Sports

2010 W/Cup: Is It Time For African Glory?

Published

14 years ago

June 12, 2010

With Pele’s prediction that an African team would win the FIFA World Cup™ by the end of the last century having proved wide off the mark, Africans are desperate for the continent’ first finals to witness a meaningful achievement. Many see a semi-final place for one of the African contenders at South Africa 2010 as an absolute must, especially with the backing of a football-mad people that are sure to support their home side first and any other African nation second.

Considering that Cameroon at Italy 1990 and Senegal at Korea/Japan 2002 are the only African sides to reach the quarter-finals of the world’s showpiece football event and that no FIFA World Cup has ever had more than one African side in the knockout rounds, it seems a tall order. And while there is no doubt that the continent has continued to produce some of the world’s best players, the inconsistency of its national teams has left many scratching their heads.

However, typical of Africa, optimism somehow triumphs in the face of any odds, and many legendary figures, past and present, have gone on the record predicting success. For current players, the idea of lifting the spirits of the continent’s people to the level of ecstasy is the ultimate. “My team-mates and I want to make history and want to change the way the world sees African football. I hope that we’ll be the team that is going to go to the Final and win the competition,” said injury-worry Didier Drogba, who may miss the tournament with a broken arm, but who captains what many consider to be the most talent-laden side on the continent.

Ghana legend Abedi Pele has also been in bullish form, hinting that there is a good chance for ultimate glory in the Final on 11 July. He is, however, also careful to insist that, at such a difficult event, in which the draw was not particularly kind to the African hopefuls, performance may matter more ultimately than advancement.

“It’s going to be a very tough tournament for the African teams,” Pele, who has two sons – Andre and Rahim Ayew – on the current Ghana team, admitted.”They have tough groups and it’s not going to be easy for them to get out. There is a theory that says this is the best time for an African team to win the tournament – maybe that is true. We will have to wait and see, but whatever happens, I think our teams will do us proud.”

Pele no doubt has in his mind the success of his home country at the end of last year in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, when they broke through to become the first African winner of the competition. Many of those impressive youngsters have worked their way into the Black Stars side and shown at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year in Angola.

Another team on the up are South Africa, who have not lost in 12 matches, and are hitting peak form at just the right time under veteran boss Carlos Alberto Parreira. And the hosts of the FIFA World Cup typically get a huge boost from their home crowd, which will surely be the case for Bafana Bafana. South African great Lucas Radebe sees potential for the hosts to reach the semi-finals, but he also stressed that how far the African teams advance is not the ultimate measure of success.

“This World Cup is not only about football, it’s about Africa reinventing itself,” said the former Leeds defender. “Of course we want success on the field, but at the same time, we would like to see this event a success off the field. We want the world to trust Africa, we want everyone to know that we are capable of organising these events. After July 12, everyone should be proud of being an African.”

For the first time, Africa has six teams at the finals, and two of the continent’s sleeping giants will be there desperate to make an impact. This will be Cameroon’s sixth FIFA World Cup, but the Samuel Eto’o-led side have failed to make a significant impact since 1990. Nigeria are playing in their fourth finals, but they have also disappointed since reaching the second round at both USA 1994 and France 1998. However, some shaky friendly results and an injury to central midfield lynchpin John Obi Mikel has hurt the Super Eagles, while the Lions of Cameroon have also been inconsistent in their warm-up matches.

Algeria are considered the biggest outsiders of the bunch, but the Desert Foxes proved themselves wily and cool customers in qualifying and at the last CAF Africa Cup of Nations, where they finished fourth. For all of the African teams, the difficulty of the groups are such that none can be considered favourites to advance, but the potential would seem to be there for almost all of them to find form and embark on a creditable run.

“We are in a different and better position than previous tournaments, and I think we are better prepared,” Kalusha Bwalya said recently. “We have the confidence and experience, and I believe our teams now believe they can achieve success at this level.”

Sports

Chess Championship: Dan-Jumbo Emerges Best Female Player

Published

7 days ago

April 30, 2024

The Tide

The third edition of Naphtail Chess Open Championship which ended on Wednesday in Port Harcourt saw Rivers State born Queen Dan-Jumbo emerged best female player in the tournament following her impressive performance.

It was clash of the Titans as top Chess players in Nigeria gathered to chase honours.

The three days competition was held at Vee Hotel, Trans Amadi ,in Port Harcourt and over 80 players in Nigeria registered for the tournament this championship was recognised by International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Speaking with Tidesports in an exclusive interview on Saturday, Dan-Jumbo said her dream was to become Grand Master in Chess worldwide.

