2006 WC Qualifiers [Africa] - Round 8
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2006 WC Qualifiers [Africa] - Round 8
[Looks like Round 8 was the most crucial of all the rounds to date. Could we have five new African teams at the WC in Germany? To summarise - Ghana delivers what captain Appiah promised...Super Eagles stunned at home by the Palances Negras...Togo still proving that they are worthy of WC spot Elephants are so close to Germany, but have to overcome Cameroon in Sept...Bye bye Egypt, see you in SA2010, why did you not start Mido today...
Note that FIFA takes into account head-to-head record between the sides before goal difference]
Group 1 [Togo (17), Zambia (16), Senegal (15), Congo (10), Mali (5), Liberia (4)]
Senegal [2 - 2] Togo
Zambia [2 - 1] Mali
Liberia [0 - 2]Congo
Togo is still leading the group; this is incredible for Stephen Keshi's
men. All they have to do now is win their final two games v Liberia (h) and
Congo (a), and they'll be going to Germany. They face Liberia in September, a team that has conceded 10 goals in their previous two away qualifiers, and relies on local players to cut costs. The turnaround for this team must be the 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mali in March; that game which got abandoned when the Togolese took the lead in the dying minutes of the game.
Prior to this weekend, Senegal had won their 3 previous home games, scoring 9 goals and conceding just 1.
The visitors opened their account through Nigerian-born Adekamni Olufade
(Charlerois), but two quick goals from Mamadou Niang (Strasbourg) and Henri Camara (Celtic??) gave the home side the advantage at half. The second half saw the Togolese press the home side, and despite time-wasting tactics by Diouf and co, the visitors equalised through another Nigerian-born, AS Monaco striker Sheyi Adebayor. Adebayor capitalised on a defensive blunder to increase his goal tally in these WCQs to 7 and silence the crowd in Dakar. At the final whistle, the Togolese faithful went nuts in Lome, gathering in the main square celebrating through the night (source RFI)
If the Hawks of Togo manage to qualify for Germany, Keshi should get the African Coach of the Year honours. A former captain of Nigeria a decade ago, Keshi took over the Hawks in 2004 and would have been happy to finish in the top three. This is a Togo team which just beat Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers to make it to the group phase, and were not expected to make it this far. By the way, Keshi was once assistant coach of the Super Eagles, a team smarting from this weekend's results (smile)
Zambia beat Mali in Chililabombwe to climb to second spot, with goals from
local boy Linus Chalwe and Collins Mbesuma (Kaizer Chiefs). Soumaila
Coulibaly (Freiburg) had equalised for the Malians after the Zambians' first
goal. Coulibaly shot home from outside the box after an indirect free-kick,
catching GK Kennedy Mwane by surprise. The home team dominated the match and deserved to get the max points. Zambia now face Senegal at home in a game which will decide second place, should Togo beat Liberia in early Sept.
So Mali, the team that finished fourth at last year's ANC, with players like
Bagayoko (Nantes), Kanoute (Spurs) and Sissoko (Valencia), find themselves out of the running for Egypt 2006. Shame. They shuold have gotten Jean Tigana back when the Malian FA was hiring and firing coaches at will (Henryck Kasperczack, Christian Dalger, Henri Stambouli).
On Sunday, Liberia welcomed the Red Devils of Congo Brazzaville to the
Samuel Doe stadium in Monrovia, hoping to end their six game losing streak in the name of "rebuilding a new team to replace the likes of George Weah, James Debbah et al". They seriously need rebuilding. A local team coach was given the task of managing the Lone Stars for this game. Strange. No foreign-based player featured for the home side, as they could not afford the wages of these players. The visitors took advantage of the Liberian deficiencies by handing them a two-nil defeat, both goals courtesy of Ngandzoua
My prediction - Togo, was Senegal
Group 2 [Ghana (15), South Africa (15), DR Congo (12), Cape Verde (10), Burkina Faso (9), Uganda (7)]
South Africa [0 - 2] Ghana
Uganda [1 - 0] Cape Verde
Burkina Faso[2 - 0] DR Congo
Wir fahren nach Deutschland, we're going to the WC!!! Tra la la la la.
