Ghana, Angola, Togo Ousted from CAN

The African Nations Cup is an unpredictable tournament that must bring out the fear in African coaches. The timing of the tournament certainly doesn’t help. Teams that have qualified for the World Cup have an added pressure to do well in the continent’s biggest tournament. Those who fail to qualify for the World Cup view it as a way to exact some revenge.

We’ve seen that again this year with three of the five World Cup qualifiers bowing out of the CAN in group play. Fans of Togo, Angola and Ghana are surely disappointed by this result and there will be the inevitable backlash from those who say the wrong teams from Africa qualified for Germany this summer.

If you listen to those who live in Nigeria, Cameroon and Senegal, you will hear them saying that the African Nations Cup proves that Africa will not be properly represented at the World Cup. They argue that the minnows who did qualify are little more than that, while their traditional powerful teams are the real strength of the continent.

I don’t buy this reasoning for a second. Given the long, arduous process involved in World Cup qualifying, no team makes it to the world’s biggest stage without deserving to be there. Instead of complaining about their lot, the detractors in Africa should be celebrating the arrival of new teams in the international community. The addition of four new teams this year shows the depth of the continent’s talent, as does the fact that three of these teams were eliminated early in Egypt. There are a number of good teams in Africa. This is a good thing. Stronger teams will only help everyone in the end.

Surely Angola, Togo and to a lesser degree Ghana were World Cup long shots well before the CAN started. But to write their obituaries based on their poor performances in Egypt is a mistake.

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