[CAF] Road to World Cup 2010

[Pharaoh]

There was an initial preliminary stage involving 6 or so teams. Other than that, CAF's system this time will consist of two group phases. The first group phase got underway this past weekend. The 12 group winners and 8 best runners up will advance to the final group stage, which will consist of 5 groups of 4 teams each. Those group winners will qualify straight to the World Cup. The tournament also doubles as qualification for the Africa Nations Cup in 2010 in Angola (that's why South Africa is playing).

Here are the results from this past weekend:

Malawi 8:1 Djibouti (Malawi is probably the best team you've never heard of)
Namibia 2:1 Kenya (Namibia score the winner in the 90th minute)
Botswana 0:0 Madagascar
Cameroon 2:0 Cape Verde (Samuel Eto'o scored a penalty and hit a journalist after the match. lol)
Rwanda 3:0 Mauritania
Togo 1:0 Zambia
Tanzania 1:1 Mauritius
Uganda 1:0 Niger
Morocco 3:0 Ethiopia
Senegal 1:0 Algeria (Algeria had a perfectly legit goal wiped away for an "offside". Same thing happened to Egypt in Dakar in 2002 qualifying.)
Sudan vs. Chad (postponed due to the political tensions between the two)
Angola 3:0 Benin
Equatorial Guinea 2:0 Sierra Leone
Burundi 1:0 Seychelles
Nigeria 2:0 South Africa (The Bafana Bafana look horrible)
Liberia 1:1 Gambia
Cote d'Ivoire 1:0 Mozambique (the Elephants were without Drogba and Dindane)
Guinea 0:0 Zimbabwe (surprise result)
Ghana 3:0 Libya
Mali 4:2 Congo
Tunisia 1:2 Burkina Faso (by far the biggest shock so far. Burkina score twice in the final 10 minutes to steal 3 points in Rades)
Egypt 2:1 Congo DR (Lua Lua, Nonda and co. give the Pharaohs a scare going up 1-0 through a set piece against the run of play. Egypt score twice in the second half to win without Treika and Zidan).


Standings: http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...ngs/index.html

Matchday 2 schedule with some predictions:

Friday, June 6
Djibouti 0:3 Egypt (100 to 105 degree heat expected, and the game will be in the middle of the afternoon)
Algeria 1:0 Liberia

Saturday, June 7
South Africa 2:1 Equatorial Guinea
Cape Verde 2:1 Tanzania
Kenya 1:2 Guinea
Chad 0:3 Mali
Sierra Leone 0:2 Nigeria
Seychelles 0:2 Tunisia (Tunisia need this one desperately amid the drama of Lemerre leaving for the Morocco post in a month and the loss at home to Burkina Faso)
Mauritania 1:1 Morocco
Burkina Faso 3:1 Burundi
Libya 2:1 Gabon

Sunday, June 8
Madagascar 0:1 Cote d'Ivoire
Mauritius 0:1 Cameroon
Zimbabwe 2:2 Namibia
Mozambique 1:0 Botswana
Swaziland 0:1 Togo
Congo 1:1 Sudan
Congo DR 2:1 Malawi
Niger 0:2 Angola
Benin 0:0 Uganda
Ethiopia 0:1 Rwanda
Gambia 1:1 Senegal
Lesotho 1:2 Ghana

[Suprah]

Sizzlin'

[Rostam]

Egypt are in good shape this time around. I think you guys'll qualify in the end. The
West African sides are pretty dominant as usual. S. Africa really need to get their act together. They're going to be hosting and don't want to be embarrassed in front of the world.

Pharaoh, do you think the five spots given to Africa are reasonable? Last time some good African teams (Egypt, Cameroon, Senegal) missed out. Africa's great improvement on the world stage as well as the massive amount of African talent in the leagues of Europe factor into this also...

[Arashi_Washi]

I hope the Iran-Egypt friendly does not get canceled. They are a formidable opponent for Iran.

We Need this friendly to get our boys in better shape against Tougher matches against Syria and Kuwait

Our boys lack a bit of teamwork and probably touch....We need this friendly, We are desperate for a good friendly atm

[teammelli34]

We Need this friendly to get our boys in better shape against Tougher matches against Syria and Kuwait
Our boys lack a bit of teamwork and probably touch....We need this friendly, We are desperate for a good friendly atm

our boys lack gheyrat, and without it, they just dont want it as much as the other teams.

