice reach the knock-outs. The highlight here was the 3-2 win over Spain, lit up by Sunday Olisehs sweet 25-yard half-volley. Okocha was also in sublime form, dazzling with his tricks and flicks. Senegal 2002: Lightning struck twice as an unfancied African side defeated the reigning champions 1-0 in the opening game - Senegals humbling of former colonialists France inspired by El Hadji Dioufs thrilling display. Draws with Denmark and Uruguay, and a knock-out defeat of Sweden, took the Teranga Lions into the quarters, where they lost to Turkey. The only game we prepared for like people wanted us to - having lunch, staying in your room, looking at the ceiling etc. - was the one we lost because mentally wed already played the game, laments midfielder Salif Diao. THE LOWS:TILL THE 2006 WORLD CUP(BBC SPORT) Zaire 74: This display was a disaster as the African champions played three and lost three (scoring 0, conceding 14). In addition, Mwepu Ilunga showed scant regard for the rules when kicking away an opponents free-kick. Hes since claimed he was trying to get sent off in protest at the federation withholding money from the squad. I knew the rules very well but the referee was lenient and only gave me a yellow. Togo 2006: Bonuses have been the bugbear of many African campaigns but the Hawks took things to a new level when becoming the first team to threaten to boycott a World Cup match. With the FA refusing to pay the agreed amount, the players were set to sit out the Switzerland tie until Fifa guaranteed them funds. Later on, Fifa fined the Togolese FA for behaviour unworthy of a World Cup participant. The Shame of Gijon, Spain 1982: This setback denied Algeria an historic place in the second round. Since theyd already played, group rivals West Germany and Austria knew a narrow German win in their contest would take both sides through. After the Germans early goal, both sides made little attempt to score - sparking public outcry and Fifa to ensure that all final group ties were played simultaneously from then on. We were tricked out of qualification but the anger has gone now, says Madjer. The Big-Name Absences: Africans decry the failure of Liberias George Weah, Ghanas Abedi Pele and Malis Salif Keita. On this occasion, many fans are also dismayed by the absence of a team, six-time African champions Egypt, meaning Ahmed Hassan and Mohamed Aboutreika will be sorely missed. The Quarter-Final Barrier: Despite winning the U17 World Cup, the U20 World Cup and the Olympic Games, Africa has never won the World Cup - nor reached the last four. Can the continents first World Cup rewrite history WORLD CUP PLACES For the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Europe has 13 places in the finals, Africa has five and Asia has four.Africa, the confederation with the most member associations (54), is woefully under-represented at the World Cup.It cannot be that the European and South American confederations lay claim to the majority of the berths at the World Cup (18 or 19 teams) because taken together they account for significantly fewer member associations (63) than Africa and Asia (100) according to Sepp Blatter (BBC Sport) Africa has always had a hard time with World Cup Places. In 1966, FIFA enforced limits upon Africa and Asia, allowing only one nation from each continent to qualify for the World Cup. In response, Nrkumah swiftly organized a boycott of the World Cup by African teams. Based on the overall performances of African teams in recent years in many competitions, Africa really deserves more, he said In the 2006 World Cup an African team was the only one from Asia, Africa, and North and Central America to make it to the second round. Only Ghana did that.”-Kwesi Nyantakyi. His argument held for the next competition as in 2010. Ghana was the lone African team in the round of 16, while Asia had two teams (South Korea, Japan) at that stage and North and Central America also had a pair in Mexico and the United States. Ghana were the only side to go on to the last e In the 1974 World Cup, Africa was only allowed one slot: 24 Africans teams competed for it. Compare this to the one slot for every four European teams in the same tournament. The confederation of African football’s requests for more African representation were rebuffed time and again by Sir Stanley Rous, the FIFA president at the time. African football was simply prejudiced against. You see it everywhere, in different shades, but I think I’ve managed to whittle it down to its barest form: African football is physical. It’s all brawn, muscle and physicality. South American football is like dancing. European football is like the inside of an iPod: very scientific and very engineered.....Really? Having said that, we must remember that each football team plays to its strengths. Germany’s players are tall and strong. They tend to play the ball in the air, and bully their way into the opposite team’s goal. Except in this World Cup, they had a lot of Turks and Poles in their team, meaning the football began to resemble Brazil’s. The Russians and British play like this as well. Teams like Spain, Brazil, and Italy, who are less physically endowed, play a craftier football where they do their damndest to hold onto the ball and play into space. For a long time football was simply considered too complex and too ‘beautiful’ to be mastered by sub-Saharan Africa’s dumb brutes. The fact that sub-Saharan footballers tend to be bigger than the average footballer (South Africans are a distinct exception in that regard) didn’t help. Africa faced incredible prejudice from FIFA, especially prior to 1990. In the qualifiers to the 1966 World Cup, it was decided that the winner of the Africa zone would have to play the winner of the Asia zone for a slot in the World Cup. The stereotype of tough, physical African football isn’t far off, but it’s too easy nowadays to write of African football as reliant on muscle. Teams like South Africa certainly don’t rely on physicality. Teams like Ivory Coast and Ghana have that element of muscle, but are, of late, playing with more deftness and craft. It’s a fallacy to think that there’s a distinct ‘African’ style of football, and I don’t think there ever will be. We are simply too diverse to develop a single style of play. Journalists who write in that manner are either lazy or narrow-minded. The first sub-Saharan team to qualify for the World Cup was Zaire in 1974. It’s a heartbreaking story. When the team won that year’s African Cup of Nations and then qualified for the World Cup, Mobutu Sese Seko showered them with gifts and praises. They had a victory parade through the streets of Kinshasa (horribly reminiscent of South Africa’s victory parade through Sandton before the World Cup began) and were everybody’s heroes. Then they went into the World Cup, promises of huge bonuses ringing in their ears, and were quickly beaten 2-0 by Scotland. Suddenly all the jubilation was gone. Even worse, the Zairean officials pocketed the players’ wages and refused to pay them. The players then revolted on the field and were thrashed 9-0 by Yugoslavia. It’s not like they even tried to play. If you look at the footage, you’ll see the Zaireans moping about on the field. After that showing, Sese Seko sent his presidential guard to threaten the players. If they were beaten more than 4 – 0 by Brazil, they couldn’t come home. Can you imagine trying to play against Brazil, the greatest footballing nation on the planet, under those conditions? The players went to pieces, running around the field like headless chickens. At one stage, Brazil got a free kick and Ilunga Mwepu charged out of the wall to kick the ball away even before the referee’s whistle blew. It was a humiliating exit from the World Cup, and it did lasting damage to sub-Saharan Africa’s image in football. We shouldn’t forget too that football is relatively new in Africa. Countries in South America and Europe have been playing football since its birth in the late 19th century, The first World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. How many countries in Africa were even independent at that time? Excerpts From an article on The Christian Science Monitor by Sipho Hlongwane who blogs at the Daily Maverick. Other Credits:BBC Sport and Wikipaedia.
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 12:32:25 +0000
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