Tunisia, Morocco and Senegal joined the already qualified Nigeria and Egypt to complete the line up of African representatives at the 2018 World Cup to be staged in Russia. A 0-0 draw at home to fellow North African rivals Libya, was enough to see Tunisia through. The Carthage Eagles are making their first appearance at the World Cup since 2006 after seeing off stiff competition from the very impressive D.R. Congo who finished just a point behind them. Morocco travelled to Abidjan on Saturday knowing that a win would take them to Russia. Coach Herve Renard’s shocked the Ivorians when they took the game to their counterparts , pressed and attacked them in the opening stages of the game. They were rewarded with two goals in that time and as much as the Ivorians tried, there was no way back for them as nothing was going to stop Morocco from making it to their first World Cup in 20 years. Senegal perhaps might just win the award for the most awkward route taken to qualification as just three matchdays ago, they were third on the group log. Their fortune however was about to change in a twinkle of an eye as back to back wins followed by a FIFA ruling which ordered for their game against South Africa, which they lost 2-0 was to be replayed,put Senegal in pole position to qualify. This saw Senegal within a win away from qualification to Russia 2018. Senegal made no mistake with the second opportunity and got two unanswered goals through Diafra Sakho and an own goal. The country with undoubtedly the best crop of talent on the continent at the moment are going to Russia.
One thing consistent with the 5 African representatives is planning. 4 of the countries are making their first appearance in at least 12 years . For them to return to the big stage, it was needed for a complete reconstruction and rehabilitation exercise in the last 3 years to achieve this. Nigeria for instance have undergone a total rebuilding of their team that has seen many of former star players lose their place whereas fresh committed players were introduced. After missing out on two consecutive AFCON tournaments since winning in 2013, it was clear the team needed a new direction and that they did and are now reaping the fruits of their hardwork. This can be said of Egypt, Senegal and also Morocco, who have all put past disappointments behind them and made a remarkable return to the big stage. The qualification has ended,the next step is preparing for the competition itself. The work isn’t done yet but one cannot help but applaud the efforts of these nations and hope for the best in Russia next year.
Black Stars
Ghana’s World Cup qualification run ended on Sunday with a 1-1 draw to the Pharoahs of Egypt. It has been a very disappointing run in which Ghana failed to win a single home game, finish third in the group and most importantly fail to qualify for Russia 2018 for the first time since 2002.
The much talked about re-building process and ‘building a team for the future’ from coach Kwasi Appiah has began but is expected to take full effect now that the qualification run has ended. This began with the restructuring of the technical team where coach Kwasi Appiah and his team came on board. The next stage now, should be the re-building of the playing body, which is the most important part of the team. Kwasi himself has said that the last three games of the qualification campaign was used to give new players opportunities and a chance to prove their capabilities. If these three games is anything to go by, it should give the coach a very good idea of what his team should look like when he picks his team for the next international break. The team that played against Egypt was very disorganised especially in attack. It was expected as Ghana has made several changes to the starting 11 in the last three games and one can pardon the coach as at now for not having a definite starting 11. Part of the re-building process means the election of a leader as that was one of the very essentials needed in getting the Black Stars back on track. Current skipper Asamoah Gyan is at the wrong side of 30 and with his recurring injury problems, it is safe to say that the country can no longer rely on him to lead us and with the coach’s reluctance to bring Andre Ayew back into the Stars setup, it is no-brainer that a new captain is needed. Harrison Afful and Daniel Amartey were Ghana’s captains in the final games of qualification and whether one of them might get it on a permanent basis still remains unknown but going forward, a leader is needed. The road to recovery has began, the healing process has started and the decisions we take as a team in the next few months will go a long way to determine whether the Black Stars return to the summit of African football or not.
Neymar
An emotional Neymar couldn’t hold back his tears as Brazilian coach Tite heaped praises on the player’s wonderful attitude. Speaking at a press conference after Brazil’s 3-0 friendly win against Japan, Neymar got emotional as he was quarried on reports of him being unhappy at PSG and wanting a return to Barcelona. Several reports over the last months have accused Neymar of causing division in the PSG camp due to many of the senior players not being happy with the privileges Neymar is being given since his record £200m move from Barcelona. Most notably, he being made the team’s main set piece taker,a role previously occupied by Edinson Cavani.
The media have been quick to jump on him and make several accusations against the 25- year old Brazilian. As much as I think some publications in the media have been very very unfair,it is expected for a player whose shattered the then world record by a whopping £110m to be the center of attraction of many media houses. Neymar has made no secret of his ambition of being the best player in the world, part of his reason for leaving Barcelona, allegedly was to be the ‘main man’ at another club. The journey to the top is a very rough and challenging one and whereas his talent cannot be questioned, the mental toughness of Neymar leaves a lot to be desired. In 2006, Cristiano Ronaldo Was in a very bad situation with the media and fans after his altercations in a WC 2006 game between Portugal and England. He came back to England, put all that behind him and at became PFA player of the year that season . Neymar should take a cue from Ronaldo and similar stories in his bid to recover from this very small chapter threatening to stain his rather brilliant start to life in Paris.
There is no doubt about his talent but maybe that is a chapter Neymar has to work on if he truly is to become the best player in the world.
Avot.
The Green Turf 
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