Ghana target Nigeria in west African derby

January 28, 2010

Ghana face neighbours Nigeria in a charged west African derby here Thursday with the prize a ticket to the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The semi-finalists who face off at Luanda’s 11 November stadium made it through in wildly contrasting fashions.

While four-time winners Ghana impressed in their 1-0 quarter-final win over hosts Angola, Nigeria laboured to a goalless extra-time draw with Zambia, only prevailing on penalties, with Israeli-based goalkeeper Victor Enyeama converting the decisive spot kick for a 5-4 win.

Despite their far from impressive performance Ghana coach Milovan Rajevic is too wily a coach to take Nigeria’s form in Benguela at face value.

“If you just look at Nigeria’s quarter-final performance it can create a false impression,” warned the Serb, speaking as ever with the help of his trusty translator.

“Yesterday (Tuesday) they showed they were an experienced team who knew what they wanted.

“You can’t draw any conclusions from that game, you have to look at the bigger picture.

“Take for example Ivory Coast. They didn’t play very well against Burkina Faso, then showed they could play a lot better in their next matches.”

Rajevic has worked wonders to get Ghana this far given the injury crisis he has had to contend with, Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien among a host of key players out injured.

Yet he said he wasn’t surprised at Ghana’s progress to the semi-finals.

“When you consider we have eight younger players from Ghana’s Under-20 World Cup winning team combined with some experienced players it’s an excellent mix.

“My team has proved its quality, they know how to compete, they are tough, and there is an excellent atmosphere and spirit in the squad.”

Rajevic is due to welcome back Norwegian-based midfielder Anthony Annan, who has missed all of Ghana’s matches in Angola up to now.

“Anthony is recovering well and we can use him for the semi-final,” Rajevac confirmed.

However, he will be without Agyemang Opuku, who is suspended.

Rajevic, meanwhile, may be a ‘blow in’ from Serbia but he doesn’t need reminding of the importance Ghanaians attach to beating Nigeria.

“There is a definite rivalry between the two countries. On top of that this is a semi-final in the Africa Cup of Nations, with a place in the final up for grabs.”

Recent history is on Ghana’s side, after they knocked out Nigeria in the quarter-finals at the 2008 competition on home soil.

Asamoah Gyan scored the decisive goal in Ghana’s quarter-final win over the hosts in Luanda on Sunday and the Rennes striker is relishing facing Nigeria again.

Gyan said: “Every Ghanaian knows how important it is to play Nigeria. We are ready for them and prepared and we will stick to the game plan that the coach has mapped out for us.

“We beat Nigeria two years ago. We have a lot of young guys in the team but we are concentrated and we will do everything possible to win.”

Ghana are four time winners of the competition but their last title dates back to 1982.

Nigeria, meanwhile, champions in 1980 and 1994, have yet to catch fire in Angola, and will have to put in a more convincing display than they did against Zambia to see off Ghana.

Nigeria’s under-fire coach Shaibu Amodu said after edging Zambia: “I was worried for the reputation of Nigeria, not for my job. It wouldn’t have been good to once again be knocked out in the quarter-finals.

“We’ve said from day one that we have a team that can win this tournament. I know that I have the players to win it.

“We didn’t play very well against Zambia but we showed how to play as a team.

“We’re not at our best at the moment but we are improving all the time, and in five months (at the World Cup) we’ll be a lot better.”

LUANDA (AFP)

Tags: 11 november, africa cup of nations, benguela, burkina faso, experienced team, face off, false impression, Goalkeeper, impressive performance, Ivory Coast, Luanda, Michael Essien, midfielder, neighbours, semi finalists, semi finals, serb, time winners, winning team

Sky brightens for Argentina after kind draw

December 5, 2009

After a qualifying campaign plagued by acrimony and embarrassment, Argentina can look to the 2010 World Cup with hope after being drawn in a group with South Korea, Nigeria and Greece on Friday.

The events of a turbulent 18 months have given Argentine fans little to cheer, but in newly crowned European Footballer of the Year Lionel Messi they boast the world’s best player, while their squad is thick with guile and top-level experience.

Diego Maradona was the only national coach absent from Friday’s draw in Cape Town due to the FIFA ban imposed upon him because of his abusive rant at the media in the wake of the 1-0 win over Uruguay that secured qualification.

One of the world’s all-time greats as a player, Maradona led his country to the 1986 World Cup title and then the final in Italy four years later, but as a coach he has cut an erratic and controversial figure.

“I tell my players that 30 days of sacrifice for the chance to kiss the World Cup is nothing in the life of a man,” he said.

“An achievement like that is like touching the sky. I played in World Cups and I reached two finals. I know what it takes.”

Argentina qualified despite a humiliating 6-1 loss at altitude in Bolivia and a first ever home qualifying defeat to Brazil, but underwhelming recent form is something of a feature in Group B.

South Korea, semi-finalists on home soil in 2002, overcame a sluggish start under new coach Huh Jung-Moo but eventually qualified with two games to spare to reach their eighth finals – an Asian record.

“We were drawn in the so-called Group of Death in Asian qualifying and we made it through,” said Huh.

“We believe we can do the job again in South Africa. I will go back to South Korea and start working on our strategy.”