Well, that's what it seems like, after this weekend. Talk about a double dose of footballing fortune. We beat Bafana away from home and Burkina Faso defeat DR Congo, to give the Black Stars a commanding spot in the race. Bafana Bafana, the new wife of Ghana, were on a three game winning streak until they faced the might of midfielding-duo Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien
. OK, let's not get carried away, we may very well draw our remaining games v Uganda (h) and Cape Verde (a), thereby gifting the South Africans their ticket to Germany.**
As with the Togolese, all Ghana has to do is win her remaining games and we're in! (I'll start saving up for two weeks in Germany).
This is a game the Black Stars *wanted* and we went there and got the
result, after camping in the high altitude of Naivasha in Kenya, and getting
the services of future African PoY Michael Essien. The $8,000 winning bonus also played a small_part in the motivation for the win. The SA team was missing Benni McCarthy through suspension and Quinton Fortune through injury, and the BS were without the safe hands of Sammy Adjei. The home team enjoyed the better of the first half and came close a few times but Shaun Bartlett (Charlton, no wonder, yeye boy!!) and Mabizela (Spurs) could not convert their chances. On the hour mark Stephen Appiah beat the offside trap and found an unmarked Matthew Amoah (Vitesse Arnheim) in the six-yard area for an easy tap in. GOAL!! Amoah is now 2 for 2, after opening his BS account in the previous game v Burkina Faso. With the match heading into extra time, Michael Essien (Lyon..maybe Chelski) headed home a Stephen Appiah cross, to give the BS a much needed away win at the FNB Stadium. Didn't South Africa beat us 3-0 in the same stadium in 1996 Nations Cup semis?
Saturday was a good day for Ghanaian sports fans; Ike Quartey also did us proud in boxing
At the Stade de 4 Aout in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso did what they do best at home and beat DR Congo. The home side took an early lead through Saidi Penandetiguiri (Lokeren) and continued to press in an attempt to increase their lead. The points were secured when Moumouni Dagano (Guingamp 2 Div...think Didier Drogba) latched onto a defensive error in the Simba's defence and shot past the GK. The Burkinabes have lost once at home, to Cape Verde, so if they hold form, they may well beat South Africa in September. You know what that means!
Cape who? These guys were heavily favoured a month ago to disrupt the group and possibly, just maybe, squeeze past the big guns. They lost to Bafana two weeks ago and have now ended Uganda's *seven* match winless streak in Kampala. Godfrey Sserunkuma (SC Villa - my former roomie played for this team) got the winner after half hour of play. Cape Verde travel to DR Congo next then face Ghana at home; these are two very tough games, and for the team which, a few months ago, looked like going to the Nations Cup, things are looking very bleak.
**What I wrote two weeks ago.. I can just see us beating SA, drawing with
Uganda, and then losing to Cape Verde, gifting the South Africans their
ticket to Germany 2006**
My prediction - Black Stars, was South Africa
Group 3 [Cote d'Ivoire (19), Cameroon (17), Egypt (13), Libya (11), Benin (2), Sudan (2)]
Cote d'Ivoire [2 - 0] Egypt
Cameroon [1 - 0] Libya
Benin [pp] Sudan Benin's overage players are in Holland at the WYC
Cameroon's IL won, but it did not matter as Cote d'Ivoire also won. This is
not going be an Elephant walk as I thought. The IL will be looking to win both games to advance from this Group of Death. I predict a draw in Abidjan, with both Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon winning their final matches against Sudan and Egypt respectively.
