Togo’s Strange Saga Continues

You can say what you want about Togo’s play on the pitch during the World Cup, but there is no denying that off the pitch this has been one of the more interesting teams. First their coach quit the team a couple of days before their opening match. Then he returned to the sidelines only to be called a drunk by one the country’s football association heads. Now there is some question as to whether the team will even show up for Monday’s match against Switzerland in Dortmund.

Without giving any reason, Togo did not leave their base camp today to fly to Dortmund as scheduled.

“The departure (from the match camp in Wangen) was planned for now but the players are showing no signs of getting ready or leaving,” a source told Reuters.

Maybe the players and coaches overslept or maybe they are still squabbling over their World Cup pay or perhaps this is all part of a master plan to sneak up on the Swiss at the last minute.

In any case, this unfortunately continues to paint a very poor light on a Togo team that defied the odds to make the World Cup and now appears determined to make the least of their time on the world’s biggest stage.