World Cup qualifiers: down to the wire
Proffesor Ndawonde
13 November 2009
The football world is waiting in anticipation to see who will be the last teams to book their places for the 2010 Fifa World Cup™ as qualification action wraps up over the next week, writes Proffesor Ndawonde.
With several European, American and Asian countries having already qualified, all eyes will now be on Africa to see who will join the host South Africa, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire as the African countries who have already qualified.
African football giants such as Nigeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are expected to make every second count to guarantee a spot in next year's World Cup.
However, football is unpredictable and only the best sides will manage to register their names on the list of 32 countries to participate in the finals.
Action and drama
On Saturday, football enthusiasts will be served with action and drama as Group A leaders Cameroon, with 10 points, play against Morocco in the last match of their campaign.
The Indomitable Lions of Africa, led by the likes of Samuel Eto'o and Alexandre Song, need three points to qualify, while Morocco, who are currently last in the group, will play for a win to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola early next year.
Still in Group A, Gabon, positioned second with nine points, will lock horns with Togo, their mission being to get maximum points while hoping that Cameroon lose in order to give them an opportunity to visit South Africa.
Meanwhile, Tunisia, who lead group B with 11 points, are expected to beat struggling Mozambique in Maputo on Saturday – a victory that would guarantee their place in the finals.
It will be a blow for many Africans if Nigeria, who are second in the same group with nine points, fail to qualify; take on Kenya this weekend. Nigeria are expected to miss out on next year's tournament, as Tunisia have turned out to be the front-runners in the group.
African champions Egypt will play against archrivals Algeria in a much-anticipated "battle of African-Arabic Elephants".
Algeria lead group C with 13 points, followed by Egypt with 10 points. Both teams need nothing but three points. If Algeria manage to overcome the Pharaohs, they will qualify.
Mohamed Aboutrika and his Egyptian companions have a far more difficult assignment to accomplish – they need to beat Algeria at least 3-0 to make it through to the World Cup on goal difference.
'Do or die' clash
In the Asian-Ocean Zone, New Zealand will lock horns with Bahrain in a "do or die clash". These two sides drew in their last play-off match, and whoever wins on Saturday will qualify.
Action and drama will continue in Europe as the eight nations participating in the continental play-offs battle it out this weekend.
France will play against Republic of Ireland in Dublin in the first round of the play-offs, and on the other side reigning footballer of the year Cristano Ronaldo's Portugal will clash against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Russia is expected to give Slovenia a difficult time in their play-off match in Moscow, while Ukraine face Greece on the other side.
In the American Zone, Costa Rico face Uruguay on Saturday in their first leg of the play-offs in San Jose. The second play-offs for this zone and Europe will take place on Wednesday.
Source: BuaNews