The glaring omission in the Egyptian starting eleven at the Stade
Houpphouet-Boigny was coach Shehata resting Mido, Ahmed Hassan and Amir Zaky and going with his local-based strike partnership of Amr Zaki and Abdelhalim Ali. Both strikers were replaced at half, after the damage was half done by the Ivorians. Shehata's counterpart, Henri Michel, fielded his strongest side, with Aruna Dindane and Drogba leading the European-based players. A goal in each half from Africa's most expensive export kept the Ivorians clear at the top of the Group. Mido scored a consolation goal for the Pharoah's but was ruled offside by the linesman who was probably taking his siesta. Drogba was subbed to a standing ovation. On abidjan.net, they think he can solve the political problems in Cote d'Ivoire
In Yaounde, the IL got the necessary three points through Achille Webo
(Osasuna) in their must-win game against Libya. I lost my match report for this game, PC crashed...grrrrrrrr
My prediction - Cote d'Ivoire
Group 4 [Angola (15), Nigeria (15), Zim (11), Gabon (9), Algeria (6), Rwanda (5)]
Nigeria [1 - 1] Angola
Gabon [3 - 0] Rwanda
Algeria [2 - 2] Zimbabwe
Dear NFA, just fire Christian Chukwu and his coaching staff. While you're
at it, fire Samson Siasia too, and just bring in Stephen Keshi, the man you
sacked a few years ago, whom may just take Togo to the WC. WTF is going on, Nigeria was supposed to have qualified by now. They barely won their last game v Rwanda (!!) and now drew at home against Angola. Minnows in African football, I think not anymore. Okay, Nigeria *may* qualify for the WC, but they sure have made it difficult on themselves.
Christian Chukwu, who still believes his team will qualify "by God's grace", brought in the old legs, oops, big guns in Jay Jay Okocha and Nwanko Kanu (is he still 29 yrs old) Okocha, and Yak Aiyegbeni returned to the squad after being AWOL for the Rwanda game. However, coach Chukwu swallowed his pride (read coerced by the NFA) and played both players. Okocha (Bolton) opened the scoring with his trademark free-kick on 5
minutes and I thought the gates were opened for a mauling by Nigeria. After all, the Super Eagles lost to Angola a year ago, so payback was in order. There were few chances for either side in the half, and after recess, the Angolans started piling on the pressure and were rewarded when midfielder Paolo Figuereido beat GK Enyeama to level the scores at the hour mark.
Nigeria travel to Algeria in Sept and then face a Zimbabwe team whom they defeated 3-0 in Gaborone last year. However, if Angola beat Gabon (h) and Rwanda (a), they will be going to their first WC. So Nigeria should win both games and hope that Angola slip, or else we'll be seeing another new African face in Germany. Apparently the Nigerian team convoy was stoned by irate fans after the game. Only stones, they should have been flogged
Gabon beat Rwanda 3-0 in Libreville to hand the visitors their biggest
defeat in these qualifiers. The Gabonese are quietly moving into contention for a Nations Cup spot and could very well secure a place as the 16th team going to Egypt 2006. The home side opened the scoring through Alain Djissikadie in the 11th minute, before Londo Dieudonne (Raja Casablanca) and Nguema Zue (FC 105)wrapped up the scoring for Jairzinho's side.
My second biggest disappointment of these qualifiers, Algeria, almost won
their second game of these qualifiers. Almost, as they were within 5
minutes of beating Zimbabwe before captain Peter Ndlovu (Sundowns) blasted home the qualizer. Algeria have only won one game in these WCQs, against Rwanda, and with Mali, have been my worst teams in these qualifiers. Zimbabwe are not without their problems, with most players not showing up to camp in protest of the FA not paying them outstanding allowances and winning bonuses. Nothing new here. They were promised $100 million (Zim dollars;) ) if they won this game. Anyway, the game itself was a see-saw battle with neither side exerting itself. Algeria opened the scoring through Nasreddine Kraouche (Charleroi). The visitors pulled one back with an individual effort from Shingirai Kawondera (AE Pafos) who dribbled through the Algerian defence and equalised. The home side went ahead right after the break through Nadir Belhadj (Sedan...Ligue 2), before Ndlovu secured the much needed away point for the Zims.
