kwame

[What a weekend of football on the continent!!! This round is the replay of
Round 5, played late September 2004. The winners of each group go to
Germany 2006; the top three finishers in each group go to Egypt next year
for the Nations Cup. I have listed the teams in the order currently placed,
cannot be bothered with a league table.
Anyway, onto the action]

Group 1 [Senegal (13), Zambia (13), Togo (10), Congo (6), Liberia (4),
Mali (2)]
Zambia [2 - 0] Congo
Senegal [6 - 1] Liberia
Mali [1 - 2] Togo << match abandoned

The Chipolopolo are *still* tied with Senegal on points after beating Congo,
but the Lions from Teranga lead the group by virtue of a higher GD. In two
games, Senegal have put NINE past their neighbours and conceded one. This
game was an EPL goalfest with goals from Khalilou Fadiga (Bolton), El-Hadji
Fool (Bolton), Amdy Faye (Newcastle) and Henri Camara (Southampton) and
Moussa N'diaye (Istres - Ligue 1) completing the rout. Good to see Fadiga
back in footballing action, hope he has recovered fully from his heart
condition. Diouf is also back in the squad after been sent packing in the
last game for going clubbing the night before the team left Paris for
Monrovia. He has improved quite a bit this season at Bolton. Liberia beat
Mali in the opening round and since then have lost four straight. Their
foreign-based players could not make the trip to Dakar due to lack of funds.
****s eh. Mali/Togo was abandoned in extra-time after gunshots were fired
as dissatisfied fans started leaving the stadium before the final whistle.
It all started when idiotic fans stormed the pitch after Togo had scored
what would have been a match winner. CAF should dock Mali points or have
them play their next home game in an empty stadium. Really, what's up with
the Malian NT? On paper, they match up well against any of Africa's
powerhouses. We're talking about players like Ba***oko, Sissoko,
Kanoute....Since their fourth place finish at last year's Nations Cup, they
have really faltered. Togo, OTOH, are playing some amazing football under
the coaching of back-in-the-day Nigerian striker Stephen Keshi.

Group 2 [South Africa (12), Cape Verde (10), Ghana (9), DR Congo (9),
Burkina Faso (6), Uganda (4)]
South Africa [2 - 1] Uganda
DR Congo [1 - 1] Ghana
Burkina Faso [1 - 2] Cape Verde

Cape Verde!!! Yup, Cape Verde. Honestly, before last summer the only thing
I knew of Cape Verdean ball was that Henrik Larsson is of CV origin. These
guys beat the Burkinabe 1-0 in September and have done it again. They are
definitely making this group interesting and are far from the pushovers I
predicted them to be during the opening rounds. Their next games are at
home against South Africa and Ghana. I predict the islanders will win one
of those games. The win by CV was the second win in this group by a team
away from home. Bafana x2 is in the driver's seat now after an unconvincing
win against lowly Uganda in an almost empty stadium. I guess all the South
Africans were watching England-N Ireland game. Two dubious penalties were
awarded to each both team before Steven Pienaar (Ajax) headed home to ensure
South Africa max points. Bafana Bafana have not been convincing in their WC
qualifying and could stumble in upcoming games against Cape Verde and Ghana.
Speaking of the Black Stars, we went to Congo without Michael Essien and
Sammy Kuffour, the latter being unfit according to the coach. Weird. It is
beyond me how a player who plays in the Bundesliga for a quality outfit
(Bayern) can be declared unfit when it comes to representing his NT.
Anyway, I would have been happy with a draw which is what we got, against a
side we should have beaten. I am rooting for the BS to make the Nations
Cup, but not the WC. Somehow, I feel we are not quite there yet, although
South Africa is not setting the group on fire with their recent displays.
What we need is a goalscorer, and we just don't seem to have that killer
instinct. Seven goals in 6 matches is hardly good for a country with our
footballing history.
Round 7 will see CV/South Africa, Ghana/Burkina Faso and DR Congo/Uganda.
The matchups could see Cape Verde take the lead *if* they can beat Bafana at
home.

