African Cup of Nations : What The Hell Is Going On?

I took time out from my busy schedule of pretending to work on my websites to watch Egypt demolish Algeria in, typically, controversial fashion last night.

I also caught the highlight (there was only one) of Ghana's victory over Nigeria.

And the conclusion I came to? The only consistent team in the whole competition (Egypt) aren't even going to be at the 2010 World Cup and the others are, well, either shockingly badly or surprisingly good on a match-by-match basis.

Unfortunately, one team's 'surprisingly good' has all too frequently coincided with another's 'shockingly bad'. Witness Algeria's 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast as an example.

Frankly, the 2010 Africa Cup Of Nations has left me utterly confused about the quality of African teams. But I am willing to bet that none will get further than the second round at World Cup 2010 - teams like Italy and Germany show that consistency is what wins big tournaments and none of these sides has that quality.

Could This Be The Reason Africa Doesn't Do That Well At World Cups

I found this extremely interesting article on how African nations use over-age players in tournaments. The author thinks this is preventing the development of players and could be the reason why African countries seemingly underperform at major tournaments.

The argument he puts forward is that: because African nations use overage players in Under 21 and Under 18 tournaments, they are not challenged sufficiently by playing against players of their own age group. Consequently, when they do come up against such players at things like the World Cup Finals, they are easily outmuscled and outplayed.

I'm not sure I'm 100% in agreement with his conclusions, but it's a thought provoking piece, so I suggest you check it out

Togo Players Shot In Angola

Usually, I try to keep this blog pretty lighthearted, but occasionally serious stuff gets in the way.

So, the news that gunmen fired on the bus carrying Togo footballers , including Emmanuel Adebayor, is pretty shocking. Particularly as the driver was killed and some of the players were wounded.

Apparently, Togo were supposed to be flying to the Angola capital, Luanda and from there to Cabinda for their African Cup of Nations match.

Quite why they were being driven in a bus going through the disputed - and critically, oil rich - territory of Cabinda is unknown. But, needless to say, the players aren't really in a state to play football.

So, Africa...What Have You Got For Us This Time

The African qualifying groups for World Cup 2010 are always a particular favourite of mine, as they are rarely predictable and - as things get tense - there are often accusations and counter-accusations of cheating, voodoo and bribery.

Unfortunately, this time around the seeding of the teams will most likely make things a little more predictable.

The seeds for the final group stages are, somewhat predictably: Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Egypt.

Of these, Egypt has the easiest group - meeting Algeria, Rwanda and Zambia and I fully expect them to qualify for their first World Cup finals since 1990.

I am hopeful for a little bit of craziness in Nigeria's group (Group 2) as they face Kenya, Tunisia and Mozambique. If there's one thing you can be certain of, they'll make it hard work for themselves as usual.

We'll just have to see how things pan out.

Who Exactly Organises This Shambles ?

Africa is a big place. No, really. It's a BIG place. It's so big, in fact, that on maps of the World, they actually shrink it to fit.

Don't believe me ? Here's a map showing the real size of the continent.

Hopefully, you're now getting the idea that Africa is, um, a BIG PLACE.

So, which idiots would put the first four World Cup 2010 qualifying matches for African nations on consecutive weekends?

Step forward, those geniuses at FIFA.

This hare-brained scheme means that many African teams will spend a whole month criss-crossing the continent, dealing with unreliable transportation and organisation, with barely a rest in between.

If you consider that, for example, Swaziland are in the same group as Togo (a distance of nearly 3,000 miles), you can see the problem.

As the CEO of the South African FA, Raymond Hack, points out with masterful understatement, "this seems a little tough on the players".

Oh, and these qualifiers take place in May, so there will be the heat to contend with too.

Well done, FIFA, another masterstroke of organisation.