My prediction - still Nigeria
Group 5 [Morocco (16), Tunisia (14), Guinea (11), Kenya (10), Botswana (9), Malawi (3)]
Kenya [0 - 0] Morocco
Malawi [1 - 3] Botswana
The messed up group is becoming clearer now. Tunisia and Kenya have played 1 less game than everyone else. Kenya was suspended by FIFA last year so have to catchup with the rest. Tunisia are in Germany, and will be returning home after winning their final Confed game v Australia They then play a home/away series with Kenya, before facing Morocco on what will the biggest game of Round 10 (Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire would argue against that). This will be a rematch of the ANC 2002 final in Tunis which the home side triumphed. Morocco, by the way, remain the only unbeaten team in these qualifiers. The winner of that game will be joining Togo, Ghana etc to Germany (oops, spoke too soon).
Kenya held Morocco to a goalless draw in a match which will be remembered for the wrong reasons; a 15 yr old fan was trampled to death at the Nyayo Stadium where a capacity 40,000 crowd turned up.
Malawi had conceded 11 goals in 2 games before welcoming Botswana's Zebras at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. Coach Yasin Osman blamed the losses on the team's lack of concentration for the full 90 minutes (this man is sharp!!). He opted for a 3-5-2 formation for the Flames. The visitors lit up the scoreboard through Tshepiso Mwafulirwa ( Township Rollers) after ten minutes with an assist from Dipsy Selolwane (Chicago Fire) who doubled Botswana's lead before half-time. The Malawi Flames halved the deficit through Russel Mwafulirwa (Jomo Cosmos) right after the break. The visitors, however, secured the points at the death with Tshepo Motlhabankwe (Extension Gunners) scoring his first of the WCQ.
My prediction - Tunisia
Leading goal scorers
Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor (Togo) - 7
Didier Drogba (Cote d'Ivoire) - 6
Dennis Oliech (Kenya) - 6
Diphetego Selolwane (Botswana) - 5
Note that FIFA takes into account head-to-head record between the sides before goal difference]
Group 1 [Togo (17), Zambia (16), Senegal (15), Congo (10), Mali (5), Liberia (4)]
Senegal [2 - 2] Togo
Zambia [2 - 1] Mali
Liberia [0 - 2]Congo
Togo is still leading the group; this is incredible for Stephen Keshi's
men. All they have to do now is win their final two games v Liberia (h) and
Congo (a), and they'll be going to Germany. They face Liberia in September, a team that has conceded 10 goals in their previous two away qualifiers, and relies on local players to cut costs. The turnaround for this team must be the 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mali in March; that game which got abandoned when the Togolese took the lead in the dying minutes of the game.
Prior to this weekend, Senegal had won their 3 previous home games, scoring 9 goals and conceding just 1.
The visitors opened their account through Nigerian-born Adekamni Olufade
(Charlerois), but two quick goals from Mamadou Niang (Strasbourg) and Henri Camara (Celtic??) gave the home side the advantage at half. The second half saw the Togolese press the home side, and despite time-wasting tactics by Diouf and co, the visitors equalised through another Nigerian-born, AS Monaco striker Sheyi Adebayor. Adebayor capitalised on a defensive blunder to increase his goal tally in these WCQs to 7 and silence the crowd in Dakar. At the final whistle, the Togolese faithful went nuts in Lome, gathering in the main square celebrating through the night (source RFI)
If the Hawks of Togo manage to qualify for Germany, Keshi should get the African Coach of the Year honours. A former captain of Nigeria a decade ago, Keshi took over the Hawks in 2004 and would have been happy to finish in the top three. This is a Togo team which just beat Equatorial Guinea in the qualifiers to make it to the group phase, and were not expected to make it this far. By the way, Keshi was once assistant coach of the Super Eagles, a team smarting from this weekend's results (smile)
Zambia beat Mali in Chililabombwe to climb to second spot, with goals from
local boy Linus Chalwe and Collins Mbesuma (Kaizer Chiefs). Soumaila
Coulibaly (Freiburg) had equalised for the Malians after the Zambians' first
goal. Coulibaly shot home from outside the box after an indirect free-kick,
catching GK Kennedy Mwane by surprise. The home team dominated the match and deserved to get the max points. Zambia now face Senegal at home in a game which will decide second place, should Togo beat Liberia in early Sept.
