African giants await World Cup fate
- September 15, 2013, 7:16 pm
- Sports News
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JOHANNESBURG, Sept 15, (APP/AFP) - African football giants Ivory Coast,
Ghana and Nigeria will discover Monday which country they must defeat to reach the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The trio, plus Algeria and Tunisia, are seeded for a play-off draw with
Egypt, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Senegal and Ethiopia unseeded.
A noon ceremony at the Cairo headquarters of the Confederation of African
Football will create five two-leg ties between seeded and unseeded sides.
And a separate draw will determine who plays at home first as the 51-nation
qualifying competition reaches an intriguing climax.
Seedings were decided by the monthly FIFA Africa rankings released this
week and topped by the Didier Drogba-captained Ivorians.
First legs are scheduled for October 11-15 and return matches for November
15-19 with the five aggregate winners representing Africa at the global
football showcase.
All five qualifiers for the previous World Cup in South Africa three years
ago -- Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria -- are in contention.
South Africa also participated, with hosts earning the right automatically,
in a tournament where Africa flopped with only Ghana surviving the first round.
Ghana and Marseille midfield star Andre 'Dede' Ayew has no concerns ahead
of a draw expected to be completed by 1100GMT in the Egyptian capital.
"We are ready to face any opponent," said the son of Ghana legend Abedi
'Pele' Ayew and older brother of Marseille team-mate Jordan.
"Ghana will grind out results against whichever country we play and qualify
for a third consecutive World Cup tournament."
Veteran Egypt centre-back Wael Gomaa would be happy to face Ghana as the
Pharaohs seek a first World Cup appearance since 1990 in Italy.
"We have been successful against Ghana and Nigeria in the Africa Cup of
Nations and know them better than sides like Ethiopia."
Egypt defeated Nigeria en route to the 2010 Cup of Nations final, where a
late Mohamed 'Geddo' Nagy goal brought victory over Ghana in Luanda.
Mohamed Abou Trika, one of the greatest African footballers never to
feature at a World Cup, hopes Egypt avoid Algeria and Tunisia.
"I want all the north African countries to qualify for the World Cup," said
the 34-year-old midfielder with a degree in philosophy.
"That would be better than two teams from the region playing each other and
one being deprived of a chance to compete in Brazil.
"However, we must not become preoccupied by who we might meet -- we must be
ready to face any of our five potential opponents."
Although World Cup play-offs in Africa were abandoned after the 1990
qualifiers, a two-leg showdown between Egypt and Algeria was necessary four
years ago.
It had ugly repercussions with an Algerian victory amid tight security in
Sudan sparking riots in Algiers and Cairo and considerable damage to property.
Diplomatic relations were severely strained but veteran Egypt striker Emad
Moteab does not fear another showdown between the countries.
"I believe a play-off against Algeria will be very different this time," he
said. "Algerians and Egyptians have matured and will not allow another crisis to develop.
"Should we be drawn together, Algerian and Egyptian football supporters
must not allow two games of football to cause enmity."
Egypt could be the most handicapped of the 10 play-off hosts as political
turbulence and related violence has forced them to play behind closed doors.