[KC McElroy]

I like Cameroon best.

[EKBATAN]

thanx for the news

[Arashi_Washi]

I dont think Nigeria will make this year's World Cup...
Big Call but wait and see

And if it was based on Qualification's S.Africa would of missed out aswell,
They are lucky they are hosts...otherwise they would of not made it

I think the dominant side's will be Eqypt, Ivory Coast and Mali

[Pharaoh]

Egypt are in good shape this time around. I think you guys'll qualify in the end. The
West African sides are pretty dominant as usual. S. Africa really need to get their act together. They're going to be hosting and don't want to be embarrassed in front of the world.

Pharaoh, do you think the five spots given to Africa are reasonable? Last time some good African teams (Egypt, Cameroon, Senegal) missed out. Africa's great improvement on the world stage as well as the massive amount of African talent in the leagues of Europe factor into this also...

I'm cautiously optimistic about Egypt. I certainly don't want to get my hopes up yet, but finally there seems to be some stability with the team and coaching staff. Of course, another ridiculous group could derail things so I'll wait to see who we end up with (provided we advance from the first group stage). South Africa are an enigma. They were never that great but definitely better than they are now. I don't know how they fell off so badly. As for the number of spots allocated to Africa, simply put I think 5 is too few. Obviously I'll have somewhat of a bias, not to mention having to see my team in the hardest group in Africa the last 2 World Cup qualifying tournaments.

However, part of the problem has been CAF's qualifying system, not just the number of spots given to Africa. The point of the system should be to extract the best teams from a given region. In 2002 and 2006 the format yielded such unbalanced groups that we didn't necessarily see Africa's best 5 make it to the World Cup.

This is how I'd personally breakdown the number of spots for each region:

North America: 2.5 (definitely no more than this, 2 may even suffice)
South America: 4.5 (this region is top-heavy, but not very deep once you get past Brazil and Argentina)
Asia: 4.5
Africa: 6.5
Oceania: 0.5
Europe: 12.5
(plus host)

I'd then put all the .5s into a single round-robin league (6 teams, 5 matches each team) in a neutral site. The top 3 would advance to the World Cup and round out the field of 32.

[Pharaoh]

I dont think Nigeria will make this year's World Cup...
Big Call but wait and see

And if it was based on Qualification's S.Africa would of missed out aswell,
They are lucky they are hosts...otherwise they would of not made it

I think the dominant side's will be Eqypt, Ivory Coast and Mali

Nigeria have good individual talent but have achieved nothing as a team in quite some time. I wouldn't be surprised if they miss the World Cup again, but I think it'll mostly depend on what the second round groups look like.

Mali is an interesting pick... certainly loads of potential with that team. Any one of Mali, Guinea, and Zambia could be the surprise debutants this time around IMO, though Mali was the only one of that group with a positive result in the first game of these qualifiers.

[Pharaoh]

Results from this past weekend's qualifiers (June 6-8):

Friday, June 6
Djibouti 0:4 Egypt (As many injuries as goals in this one - one of them quite bad to an Egypt player - thanks to the artificial turf in Djibouti. Several fans had to be treated for dehydration and heatstroke due to the 44 degree (Celsius) temperatures.)

Algeria 3:0 Liberia (much needed win for the Fenecs, who deserved a point in Dakar last week.)

Saturday, June 7
Seychelles 0:2 Tunisia (She sells seashells by the seashore.)
South Africa 4:1 Equatorial Guinea (E. Guinea fans: "Who cares, we have oil now.")
Kenya 2:0 Guinea (horrible start for one of the countries I had tipped to possibly make their first World Cup)
Chad 1:2 Mali (Two first-half goals from Kanoute)
Sierra Leone 0:1 Nigeria (last-gasp goal from Joseph Yobo for not so Super Eagles. Mission accomplished though.)
Cape Verde 1:0 Tanzania (Henrik Larsson's native land gets a win at home)
Libya 1:0 Gabon (Libya need an own goal from Bruno Manga to win at home)
Burkina Faso 2:0 Burundi (The Zebras still on pace to win the group)

