World Cup 2014: African nations set to struggle but a few are worth following

 

Jonathan Wilson discusses the fall-out from the African Cup of Nations from a managerial perspective, as well as highlighting which of the African nations might do best at the World Cup next year...

 

In football, there is always the next thing and after this year's African Cup of Nations, the next thing is closer than ever before, which might explain the remarkably low attrition rate among managers after the tournament. Barely have the teams drawn breath after the final than they're in qualifying action again.

 

Usually the Cup of Nations is followed by sackings and resignations galore, even in World Cup years when it's become typical for a coach who has guided his side through qualifying suddenly to find himself ousted four months before the tournament itself because third place or a falling out with a famous striker or a preposterously unlucky defeat to Algeria is perceived as invalidating all their previous achievements.

 

This time, though, only one coach has gone, Tunisia's Sami Trabelsi resigning to be replaced by the former international midfielder Nabil Maaloul, who led Esperance to the African Champions League two years ago.

 

Sabri Lamouchi, bafflingly, has been retained by Ivory Coast despite a limp Cup of Nations that ended in the quarter-final (his predecessor, Francois Zahoui, was sacked despite going through the whole of the previous tournament without conceding a goal, losing the final only on penalties), while Ghana, who underperformed badly is South Africa, said they would show patience in James Kwesi Appiah.

 

"We do not believe that firing coaches all the time is the panacea of getting us to the promise land," said the president of the Ghanaian federation, Kwesi Nyantekyie.

 

"If the right things are not done we will never achieve the results. We want to say that the solution to the problem is not based on firing the coach. We need to take certain steps towards building the capacity of our technical team."

 

Nigeria's coach Stephen Keshi, seemingly basking in the glory of victory - while actually faxing his resignation - lamented the lack of patience among African federations, and presumably his decision to withdraw his resignation came after assurances about his position. Perhaps this is a new era of maturity and patience in Africa, but it seems at least as likely that with World Cup qualifiers coming up as soon as March (a new issue brought on by moving the tournament to odd-numbered years) there has been a recognition that there is no time for a new coach to establish himself.

 

Betting on African teams to win the World Cup outright seems pretty fruitless; although Ghana came close to becoming the first African side to reach the semi-final at the last tournament, there would have been no African side through the group stage had Serbia been awarded and converted a penalty for a handball late in their final group game against Australia, and there is no sense we are any closer to an African World Cup winner now than we were when Cameroon reached the quarter-final in 1990.

 

But is there value in backing a side to lay it off if they qualify and make it through their group in Brazil? Nigeria, the African champions, are 230.0 and, with Keshi's hardline approach effective, should make it through a simple group with Malawi, Namibia and Kenya to the final play-off round. Shortest-priced, though, are Ivory Coast (130.0), and, having taken a draw from the difficult trip to Morocco, they should make it through.

 

Ghana, in a tough group with Zambia and Sudan, are bafflingly short at 230.0 and have already lost in Lusaka. They are three points behind Zambia who were fortunate to be awarded a 3-0 win away to Sudan after the Sudanese fielded an ineligible player in a game they won 2-0. Ghana still have the difficult trip to Khartoum to come. Zambia are 1000.0 but the momentum that carried them to the Cup of Nations last year is fading.

 

Of more interest are two sides who failed to make it to South Africa: Egypt and Cameroon, both of them 1000.0. Egypt won three successive Cups of Nations before political problems intervened and are rebuilding impressively under Bob Bradley, having won their first two qualifiers, while there is a new optimism about Cameroon since Jean-Paul Akono took charge, bringing Alex Song, Samuel Eto'o and Benoit Assou-Ekotto back into the fold.

 

 

Recommended Bets

Cameroon to win World Cup at 1000.0 (back to lay)

Egypt to win World Cup at 1000.0 (back to lay)

 

Bet HERE

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