| Sad end for five top African envoys | Send to a friend |
| Monday, 28 June 2010 10:57 |
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The World Cup officially ended for five teams, most of which still had a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds going into the dying moments of their games. Group A kicked the day off with both games played simultaneously. Uruguay and Mexico each needed only a draw to progress, but both teams clawed desperately for a win with Argentina waiting as likely punishment for the second placed finisher. Luis Suarez headed home a sweeping Edinson Cavani cross to supply the only goal of the game, but both goalkeepers saw plenty of action. Oscar Perez in particular saved El Tri late on with an agile diving save that made him look half his 37 years of age. Meanwhile, France rotated the squad after The Mutiny, with several key players dropped. South Africa still toasted les Blues, looking fitter and more hungry by far. Even down to 10 men, however, France notched a consolation goal which gave Mexico the advantage in goal difference. That granted South Africa the rather distasteful record as the only host nation not to advance out of the group stages. It got worse for Africa. Nigeria tied 2-2 with South Korea to crash out of the competition. A game that featured an almost painful amount of goal chances might have finished 5-5 if not for some shoddy finishing (see below). That draw allowed the Asians to advance to the knockout rounds, a first for South Korea on foreign soil. Of course, the point only proved enough after Greece lost to Argentina. With over 80% of the possession, Argentina finally broke through a staunch Greek defense in the 77 th minute through an unlikely source. When a corner kick fell invitingly, centerback Martin Demichelis slammed the ball into the roof of the net. Martin Palermo added a second minutes later to give Argentina the full nine points from the group. And all of the sudden Diego Maradona looks like a genius. Juan Sebastien Veron attempted 153 and completed 131 passes against Greece. Both are record World Cup highs since 1966. Most shoocking event France actually scoring a goal? Nah, Yakubu takes this one. Late in the game against South Korea he found himself completely unmarked about four yards away from the goalline. A pass avoided the lunging goalkeeper and headed straight for his right foot. Instead of doing the easy thing by stroking the ball into the net, Yakubu somehow managed to pass the ball back towards where it came from and out for a goal kick. The Everton striker nearly redeemed himself with a confident penalty a few minutes later, but had he scored both Nigeria would be in the Round of 16 right now. Raymond Domenech essentially blamed Yoann Gourcuff 's red card for the team's miserable display against the Bafana. As much as Domenech shouldn't be allowed to blame anything for his woes, he's got a bit of a point. When referee Oscar Ruiz brandished the straight red there was confusion among the players as to who it was for. Djibril Cisse initially thought he had been ejected. Gourcuff indeed led with his elbow into a jump for the ball, but a red was incredibly harsh. Cameroon 's French coach Paul Le Guen has quit after his side's exit from the World Cup where they failed to earn a single point. "My contract is coming up, and it was clear all along I would stop now. Maybe I didn't succeed in unifying the team and bringing the team together," Le Guen told reporters after a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands capped a miserable campaign that also included losses to Japan and Denmark. Le Guen signed a five-month contract with Cameroon in July 2009 and was tasked with turning around their stuttering qualifying campaign. He insisted on bringing in support staff and demanded the federation provide the squad with proper facilities, equipment and top-class accommodation. He then signed a contract extension to see Cameroon through to the World Cup finals. Netherlands advanced to a second- round when they beat Cameroon 2-1 to make it three wins out of three and secure top spot in Group E. After wins over Denmark and Japan, the Dutch were already assured of progress and the victory secured with goals by Robin van Persie and Klaas Jan Huntelaar guaranteed top spot. They also had the bonus of a return to action for winger Arjen Robben, who missed the first two games with a hamstring problem but delivered a 17 minute cameo off the bench to add extra zest and invention to their attack. Cameroon kept pressing though as Samuel Eto'o, Landry Nguemo, Jean Makoun and Aurelien Chedjou, a late change to the starting lineup for Alexandre Song, all had second-half chances. Their pressure was rewarded when Van der Vaart handled a Geremi free kick in the area and Eto'o equalised with a 65th-minute penalty. Substitute Huntelaar struck seven minutes from time after Robben made an immediate impact when his shot from edge of the box hit a post and rebounded into the path of the striker who scored to give the Dutch a 100 percent record. The strain of living up to the raised expectations of playing on home soil is the reason most African countries have underperformed at the World Cup, Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou said. Kalou said most African players had put a lot of pressure on themselves because the World Cup was being hosted on the continent for the first time. "Expectations were huge and we owed it to ourselves to perform well, but the pressure has caused us more stress than anything else and even inhibited our talents," Kalou told FIFA website (www.fifa.com) "There have been a few players who haven't been up to the standard required. Their abilities have been crushed by the pressure they put on their own shoulders," a candid Kalou said. Of the six African countries participating in the World Cup, four including host nation South Africa, Cameroon, Nigeria and Algeria have been knocked out in the first phase. Ghana just managed to get through to the last 16, while Ivory Coast, who play their final group match against North Korea on Thursday, need a miracle to qualify from a group that includes Brazil and Portugal. After holding Portugal to a 0-0 draw in their first game, Ivory Coast lost 3-1 to Brazil. They now need to thrash North Korea and hope Brazil beat Portugal to stand any chance of qualifying after the Asians were walloped 7-0 by the Portuguese. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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