African disappointment

Having now watched all of the African team, who will playing at the World Cup, in action in Angola at the Africa Cup of Nations, I have to say i'm very unimpressed.

Hopes were high regarding Ivory Coast, but they still seem to lack something. The Elephants tend to play overly tactical football with too many defensive minded midfielders in their line-up. Also the wings seem to be somewhat disappointing and not able to support Didier Drogba. Not to mention some lapses of concentration in the defense and their main goalkeeper isn't even a regular at his club Beveren, which is near the bottom end of the Belgian league. I'm not very confident they can surpass their group G opponents at the World Cup if there isn't a major improvement in their game.

Algeria need even more improvement. Today's 0-0 draw with hosts Angola, was one of the worst performances by a team I've seen in recent history. They do have potential with Wolfsburg's Karim Ziani offering creativity from midfield, but they just don't seem to want to capitalize this. But today's result at least was a improvement from the opening match 3-0 embarrassment in the hands of the mighty Malawi. Luckily for Algeria Mali again underachieved and so the got through from their group in Angola, but there's no chance in hell they'll do it in South Africa with England and USA being favorites in group C.

A shock defeat by Gabon started Cameroon's campaign and a narrow 3-2 over Zambia followed. No team with Samuel Eto'o on their side shouldn't struggle like this. Begs a question if Paul Le Guen really is the right man for the job. There's every chance the team might even end up being the bottom side in South Africa as all other teams in group E are capable of beating this disjointed side.

And I don't even want to talk about Ghana. Injury troubles, bad atmosphere in the dressing room, uninspiring characters on the field. It's a disaster waiting to happen. Germany, Australia and Serbia are no doubt rubbing their hands as just like with Cameroon in group E, this Ghana team will find it very tough to handle any of them in group D.

Nigeria, with all their attacking talent, are finding it very tough to put the ball into the back of the net. The defence also isn't rock solid, with Egypt easily putting 3 goals past them and Benin getting near with numerous shots, that hit the post and the crossbar. To the Flying Eagles' luck, their opponents in group B, aren't the most stable ones with Argentina and Greece constantly struggling to put together a number of good performances in a row.

Could it be that it will be the hosts, South Africa, who'll offer the most threat to European and South-American teams at the World Cup?

Bafana-Bafana have the luxury of not having to concentrate on two major competitions in a year. It's doing wonders for Egypt, who look very likely to go on and pick up their historic third consecutive Africa Cup of Nations title. Group A also looks a very nice prospect for them considering the fixtures list.

And what's the story with African goalkeepers? Are they the worst ones in the entire world or are they just making fun? You decide. Here's Mozambique's Joao Rafael Kapango.

Group A overview

South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France

Fixtures:

11/06/2010, Johannesburg - JSC, South Africa vs Mexico
11/06/2010, Cape Town, Uruguay vs France

16/06/2010, Tshwane/Pretoria, South Africa vs Uruguay
16/06/2010, Polokwane, France vs Mexico

22/06/2010, Rustenburg, Mexico vs Uruguay
22/06/2010, Mangaung/Bloemfontein, France vs South Africa

At first glance it looks like a straight forward France dominated group, with the rest fighting out for the 2nd place. A statement South Africa star Steven Pienaar agrees with: "For us to go to the second round, that is the expectation of the people. I think we can get out of the group. Mexico and Uruguay play quite similar to us, only France will be a bit of a challenge for us."

I would not be so certain with things. Anything can happen with Raymond Domenech in charge of France. The fixtures list also doesn't favour the 1998 winners. They have to take on FIFA rankings nr. 19 in Uruguay and nr. 15 in Mexico, before South Africa, who are the worst ranked team in the whole competition with 86.

I don't expect any of the teams to reach 6 points here. South Africa's ranking doesn't really reflect their quality and with thousands of fans behind them, they won't be pushovers. I personally have seen all the teams, except Mexico, in action recently and I can see all the games being very tight and the group as a whole very competitive.

Winner of the group will meet group B's second team and the runner-up will meet the group B winner (Argentina). Imagine France - Argentina already in the first knock-out stage. Awesome stuff.

Will the hosts impress?

South Africa aren't the biggest and best football team known in Africa, but the country have surprised the powerhouses more than once. The reason why their fallen away from some of the nations, is probably being banned by FIFA since the 60's all the way to the 90's. But after getting on the map, they've starting to lift their heads again.

Mid 90's have to go down as the key point. Bafana-Bafana, as the team is called, won the African Cup of Nations in 1996, finished 2nd in the next one and 3rd in 2000, and also made their World Cup debut in 1998. Recently that success has faltered, they didn't even make it to Angola 2010, but as a host nation for the World Cup there could be a turning point.

Being lead by the legendary Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, who lead his home country to World Cup glory in 1994 and also was the manager in Germany 2006. It's his second spell at South Africa, he originally resigned in April 2008, but returned this October, replacing fellow Brazilian Joel Santana.

Santana lead the team in the summer at the Confederations Cup and I think it's safe to say the team didn't do too badly. After starting slow, the team managed to get through from their group and narrowly lost to Brazil in the semis and Spain needed extra-time to beat them in the 3rd place match.

This in my opinion showed that Bafana-Bafana can play with anyone, especially with their passionate fans behind them. Get your vuvuzela's out!