Sunday, June 8
Mauritius 0:3 Cameroon (remember when Mauritius was in FIFA 2001? Utter randomness)
Madagascar 0:0 Ivory Coast (yikes)
Mozambique 1:2 Botswana (who's butt?)
Swaziland 2:1 Togo (clearly the upset of the week)
Congo 1:0 Sudan
DR Congo 1:0 Malawi (Matumona with the late PK against the luckless visitors)
Lesotho 2:3 Ghana (Agogo strikes twice, both Lesotho goals come in 2nd half stoppage time)
Benin 4:1 Uganda (the Squirrels beat the Cranes in the battle of irrelevant animals)
Niger 1:2 Angola
Gambia 0:0 Senegal (I called this a draw last week. Senegal played the second half with 10 men)

Standings:

Team (Matches Played) Points
GROUP 1
Cameroon (2) 6
Cape Verde (2) 3
Tanzania (2) 1
Mauritius (2) 1

GROUP 2
Zimbabwe (2) 4
Kenya (2) 3
Namibia (2) 3
Guinea (2) 1

GROUP 3
Angola (2) 6
Benin (2) 3
Uganda (2) 3
Niger (2) 0

GROUP 4
Nigeria (2) 6
South Africa (2) 3
Equatorial Guinea (2) 3
Sierra Leone (2) 0

GROUP 5
Ghana (2) 6
Libya (2) 3
Lesotho (1) 0
Gabon (1) 0

GROUP 6
Senegal (2) 4
Algeria (2) 3
Gambia (2) 2
Liberia (2) 1

GROUP 7
Botswana (2) 4
Ivory Coast (2) 4
Madagascar (2) 2
Mozambique (2) 0

GROUP 8
Morocco (2) 6
Rwanda (2) 6
Ethiopia (2) 0
Mauritania (2) 0

GROUP 9
Burkina Faso (2) 6
Tunisia (2) 3
Burundi (2) 3
Seychelles (2) 0

GROUP 10
Mali (2) 6
Congo (2) 3
Chad (1) 0
Sudan (1) 0

GROUP 11
Swaziland (1) 3
Togo (2) 3
Zambia (1) 0

GROUP 12
Egypt (2) 6
Malawi (2) 3
DR Congo (2) 3
Djibouti (2) 0

[Pharaoh]

Matchday 3 slate plus predictions

Friday, June 13
Djibouti 0:2 Congo DR
Mauritania 1:1 Ethiopia

Saturday, June 14
Malawi 1:2 Egypt
Namibia 0:1 Guinea
Botswana 1:1 Ivory Coast
Gabon 1:2 Ghana
Rwanda 2:2 Morocco
Tanzania 0:1 Cameroon
Kenya 2:1 Zimbabwe
Uganda 0:1 Angola
Niger 2:1 Benin
Chad 2:0 Congo
Sierra Leone 0:1 South Africa
Seychelles 0:2 Burkina Faso
Gambia 1:1 Algeria
Sudan 0:2 Mali

Sunday, June 15
Madagascar 1:1 Mozambique
Mauritius 1:1 Cape Verde
Lesotho 0:1 Libya
Burundi 0:1 Tunisia
Swaziland 0:0 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 1:2 Nigeria
Liberia 1:2 Senegal

[Pharaoh]

It must have been the weekend of Friday the 13th. Saturday's matches were full of shock results in Africa, putting some of the bigger names in an early bind. If you played on a Sunday you were lucky, as the previous day's results were a serious wakeup call. Africa proves once again to have the wildest away matches for the "powerhouses", from strange officiating, to cut broadcasts, to weird stoppages, to overcrowded stadiums, often all in the same match (R.I.P. to the fans that died in Liberia in their qualifier a few weeks ago).

Results:

Friday, June 13
Djibouti 0:6 Congo DR
Mauritania 0:1 Ethiopia

Saturday, June 14
Malawi 1:0 Egypt (as I began to upsettingly digest a draw after dominating, Malawi throws everyone forward during a setpiece. The keeper boots it into the box from his own half. A couple of bounces later it's in the back of the net (WTF?). Literally the last touch of the game, 4 minutes into injury time) .
Namibia 1:2 Guinea (much needed win for my darkhorse favorites)
Botswana 1:1 Ivory Coast (yup, Ivory Coast drops more points)
Gabon 2:0 Ghana (not a typo...)
Rwanda 3:1 Morocco (you read that right...)
Tanzania 0:0 Cameroon (Addessor will be very happy )
Kenya 2:0 Zimbabwe
Uganda 3:1 Angola (yet another shocker)
Niger 0:2 Benin
Chad 2:1 Congo
Sierra Leone 1:0 South Africa (and another one)
Seychelles 2:3 Burkina Faso
Gambia 1:0 Algeria (and another)
Sudan 3:2 Mali (WTF is going on?)

