OVER THE years, there has been a debate on whether African teams will ever win the Fifa World Cup. Since Cameroon, led by Roger Miller reached the quarterfinals before succumbing to England albeit under controversial circumstances, Africa has tried but failed to go beyond that stage—Senegal in 2002 (Japan/South Korea) and Ghana in 2010 (South Africa), have matched that feat. In Brazil, African teams have made a mixed start in the bid to try and go beyond the last eight stage with Ivory Coast being the only African team to register a comeback 2-1 win against Japan in Group C. Cameroon were sixes and sevens against Mexico and were lucky to lose by just a single goal in Group A, Nigeria could only manage a drab goalless draw against Iran in Group F, while luck of concentration cost Ghana in the 2-1 defeat against USA in Group G. The fifth African team, Algeria scored first but lost 2-1 to Belgium on Tuesday night in Group H, an enviable clash against a team seen by many as one of the dark horses of the tournament. Results aside, the performance of Didier Drogba-led Ivory Coast in their clash against Japan on Saturday night (Sunday morning), convinced African fans and critics alike that the Elephants will pull of some surprises, whether the surprise includes putting their hands on the trophy is another issue. For Cameroon, they put on the worst performance of the five African teams thus far and they could be the first to exit the tournament, while Nigeria rushed things, looked short of ideas and never looked like scoring against an Iran team that was exposed for the beating.