So Mali, the team that finished fourth at last year's ANC, with players like
Bagayoko (Nantes), Kanoute (Spurs) and Sissoko (Valencia), find themselves out of the running for Egypt 2006. Shame. They shuold have gotten Jean Tigana back when the Malian FA was hiring and firing coaches at will (Henryck Kasperczack, Christian Dalger, Henri Stambouli).
On Sunday, Liberia welcomed the Red Devils of Congo Brazzaville to the
Samuel Doe stadium in Monrovia, hoping to end their six game losing streak in the name of "rebuilding a new team to replace the likes of George Weah, James Debbah et al". They seriously need rebuilding. A local team coach was given the task of managing the Lone Stars for this game. Strange. No foreign-based player featured for the home side, as they could not afford the wages of these players. The visitors took advantage of the Liberian deficiencies by handing them a two-nil defeat, both goals courtesy of Ngandzoua
My prediction - Togo, was Senegal
Group 2 [Ghana (15), South Africa (15), DR Congo (12), Cape Verde (10), Burkina Faso (9), Uganda (7)]
South Africa [0 - 2] Ghana
Uganda [1 - 0] Cape Verde
Burkina Faso[2 - 0] DR Congo
Wir fahren nach Deutschland, we're going to the WC!!! Tra la la la la.
Well, that's what it seems like, after this weekend. Talk about a double dose of footballing fortune. We beat Bafana away from home and Burkina Faso defeat DR Congo, to give the Black Stars a commanding spot in the race. Bafana Bafana, the new wife of Ghana, were on a three game winning streak until they faced the might of midfielding-duo Stephen Appiah and Michael Essien
. OK, let's not get carried away, we may very well draw our remaining games v Uganda (h) and Cape Verde (a), thereby gifting the South Africans their ticket to Germany.** As with the Togolese, all Ghana has to do is win her remaining games and we're in! (I'll start saving up for two weeks in Germany).
This is a game the Black Stars *wanted* and we went there and got the
result, after camping in the high altitude of Naivasha in Kenya, and getting
the services of future African PoY Michael Essien. The $8,000 winning bonus also played a small_part in the motivation for the win. The SA team was missing Benni McCarthy through suspension and Quinton Fortune through injury, and the BS were without the safe hands of Sammy Adjei. The home team enjoyed the better of the first half and came close a few times but Shaun Bartlett (Charlton, no wonder, yeye boy!!) and Mabizela (Spurs) could not convert their chances. On the hour mark Stephen Appiah beat the offside trap and found an unmarked Matthew Amoah (Vitesse Arnheim) in the six-yard area for an easy tap in. GOAL!! Amoah is now 2 for 2, after opening his BS account in the previous game v Burkina Faso. With the match heading into extra time, Michael Essien (Lyon..maybe Chelski) headed home a Stephen Appiah cross, to give the BS a much needed away win at the FNB Stadium. Didn't South Africa beat us 3-0 in the same stadium in 1996 Nations Cup semis?