Sunday, June 15
Madagascar 1:1 Mozambique
Mauritius 0:1 Cape Verde
Lesotho 0:1 Libya
Burundi 0:1 Tunisia
Swaziland 0:0 Zambia
Equatorial Guinea 0:1 Nigeria
Liberia 2:2 Senegal (only surprise from Sunday)

[IranSoccer#8]

go egypt!! thanks pharoh keeping us updated on the results!

[Pharaoh]

Egypt was able to pull off the improbable road win in Kinshasa, in the process leap-frogging the Zairians for 1st place and clinching a spot in the final round of qualifying:

The goal (Abo Treika, Zaky assist): http://www.wikiupload.com/download_page.php?id=57991

Amr Zaky blasts a volley off the woodwork: http://www.zamalekhome.com/media/Mul...rzaki3arda.wmv

Zaky almost makes it 2-0 near the end, but the keeper makes a great save: http://www.zamalekhome.com/media/Mul...rrealforsa.wmv
---------------------

Full results from Friday-Sunday:

Djibouti 0:3 Malawi - Malawi have set up a winner-take-all, titanic clash with Congo DR in Blantyre on the final match day for the right to advance to the next round.
Libya 1:0 Ghana - Big upset. Libya go top, Ghana falls to third, but both will probably advance given Ghana's last match vs. Lesotho.
Algeria 3:2 Senegal - Huge win for Algeria who go from 3rd to 1st in a tight group.
Mauritius 1:4 Tanzania - Adesor's boys are out despite the win
Seychelles 1:2 Burundi - irrelevant match
South Africa 0:1 Nigeria - South Africa sucks, Nigeria keeps its 100% record.
Kenya 1:0 Namibia - Kenya leads their group and continue their march to the final round.
Sierra Leone 2:1 Equatorial Guinea
Cape Verde 1:2 Cameroon - The Indomitable Lions were down 0-1. The win sends them to the final round.
Mauritania 0:1 Rwanda - Rwanda leads the group, 3 points clear of Morocco! But Morocco have a match in hand. Both teams are likely to advance.
Gambia 3:0 Liberia - Gambia (8 points) are battling with Senegal (8 points) and Algeria (9 points) to advance to the next stage. Only one of the three is guaranteed to advance, but it could be two.
Burkina Faso 0:0 Tunisia - Burkina Faso preserves its 3-point lead at the top, but both teams will likely advance.
Sudan 1:2 Chad - upset; Chad can still qualify to the next round. They'd have to beat Sudan again on Wednesday then win their final match in Mali
Ethiopia vs. Morocco (postponed)
Madagascar 1:0 Botswana - The Disney movie is still mathematically alive for a place in the next round, but more than likely won't make it.
Mozambique 1:1 Ivory Coast - Ivory Coast still 3 points clear and should advance, but whoever finishes second probably won't make it to the next round as one of the 8 best second placed teams.
Lesotho 0:3 Gabon - Libya in first in this group, Gabon second, Ghana third! Ghana can advance if they win their final match at home with Lesotho and will probably be joined by Libya
Zimbabwe 0:0 Guinea - Guinea vs. Kenya in the final match will determine who advances, Guinea needs a win.
Congo DR 0:1 Egypt - Egypt clinches a final round berth and will likely win the group as its remaining game is against Djibouti. Malawi vs. Congo DR (both on 13 points) will be do-or-die for who advances with Egypt from this group.
Congo 1:0 Mali - wide open group; either 1 or 2 will advance from Congo, Mali, and Chad
Benin 3:2 Angola - Angola is virtually eliminated; Benin through to the final round of qualifying
Niger 3:1 Uganda - big upset
Zambia vs. Togo - on Wednesday
Chad vs. Sudan - on Wednesday