Nigeria are not the force that captivated the world at the 1998 tournament, when players like Jay-Jay Okocha and Sunday Oliseh illuminated their participation, but in Everton’s Joseph Yobo, Chelsea’s John Mikel Obi and Wolfsburg’s Obafemi Martins they possess a steely spine.

Greece edged Ukraine by a single goal in their qualifying play-off after finishing behind Switzerland in a less than daunting group.

Otto Rehhagel, the man who masterminded their stunning Euro 2004 success, remains at the helm and can call upon seasoned veterans from the Euro adventure as well as 10-goal European qualifying zone top scorer Theofanis Gekas.

CAPE TOWN (AFP)

Tags: acrimony, best player, controversial figure, embarrassment, european footballer of the year, guile, home soil, jay jay okocha, john mikel obi, joseph yobo, level experience, s joseph, semi finalists, south korea, world cups

France, Portugal face nervy World Cup play-offs

November 18, 2009

Three years ago France beat Portugal in the World Cup semi-final – on Wednesday both could fail to even reach the 2010 finals as they take narrow leads into their play-off second leg clashes.

France, champions in 1998, hold a 1-0 lead over the Republic of Ireland while Portugal hold the same advantage over Bosnia Hercegovina though the French unlike the Portuguese have the added advantage of it being an away goal.

The other two play-offs see Euro 2008 semi-finalists Russia also looking a bit shaky as they take a 2-1 lead to Slovenia while Ukraine – who made the 2006 finals – have everything to play for when they host Euro 2004 champions Greece in Donetsk as they are tied at 0-0. Related article: No room for panic, says Russia’s Hiddink

The French-Irish clash looks likely to be a high octane affair after the angry exchanges between rival players at the end of the match in Dublin on Saturday provoked by derogatory remarks by Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra. Related article: France eye World Cup slot

“They were disrespectful and anti-Irish,” commented Irish midfielder Keith Andrews.

“Everyone knows what he (Diarra) said but we don’t need those to get ourselves motivated for the match.”

The Irish, though, face a mountain of a task to overcome the deficit as they have not beaten a top-ranked side away from home since beating Turkey 3-1 in the Euro ‘92 qualifiers – which they didn’t reach and to be fair the Turks really became a top side from 2000 onwards.

However, their veteran Italian coach Giovanni Trapattoni used another statistic to add evidence to his belief that the men in green can turn it around.

“I have reminded my players that we scored in every one of our away matches in the qualifiers save against Montenegro (including world champions Italy) – a group that was of a better quality than that of France,” said the former Italy national coach. Related article: Italians playing for World Cup places

“Winning 1-0 may be enough as then it goes to extra-time and then penalties,” he added.

His France counterpart Raymond Domenech was frank about where he saw the situation lying.

“We have to play, because for me the match begins at 0-0,” said the sphinx-like coach, who guided France to the 2006 final but has rarely won over either the fans or the press.

“Our strong point is our ability to score goals. There is no point thinking they are coming here to pose us problems. We have to take the match by the scruff of the neck. Playing to win is the best fashion of doing it.”

Bosnia and Portugal’s match should be an interesting encounter given that Bosnian coach Miroslav Blazevic ever the eccentric handler – though it worked wonders with Croatia in the 1998 finals when he took them to the semi-finals where they led France before losing 2-1 – has promised some savage entertainment.

“In the next few days I will have to create such an atmosphere among the players so they attack the Portuguese like hungry wolves,” said the 74-year-old in an interview with the Dnevni Avaz daily. Related article: Bosnia coach says squad will be ‘hungry wolves’

The Bosnians can take great heart that not only will there be no Cristiano Ronaldo as in the first leg but that they hit the woodwork three times in the first leg.

With this in mind the Portuguese are convinced they should go all out in attack to get what could be a crucial away goal. Related article: Shevchenko warns Ukraine of tough battle

“When it is necessary to defend, we have to do it well, but we will attack when the possibility arises,” said Chelsea’s veteran defender Ricardo Carvalho, who was a member of the side that reached the 2006 World Cup semi-finals.

“We are not going to play defensively, because if we score, that will complicate things for them.”

Coach Guus Hiddink is optimistic Russia will make it to the 2010 World Cup despite play-off rivals Slovenia grabbing an away goal.

Ahead of Wednesday’s second leg in Maribor Hiddink said there was no cause for panic.

“Of course, I was dissappointed with the result,” the Dutchman said.

“We were leading 2-0 and had plenty of chances to increase our advantage.

“But I thing there’s no need to go from one extreme to another. We did not lose the first match we won it! And there’s no room for panic.”

Ukraine star Andrei Shevchenko has warned his teammates to be prepared for a tough battle against Greece.

“We and Greece have a 50-50 chance to reach next year’s finals,” Shevchenko said.

“In Athens we played very good in defence and, I believe, we could repeat such a performance in Donetsk.”

PARIS (AFP)

Tags: clash, clashes, derogatory remarks, donetsk, euro 2004 champions, euro 2008, extra time, eye world, giovanni trapattoni, hercegovina, italians, midfielder, narrow leads, national coach, play offs, republic of ireland, semi finalists, statistic, world champions, World Cup

European giants face nervy World Cup trials

November 17, 2009

Three years ago France beat Portugal in the World Cup semi-final – on Wednesday both could fail to even reach the 2010 finals as they take narrow leads into their play-off second leg clashes.