Group 3 [Cote d'Ivoire (15), Cameroon (11), Egypt (10), Libya (10), Benin
(2), Sudan (2)]
Egypt [4 - 1] Libya
Cameroon [2 - 1] Sudan
Cote d'Ivoire [3 - 0] Benin

Sudan drew with Cameroon in the last round due to a last-minute Cameroonian
equaliser. Disgraceful Sudanese!! This time they almost snatched another
point in Yaounde against the Lions, who are not looking so Indomitable after
all. Cameroon's task of beating the visitors was helped when Sudan's Amie
DAmer was sent off midway in the 2nd half. Even then, the managed to get
the 3 points late in injury time through Achille Webo. The Lions won their
first game under new coach Artur Jorge, who has inherited the impossible
task of *trying* to take them to the WC, after Winfred Shaeffer was fired
for a string of poor results. There's not much to write about this group.
Cote d'Ivoire is going to it's first WC and Cameroon will just have to sit
back and ponder what could have been if they had not listened to Puma and
worn those silly one-piece outfits against FIFA orders. Speaking of Cote
d'Ivoire, are they on fire or what! Kalou, Drogba, Aruna Dindane, Kolo
Toure are some names to watch out for next year in Germany. Heh, the
Ivorian keeper, Jean_Jacques Tizie was making his return to competitive
football after losing a testicle while playing for his club (Esperance -
Tunisia). Ouch! Egypt beat Libya, but who cares, as Egypt is hosting the
Nations Cup next year so they are probably using these games as preparation,
and Libya may also go to the ANC due to Egypt being hosts.


Group 4 [Nigeria (13), Angola (11), Zim (8), Gabon (6), Algeria (6),
Rwanda (4)]
Nigeria [2 - 0] Gabon
Zimbabwe [2 - 0] Angola
Algeria [1 - 0] Rwanda

Whoa, after 6 games, Algeria has finally won game. They drew with Rwanda
last time and finally managed their first group win this time round. Angola
finally lost a group game, which has seriously dented their WC campaign, as
a win against Zimbabwe would have lifted them top of the group over Nigeria.
Zimbabwe's goals came after an hour through Kawondera and Ben Mwaruwari (AJ
Auxerre) ensuring that the Warriors of Zimbabwe keep their Nations Cup hopes
alive. Nigeria have a very light schedule for the remaining fixtures and
should secure WC qualification easily with Angola/Zim/Gabon battling for the
remaining two Nations Cup spots. The Super Eagles secured the 3 points
against Gabon through goals from Julius 'back flips' Aghahowa (has he left
Shaktar Donetsktsktsk yet??) and the ageless Kanu.

Group 5 [Morocco (12), Kenya (9), Tunisia (8), Guinea (8), Botswana (6),
Malawi (3)]
Kenya [1 - 0] Botswana
Tunisia [7 - 0] Malawi
Morocco [1 - 0]Guinea

This group is still messed up wrt points as Kenya and Tunisia have played 1
less game.
Malawi almost registered the *absolute* shock of the last round when they
almost beat African Champions Tunisia, but let slip a 2-goal lead in the
final 10 minutes. This time, the Tunisians made sure that there were no
underdog heroics as they routed the visitors for seven with Brazilian-born
striker Francileudo dos Santos scoring four times.
Kenya have recovered well from their CAF ban last year with recent wins over
Botswana and Guinea thanks to goals from Denis Oliech, who leads the African
qualifiers with 6 goals. They are on their third coach in five World Cup
qualifiers. Wow.
Morocco tightened their grip on top spot when they beat 10-man Guinea by a
lone goal from Youssef Hadji. Celtic hardman, Bobo Balde had been dismissed
in the first half after a needless foul on Morocco's Abdelsalam Ouaddou with
the ball nowhere near the pair