Africans can be fast and the furious

For a continent that has had to wait so long to host its first World Cup, and has had to live through so many tournaments being patronised as a late developer in international football, Africa tends to be remarkably quick off the blocks. The habit of African teams at the World Cups is to make an explosive sprint, before wheezing, apparently out of breath.

Go back 20 years, to the most celebrated of Africa's World Cup contestants, for instance. At the opening match of Italia '90, Argentina, the defending champions, seemed to have it easy. Asked to kick-off the tournament at San Siro, the Argentines knew the Milan crowd, with its fill of northern Italians, might be inclined to jeer Diego Maradona, their captain, because he played for Napoli. But they expected far less hostility from their opponents, Cameroon. The Africans were rank outsiders, and that was even before the pundits had an inkling of the spats taking place in Como, the training base where several of the so-called Indomitable Lions had turned into squabbling alley cats. What happened next astonished most observers: Cameroon, reduced to nine men by the end, beat Argentina 1-0.

Perhaps they should not have been so surprised. The early African ambush is almost as consistent a part of the World Cup's theatre as goalkeepers complaining about the ball being too light or Brazilian pundits griping that their team has lost its sense of flair. As long ago as 1970, when Africa first sent a team to a World Cup via a qualifying system - as opposed to by invitation, the route by which Egypt had participated in 1934 - Morocco struck a startling blow by taking the lead in their opening match against West Germany. They held the advantage through half-time before losing 2-1, but it was a warning.

Tunisia began their 1978 World Cup by handsomely beating Mexico, and in 1982, West Germany, then the favourites, slipped up badly: Algeria 2, West Germany 1, a game in which the losers were, if anything, flattered by the scoreline. Likewise the third afternoon of France '98, when Nigeria took the field against Spain and won 3-2. The next coup was even more dramatic: Senegal 1, France 0 in the Seoul premier of the 2002 World Cup. Another West African team had overcome the reigning champions.

In short, Africa is so full of surprises in the opening stanzas of World Cups that it should no longer be considered a shock or an upset when an African team wins their first fixture against a so-called heavyweight. Should South Africa beat Mexico at Soweto's Soccer City on Friday, it will hardly be the victory of outsiders, because the South Africans will be at home. Should Nigeria defeat Argentina the next day, it would only repeat what a previous generation inflicted on Argentina in the 1996 Olympic final, and only slightly reverse the 1-0 by which Leo Messi, Angel Di Maria and Javier Mascherano beat Nigeria in the Olympic gold medal match 22 months ago.

Ghana versus Serbia or Algeria against Slovenia a week from tomorrow? Hard to predict a clear winner. Ditto with Portugal, who barely scraped through World Cup qualifying, versus Ivory Coast, who marched through it easily. But Africa's trouble is that too often the early-round triumphs turn out to be cameos. An African team has never won a fifth fixture at a World Cup. The continent's glass ceiling is the quarter-finals, achieved by the Cameroon two decades ago, and matched only once, by the upstart Senegalese in Korea and Japan.

These were underdog teams because they seemed liked novices. The best African teams no longer do. The growing diaspora of African footballers in the most widely televised leagues of Europe means that in almost every African team, recognised champions draw the spotlight. Didier Drogba, who was yesterday injured in a match against Japan, and his Ivory Coast teammate Salomon Kalou have just won a Premier League and FA Cup double with Chelsea. Yaya Toure has just won a Spanish league with Barcelona. His brother Kolo has won an English title with Arsenal and appeared in a Champions League final.

Now turn to Cameroon, and find a captain, Samuel Eto'o, who has won the last two European Cups, with Barcelona and then with Inter Milan. Nobody in the 1990 version of the Indomitable Lions had anything like Eto'o's worldwide profile. But with status, expectation soars. The 2010 World Cup has set itself to promote what is good, positive and strong about Africa as a place; now an obligation rests on the six African teams to back up the argument that the continent deserve better representation at the game's high table.

The game can answer back that Africa has its long overdue chance to host a World Cup. But if more than half its teams are eliminated by the knockout stage, the game would be justified in saying that six African sides in a 32-team tournament is more than is merited. The bad news is that Egypt, the continent's best national team, failed to qualify. The good news is that the six countries that did all have some pedigree in the sport.

Algeria may not be the swashbucklers of 1982 but they were good enough to beat Egypt twice in qualifying. Supporters would hope such success might rub out some of the team's undisciplined, hot-tempered and disorganised displays in the last six months. The South Africa team have seldom looked weaker in their short history in Fifa - they were banned through the apartheid era, joining the international game only in 1992 - but found home support uplifting enough to make the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup last July.

The strength of Africa's 2010 delegation is concentrated in the nations of the west coast. Nigeria, have changed their head coach, and the Swede Lars Lagerback takes over a squad that finished third at January's African Cup of Nations. He has a mixture of young talents that reached the last Olympic final and some worldlier men to chose from. Nigeria, with the likes of Peter Odemwinge, Victor Obinna, Obafemi Martins and Chinedu Obasi, should be sufficiently strong to advance from Group B.

Ghana have a tougher trio - the Serbs, Germany and Australia - to get past in phase one and have been deprived of their finest footballer. The withdrawal of Chelsea's Michael Essien through injury is a big loss. Nonetheless, they look a better squad than they were four years ago when they reached the last 16 of their debut World Cup. Half a dozen younger players, led by Kwadwo Asamoah, the midfielder, have graduated well from the team who were world Under 20 champions last year.

The draw has been unkinder still to Ivory Coast,who seem the best equipped for a long stay in South Africa. They may need to beat Portugal in their first match to go through from a pool that also includes Brazil and North Korea. It is sometimes a mistake to judge an international team's status on the pedigree of the clubs where their leading players work, but if Ivory Coast do not make an impact, with or without Drogba, then they will feel like an opportunity lost. The squad are known as the country's golden generation because of the club medals that hang on their stars, from the Chelsea strikers to the Sevilla midfielders, Ndri Romaric and Didier Zokora, to the Toure brothers.

Yet they enter their second World Cup unfulfilled in international football, having finished second, fourth and then as quarter-finalists in the last three African Nations Cups. To assuage this hunger, they appointed Sven Goran Eriksson, another Swede, as head coach. Eriksson is a serial quarter-finalist at World Cups, but he would like to prove he's capable of more. Which brings us back to Cameroon. Eto'o reacted angrily to the suggestion by supersub Roger Milla that the Inter striker had not contributed sufficiently to his country's cause over the last 12 years.

Milla's critique will be a bad thing for Cameroon if it results in Eto'o losing his temper, as he did to earn a red card in a friendly against Portugal last Tuesday. But it might be galvanising if Eto'o has had his pride stirred. The Indomitable Lions face a strong Holland, a pedestrian Denmark and Japan in phase one. A good start against the Japanese and they might just feel the spirit of Italia '90 is with them once again.

Ghana The Black Satellites, the Ghana Under 20 side, are world champions in their age group and the senior Black Stars have already been strengthened by some of those players progressing through the ranks. Will miss the composure of Michael Essien though. Cameroon Entering their sixth World Cup finals, Cameroon have a strong, experienced backbone to the team, running from Carlos Kameni, the goalkeeper, through to Samuel Eto'o, the striker. But they did not look good at the African Nations Cup earlier in the year. Ivory Coast On paper, the strongest of the continent's contenders. In reality, a group with Portugal and Brazil does them no favours. Sven Goran Eriksson, the manager, needs to keep team spirit and unity strong to build confidence that they can spring an upset. @Email:sports@thenational.ae