Saturday was a good day for Ghanaian sports fans; Ike Quartey also did us proud in boxing
At the Stade de 4 Aout in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso did what they do best at home and beat DR Congo. The home side took an early lead through Saidi Penandetiguiri (Lokeren) and continued to press in an attempt to increase their lead. The points were secured when Moumouni Dagano (Guingamp 2 Div...think Didier Drogba) latched onto a defensive error in the Simba's defence and shot past the GK. The Burkinabes have lost once at home, to Cape Verde, so if they hold form, they may well beat South Africa in September
. You know what that means!Cape who? These guys were heavily favoured a month ago to disrupt the group and possibly, just maybe, squeeze past the big guns. They lost to Bafana two weeks ago and have now ended Uganda's *seven* match winless streak in Kampala. Godfrey Sserunkuma (SC Villa - my former roomie played for this team) got the winner after half hour of play. Cape Verde travel to DR Congo next then face Ghana at home; these are two very tough games, and for the team which, a few months ago, looked like going to the Nations Cup, things are looking very bleak.
**What I wrote two weeks ago.. I can just see us beating SA, drawing with
Uganda, and then losing to Cape Verde, gifting the South Africans their
ticket to Germany 2006**
My prediction - Black Stars, was South Africa
Group 3 [Cote d'Ivoire (19), Cameroon (17), Egypt (13), Libya (11), Benin (2), Sudan (2)]
Cote d'Ivoire [2 - 0] Egypt
Cameroon [1 - 0] Libya
Benin [pp] Sudan Benin's overage players are in Holland at the WYC
Cameroon's IL won, but it did not matter as Cote d'Ivoire also won. This is
not going be an Elephant walk as I thought. The IL will be looking to win both games to advance from this Group of Death. I predict a draw in Abidjan, with both Cote d'Ivoire and Cameroon winning their final matches against Sudan and Egypt respectively.
The glaring omission in the Egyptian starting eleven at the Stade
Houpphouet-Boigny was coach Shehata resting Mido, Ahmed Hassan and Amir Zaky and going with his local-based strike partnership of Amr Zaki and Abdelhalim Ali. Both strikers were replaced at half, after the damage was half done by the Ivorians. Shehata's counterpart, Henri Michel, fielded his strongest side, with Aruna Dindane and Drogba leading the European-based players. A goal in each half from Africa's most expensive export kept the Ivorians clear at the top of the Group. Mido scored a consolation goal for the Pharoah's but was ruled offside by the linesman who was probably taking his siesta. Drogba was subbed to a standing ovation. On abidjan.net, they think he can solve the political problems in Cote d'Ivoire
In Yaounde, the IL got the necessary three points through Achille Webo
(Osasuna) in their must-win game against Libya. I lost my match report for this game, PC crashed...grrrrrrrr
My prediction - Cote d'Ivoire
Group 4 [Angola (15), Nigeria (15), Zim (11), Gabon (9), Algeria (6), Rwanda (5)]
Nigeria [1 - 1] Angola
Gabon [3 - 0] Rwanda
Algeria [2 - 2] Zimbabwe
Dear NFA, just fire Christian Chukwu and his coaching staff. While you're
at it, fire Samson Siasia too, and just bring in Stephen Keshi, the man you
sacked a few years ago, whom may just take Togo to the WC
. WTF is going on, Nigeria was supposed to have qualified by now. They barely won their last game v Rwanda (!!) and now drew at home against Angola. Minnows in African football, I think not anymore. Okay, Nigeria *may* qualify for the WC, but they sure have made it difficult on themselves. Christian Chukwu, who still believes his team will qualify "by God's grace", brought in the old legs, oops, big guns in Jay Jay Okocha and Nwanko Kanu (is he still 29 yrs old) Okocha, and Yak Aiyegbeni returned to the squad after being AWOL for the Rwanda game. However, coach Chukwu swallowed his pride (read coerced by the NFA) and played both players. Okocha (Bolton) opened the scoring with his trademark free-kick on 5
minutes and I thought the gates were opened for a mauling by Nigeria. After all, the Super Eagles lost to Angola a year ago, so payback was in order. There were few chances for either side in the half, and after recess, the Angolans started piling on the pressure and were rewarded when midfielder Paolo Figuereido beat GK Enyeama to level the scores at the hour mark.
