By noon today, the final hurdle the Super Eagles will have to scale to pick their fifth World Cup ticket will be unveiled in Egypt at the drawing of lots for the final qualifying stage for the Brazil 2014 World Cup. The Nigerian side will square up with any of the quintet of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia and Senegal.
None of the five teams is strange to the Super Eagles as they have been rivals of some sort. The draws ceremony will kick off with Nigeria along with Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria and Tunisia – all seeded teams – being put in Pot 1.
In essence, these teams will not clash. The other five consisting of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia and Senegal will be put in Pot 2 and each will be drawn to face a team in Pot 1 on a straight home and away knock out series.
Another draw will be made to determine which team plays host first. The first leg matches are scheduled to hold on any day from October 11 to 15. The final leg will hold from November 15 to 19.
Of the 10 teams jostling for a place in the final tournament, all but Burkina Faso and Ethiopia had featured in the past.
But Cameroon had featured most, having participated in six editions of 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010. The Indomitable Lions were also the first African side to get to the quarterfinals and were within minutes of getting to the semifinals before they got eliminated by England at the Italian ‘90 edition.
The Egyptians were the first African finalists at the World Cup, having featured in the 1934 edition in Italy. Incidentally, their only other participation was also in Italy 23 years ago.
Egypt has a perfect record so far in the qualifying series, winning all matches.
A possible fixture with Algeria will make the clash ‘a high risk’ encounter. The two met in blood-chilling World Cup 2010 qualification ties that dragged into another tie-braking duel on a neutral ground.
Their infamous rivalry dates back to the 1978 All Africa Games in Algiers and a similar World Cup fixtures for the 1990 Tournament. A little manipulation may be applied to avoid a clash of Algeria and Egypt. Algeria will be aiming a fourth appearance at the World Cup, having ridden on the back of Nigeria to the 1982 edition featuring at the 1986 as well as 2010 World Cup finals.
Senegal, who will still play its home match in the last lap in a neutral country, has featured only once in the World Cup. But it was a momentous tournament for the Teranga Lions who not only caused upset in the opening match by beating champions France 1-0 as did Cameroun who also beat a Diego Maradona-inspired Argentina at Italia ‘90, Senegal became the first African debutant to get to the quarterfinals.
Should the Senegalese draw Cote d’Ivoire, another potentially dangerous match-up will be in the offing. Last October, ether African Nations Cup final qualifying tie ended in riots that had seen a black out of Senegalese stadiums holding international matches for one year. The ban will end in November.
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| Yobo and Moses |
The Black Stars were within seconds of qualifying for the semifinals before they bungled the dramatic encounter that stretched into extra time and penalty shoot out.
Like Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire will be aiming for a third consecutive World Cup outing. Tunisia, a late entry into the final 10, will hope to make up for the missing of the last edition when they were edged out by Nigeria.
Tunisia who holds the record of being the first African team to win a World Cup match when it came back from a goal down to beat Mexico 3-1 at Argentina ‘78, incidentally, has the unenviable record of having the longest no win streak in the World Cup.
Since their historic win on June 2, 1978, Tunisia have gone 35 years involving 11 matches without a win. Perhaps they may be rivalled in that regard by the Super Eagles who have not won a World Cup match in 15 years.
The last time Nigeria won a match in the World Cup was on June 19, 1998, when the Super Eagles beat Bulgaria 1-0 at the Pac des Princes in Paris.
Through the seeding process, Nigeria has avoided all but one of the teams that stopped the Super Eagles from the World Cup in the past. Ghana eliminated Nigeria in the debut entry of Chile 1962 and West Germany 1974.
Tunisia stopped Nigeria in the march to Argentina ‘78 and Mexico ‘86. Algeria eliminated Nigeria in the last duel for Spain ‘82. The only past eliminator of Nigeria from the World Cup that the Super Eagles may have to encounter is Cameroon who eliminated Nigeria in the penultimate duel for Italia ‘90.
Possible pairings for Nigeria
Nigeria vs Burkina Faso/ Burkina Faso vs Nigeria
Nigeria vs Egypt/Egypt vs Nigeria
Nigeria vs Senegal/Senegal vs Nigeria
Nigeria vs Ethiopia / Ethiopia vs Nigeria
Nigeria vs Cameroon/ Cameroon vs Nigeria Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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