According to her, she started playing Chess at the age of 15 but went into it professionally in 2009 as she represented Rivers State in National Sports Festival (NSF) in Kaduna, the same year.

“I started playing Chess in the early 2000s. I picked the interest through my my elder brother as him and his friends always play Chess in our compound so I began to learn it.

” In 2009 I went to National Sports festival in Kaduna represented Rivers State and I won a silver medal on my board.

“In 2011 and 2012 NSFs I won two Gold medals each hosted by Rivers and Lagos States respectively. While in Edo NSF I won bronze medal” Dan-Jumbo said.

The Asari-Toru, in Rivers State born Chess player use the forum to advice upcoming Chess players to be focus, saying losing a game is part of every competition but the most important thing was that you don’t lose hope.

“My advice for upcoming chess players was that don’t lose focus. Even when you lose, find a way to adjust and get back out”, she added.

Tonye Orabere

Sports

Siasia Blames NFF Over FIFA Ban

Published

2 weeks ago

April 26, 2024

The Tide

Former Super Eagles Coach, Samson Siasia says the Nigeria Football Federation supported FIFA to have him banned for alleged involvement in match-fixing in August 2019.
In a recent interview with Athlist, the 56-year-old, whose ban ends in a few months, said the NFF not only refused to support him but also carried out FIFA’s instruction not to let him know he was under investigation by the world football body.
“Nigeria abandoned me at that time of need; that’s my own take on how this thing played out,” the former Eagles striker and member of the 1994 AFCON-winning squad, said.
“It’s an allegation; they said bribery. What is bribery? Is it not when money changes hands? Was there any proof of that? There were none.
“I spoke with someone who was trying to hire me as a coach in Australia. I didn’t know the guy was a match-fixer, but FIFA knew this guy. Why would they allow him to be around any FIFA tournament?
“So, when they found out through emails, our correspondence about how this guy would take me to Australia, I played in Australia, so I felt it would be nice to go back there.
“We talked about how much salaries, transfers, bonuses, and sign-on fees were, and that was all.
“When FIFA was looking for me, I didn’t even know. I am not affiliated with FIFA; their affiliation is with the NFF. So, they went to the NFF and told them not to let me know that they were investigating me. But if they didn’t tell me, how was I supposed to defend my self Siasia added, “Then they sent me a letter, but it went to my spam. It was two days before the ban that I found out that FIFA was looking for me.
Siasia added, “Then they sent me a letter, but it went to my spam. It was two days before the ban that I found out that FIFA was looking for me.
“Then we started to see how we could communicate with them to see how I could have a hearing. But they said the time had elapsed and I should go to the CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport).

Sports

WADA Plans Review Of Failed Tests

Published

2 weeks ago

April 26, 2024

The Tide

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will launch an independent review after 23 Chinese swimmers were cleared to compete at the Tokyo Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance.
WADA has said it was not in a position to disprove an assertion from the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) that contamination was the source of the heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) for which the swimmers tested positive.
Findings of the independent investigation, led by Swiss prosecutor Eric Cottier, are expected to be delivered within two months.
“WADA’s integrity and reputation is under attack,” said Wada president Witold Banka.
“WADA has been unfairly accused of bias in favour of China by not appealing the CHINADA case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“We continue to reject the false accusations and we are pleased to be able to put these questions into the hands of an experienced, respected and independent prosecutor.”
United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) Chief Executive Travis Tygart said WADA and CHINADA had swept these positives under the carpet, claims WADA described as completely false and defamatory while adding that it had referred the comments to its lawyers.
Aquatics GB said it was extremely concerned by the allegations, which it said threatened “potential loss of trust and reputational damage to sport”.
WADA was notified of CHINADA’s decision in June 2021, ahead of the delayed Games, and said it had no evidence to challenge China’s findings and that external counsel had advised against appealing.
In addition to the independent investigation, WADA said it will send a compliance audit team to assess the state of China’s anti-doping programme and invite independent auditors “from the broader anti-doping community” to join the trip.
WADA director general Olivier Niggli said: “While not one shred of evidence has been presented to support any of the allegations made against WADA, we wish to deal with the matter as quickly and as comprehensively as possible so that the matter is appropriately handled in advance of the upcoming Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Details of the positive tests were revealed by the New York Times, which shared reporting with German broadcaster ARD.
China won six swimming medals at the Tokyo Olympics, including three golds.