Nigeria travel to Algeria in Sept and then face a Zimbabwe team whom they defeated 3-0 in Gaborone last year. However, if Angola beat Gabon (h) and Rwanda (a), they will be going to their first WC. So Nigeria should win both games and hope that Angola slip, or else we'll be seeing another new African face in Germany. Apparently the Nigerian team convoy was stoned by irate fans after the game. Only stones, they should have been flogged
Gabon beat Rwanda 3-0 in Libreville to hand the visitors their biggest
defeat in these qualifiers. The Gabonese are quietly moving into contention for a Nations Cup spot and could very well secure a place as the 16th team going to Egypt 2006. The home side opened the scoring through Alain Djissikadie in the 11th minute, before Londo Dieudonne (Raja Casablanca) and Nguema Zue (FC 105)wrapped up the scoring for Jairzinho's side.
My second biggest disappointment of these qualifiers, Algeria, almost won
their second game of these qualifiers. Almost, as they were within 5
minutes of beating Zimbabwe before captain Peter Ndlovu (Sundowns) blasted home the qualizer. Algeria have only won one game in these WCQs, against Rwanda, and with Mali, have been my worst teams in these qualifiers. Zimbabwe are not without their problems, with most players not showing up to camp in protest of the FA not paying them outstanding allowances and winning bonuses. Nothing new here. They were promised $100 million (Zim dollars;) ) if they won this game. Anyway, the game itself was a see-saw battle with neither side exerting itself. Algeria opened the scoring through Nasreddine Kraouche (Charleroi). The visitors pulled one back with an individual effort from Shingirai Kawondera (AE Pafos) who dribbled through the Algerian defence and equalised. The home side went ahead right after the break through Nadir Belhadj (Sedan...Ligue 2), before Ndlovu secured the much needed away point for the Zims.
My prediction - still Nigeria
Group 5 [Morocco (16), Tunisia (14), Guinea (11), Kenya (10), Botswana (9), Malawi (3)]
Kenya [0 - 0] Morocco
Malawi [1 - 3] Botswana
The messed up group is becoming clearer now. Tunisia and Kenya have played 1 less game than everyone else. Kenya was suspended by FIFA last year so have to catchup with the rest. Tunisia are in Germany, and will be returning home after winning their final Confed game v Australia
They then play a home/away series with Kenya, before facing Morocco on what will the biggest game of Round 10 (Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire would argue against that). This will be a rematch of the ANC 2002 final in Tunis which the home side triumphed. Morocco, by the way, remain the only unbeaten team in these qualifiers. The winner of that game will be joining Togo, Ghana etc to Germany (oops, spoke too soon).Kenya held Morocco to a goalless draw in a match which will be remembered for the wrong reasons; a 15 yr old fan was trampled to death at the Nyayo Stadium where a capacity 40,000 crowd turned up.
Malawi had conceded 11 goals in 2 games before welcoming Botswana's Zebras at the Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. Coach Yasin Osman blamed the losses on the team's lack of concentration for the full 90 minutes (this man is sharp!!). He opted for a 3-5-2 formation for the Flames. The visitors lit up the scoreboard through Tshepiso Mwafulirwa ( Township Rollers) after ten minutes with an assist from Dipsy Selolwane (Chicago Fire) who doubled Botswana's lead before half-time. The Malawi Flames halved the deficit through Russel Mwafulirwa (Jomo Cosmos) right after the break. The visitors, however, secured the points at the death with Tshepo Motlhabankwe (Extension Gunners) scoring his first of the WCQ.
My prediction - Tunisia
Leading goal scorers
Emmanuel Sheyi Adebayor (Togo) - 7
Didier Drogba (Cote d'Ivoire) - 6
Dennis Oliech (Kenya) - 6
Diphetego Selolwane (Botswana) - 5