So much for this being an African World Cup. Few Africans from outside the host country have been able to make the trip south, while the South Africans who make their trade from football – the informal hawkers and trinket sellers – have been banned from within half a mile of the stadiums. The official World [...]
Is the vuvuzela about to be banned? One can only hope so. The ubiquitous plastic horns have been the soundtrack to this World Cup, drowning out every other attempt at singing, chanting and music. Nigeria has a fantastic brass band. The only reason I know they were at Ellis Park on Saturday was because I [...]
Cross-posted over at the Telegraph Has any team ever had a World Cup preparation as chaotic as Nigeria? The Super Eagles, who are drawn in Group B against Argentina, Greece and South Korea, have stumbled from one disaster after another since qualifying by the skin of their teeth last November. It began with the badly-timed [...]
No African team has ever won the World Cup but in 1996 Nigeria became the first to win a major international competition, beating Argentina in the final of the Atlanta Olympics. The semi-final against Brazil was probably the better match though. With 12 minutes to go Brazil were 3-1 up and should have been out [...]
All 32 countries at the World Cup have this week announced their 30-man provisional squads for next month’s tournament. The coaches have until 1st June to pick their final 23. Algeria, drawn against England, USA and Slovenia, include seven home-based players in their squad but they will rely on those playing in Europe, in particular Portsmouth’s [...]
Africa’s World Cup hopefuls The Ivory Coast coaching circus is over. The last man standing is Sven Goran Eriksson, whose appointment was announced on Ivorian state television last night. Sven won’t find it easy. For a start, he doesn’t speak French. But at least he knows his opponents well. Portugal, who Ivory Coast play on 15th [...]
Africa’s World Cup teams are in trouble. Nigeria and Ivory Coast both sacked their coaches after disappointing performances in the Africa Cup of Nations. Cameroon didn’t sack Paul Le Guen but the team’s tepid performance in Angola hardly augured well for South Africa. Algeria reached the semi-finals but their complete loss of discipline in their [...]
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