What ails African Football

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Pele had predicted that an African nation would win the World Cup by the year 2010. But Pele is not really clairvoyant like many of his previous forecasts this has gone wrong. Four of the six African nations, South Africa (Group A), Nigeria (group B), Algeria (group C) and Cameroon (group E) are already eliminated in the group league stage. Ivory Coast in group G need to win by margin of over 8 goals in their last match with North Korea and hope Brazil beat Portugal. This is an unlikely scenario and so Ivory Coast will also fall the by wayside. Ghana is Africa's only representative in the round of sixteen, where they meet the United States of America (USA) in Rustenburg on Sunday June 29. What went wrong with the African teams? It was like a home match for many of the African nations as they received....

World Cup Talking Points

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Six of the sixteen matches in the opening round of the 19th World Cup in South Africa ended in draws. Just 25 goals were scored in 16 matches at an average of 1.56 goals per match. Is this World Cup going to be ultra-cautious? It is too early too predict. Teams just tend to play the first match with a defensive mind-set and do not want to lose, hence the paucity of goals. The goal average could increase by the end of the league phase on June 25. The first World Cup on African soil has till now not gone too well for African teams. Of the six African teams in the fray, only Ghana won their opening match and that even by a late penalty goal by Asomah Gyan against Serbia. Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria were beaten whilst Ivory and Coast and South Africa drew. Cameroon was tactically....

Can Brazil make history in South Africa?

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Brazil has never lost on African soil, in the twelve matches they have played there till now. However, no team that won the Confederations Cup has gone on to win the next World Cup. Will Brazil break the Confederations Cup jinx? Can Dunga's new-look squad, without the stalwarts of yesteryears, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos and Cafu make history in South Africa by winning both the eighth Confederations Cup in 2009 and the forthcoming 19th World Cup in 2010. If Brazil wins in Africa, they will have won the World Cup in every continent, where the tournament has been played, Sweden (1958), Chile (1962), Mexico (1970), USA (1994) and Korea/Japan (2002). This Brazil squad lacks the Samba magic of previous teams but is a very resolute side and reflects coach Dunga's pragmatism. They are using a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Luis Fabiano as the lone striker and Kaka, initiating attacks as a....

India and the World Cup

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India's love affair with the World Cup football tournament started in 1982, when for the first time the semi finals and final were telecast live on Doordarshan. There was also deferred telecast of some of the earlier round matches. Brazil's brilliance in that tournament, especially the attacking flair of Zico, Socrates, Falcao and Toninho Cerezo, won them many supporters. In the eighties, the majority of India supported Brazil. Over the years that has changed. In 1986, for the first time the entire World Cup was telecast live in India. That was the World Cup of Maradona and it led to a massive fan following for this brilliant ball player, even in Calcutta, whose fans traditionally supported Brazil. As the exposure to international football increased in India, the support for teams also got diversified. Brazil is the most popular but other countries also have massive fan following. Even....