Article by Dermot Keogh
With the 19th FIFA Earth Cup because of to kick off in Soccer Town Johannesburg on June 11th when the hosts,South Africa, take on Mexico the question on numerous people’s lips is “Can an African staff finally landsoccer’s best prize?”. Because England manager Walter Winterbottom predicted on his retirement in1962 that an African crew would win the Globe Cup by the stop of the century there have been more thana few untrue dawns, but the century ended without having an African captain holding aloft the FIFA Planet Cup Trophy.
Roger Milla’s Cameroon acquired the ball rolling in Italia ’90 with a win over Argentina and topped their group.They went on to defeat Colombia in the Round of sixteen ahead of succumbing unluckily to England three-two soon after additional time in the Quarter-Finals. Nigeria carried the torch into the 1994 finals in the USA thrashing Bulgaria three- in their opening match and also topping their group which included Argentina. Leading Italy until the88th moment in the Round of 16 they lastly went out to a Roberto Baggio penalty in added time. In France ’98Nigeria yet again topped their group prior to an ignominious 4-one drubbing at the hands of Denmark. Senegal burston the scene in their very first Planet Cup finals in 2002 with a win over Earth and European champions France and went all the way to the quarter-finals just before heading out to Turkey after further time.
This time all around, with the Earth Cup finals becoming played on African soil for the 1st time, several eyes areon the Ivory Coast. However drawn with Brazil and Portugal in the Group matches with players like Kolo andYaya Toure plus Chelsea’s Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou a lot of would fancy their chances of progressing. Could July 11th 2010 be the date and Soccer Town, Johannesburg, be the area in which an African staff make the last leap?
Right here is a guide to the Planet cup Venues.
About the Writer
Dermot writes posts about activity and common topics online