On African Countries: How far each of them will go

The 2010 World Cup marks the first time the tournament has ever taken place in Africa. This has led some to speculate if an African country will make a surprise run this year or not, as no country has ever gone farther than Cameroon in 1990, when they made it all the way to the quarter-finals, where they were narrowly beaten by England. Furthermore, there are a number of dark horses in Africa that everyone is excited about.

In light of this, I've decided to profile the African teams in the tournament this year to try and see who will do well.

1. Cameroon.














Cameroon is, historically, the best African country at football, especially in the World Cup. Their star player is Samuel Eto'o, who is known for being the fastest player on the ball in the world. They also have goalkeeper Carlos Kameni, who made a name for himself by keeping Espanyol in La Liga this year.

However, there are a couple of red flags for Cameroon this year, the most prominent being the attitude of spiritual leader Eto'o. Eto'o has been publicly questioning his place in the international campaign, and has dropped off in form significantly this year. Added to that, he recieved a red card in the first ten minutes of the game against Portugal. Without Eto'o, Cameroon are going to have a much more difficult time in the tournament.

There are a couple of things going for Cameroon, though. They are known for having great depth at every position, as most players could basically start. This was proven when Webo came in the game after Eto'o was ejected and led the Lions to a shorthanded goal.

They are also in Group E, which will be dominated by Holland, who had an undefeated qualifying run. Left in Group E are Japan, Cameroon, and Denmark fighting for second place and a chance to enter the Round of 16. These are three completely different squads, obviously, so Cameroon will have to work together well and score often to keep themselves in the hunt.

2. Algeria.








The North Africans are a little undermatched going into the World Cup this year, they are probably the weakest of the African countries. They're going to have to be able to bounce back from a friendly 3-0 drumming by Ireland if they want to upset United States or worse yet England. Coupled with a few injuries of key players, Algeria's chances in the World Cup do not look too bright, at least from where I'm standing.

3. Ivory Coast.









My personal favorite African team, Ivory Coast has their work cut out for them in this tournament. Placed in a group with Portugal, Brazil, and the very capable North Korea, Ivory Coast are in what some believe to be "The Group of Death."

Ivory Coast are lead by star player and Premier League leading scorer Didier Drogba. They also have stars like Yaya Toure, Saloman Kalou, and recent Barca player Keita. They like to score quickly and often, and they'll need to do both to beat out the incredibly talented teams in their group.

They also just got a new coach from Sweden last week, although Drogba has come out in full support of him.

Ivory Coast may have their toughest work in the Group Stage, but if they can get past that, they may be able to make it to the semi-finals, or perhaps even farther.

4. Nigeria.









Nigeria are in a similar position to Cameroon. They have one mega giant in their group, Argentina, and then two other basically equally matched teams, South Korea and Greece. Greece is a team plagued with injuries, so Nigeria's real obstacle will probably be South Korea.

Any of these three could advance with Argentina, but Nigeria will have to rely on their experienced players like Bundesliga veteran Obafemi Martins and Portsmouth's John Utaka if they want to advance.

5. Ghana.









Ghana is everyone's favorite darkhorse right now. They were the runner up in the African Cup of Nations after a tough loss to Egypt, but everyone has tagged them as the African team to watch right now. This is a little odd, considering that Ghana is decidedly the runt of a group that consists of Serbia, Australia, and Germany. However, Ghana was capable of upsetting all of those teams. And I say was because Ghana recieved some terrible news two days ago: Chelsea star and team leader Michael Essien is injured and will not be able to make the tournament.

But the team has responded well, and have come out to say that they are more driven than ever to do well. And though they were solidly beaten 4-1 against Holland on Tuesday, analysts like what they saw, and are still calling the upset with this team.

The key match will be their opener against Serbia on the 13th, as the loser will surely be out of the tournmanet.

6. South Africa.










Now things get interesting. No host team has ever failed to advance out of the Group Stage in the history of the World Cup. However, Group A with France, Uruguay, Mexico, and South Africa has been consistently fingered as the best Group in the tournament, with the obvious weakest link being South Africa.

Add the controversial exclusion of the country's all time leading scorer from the squad, and there has been some speculation if South Africa will be the first ever host country to miss out.

However, a lot of people are saying that there is no clear winner of this group. France has been performing terribly in their friendly matches, and weaker Uruguay has shown themselves to be quite a force to be reckoned with. Mexico has one of the most committed fan bases in the world, and are thought to be a dark horse to possibly advance even to the semi-finals. There are no guarantees for South Africa, no matter what the history books say.

This is what I think about Africa's chances this year. Have your own opinions? Weigh in!