Each of Africa’s five teams have had a turn at the 2022 Fifa World Cup, with nine being able to win a game.
Ink & Kicks reviews the opening performances, along with a preview of what is to come in the next round of games.
SENEGAL
Without Sadio Mane, it was perhaps not so surprising that Senegal offered very little going forward against the Netherlands last Monday.
Instead, they appeared to focus on being resolute defensively, having to deal with the Dutch’s own attacking threat. And for 84 minutes, Senegal held firm, before Cody Gakpo and Davy Klaassen – helped, in no small part, by Edouard Mendy’s flawed goalkeeping – struck to hand Louis van Gaal’s men a victory that was hard-fought yet not undeserved.
It wasn’t just Senegal’s pride that got wounded in that lost duel; also injured were defensive stalwarts Abdou Diallo (muscle trouble) and Cheikhou Kouyate (twisted ankle); head coach Aliou Cisse would be sweating over the fitness of both, ahead of Friday’s meeting with hosts Qatar.
If there is a group game that Senegal look surest to win, though, it’s just this one, against a team blinded by the bright lights and intensity of the tournament’s opening-day action. Qatar, current kings of Asia, would be hoping to give a better account of themselves than they did in that first game against Ecuador, throwing up a potential banana peel.
Still, for Senegal – even a Mane-less version of the Lions of Teranga – it couldn’t possibly get easier.
TUNISIA
Denmark aren’t among the favourites to win this World Cup, but their place among the “dark horses” is undisputed.
That’s a reputation earned by their spectacular qualification to the tournament (across Europe, only Germany matched the Danes’ tally of 27 points from 30), the remarkable run to the final of the Euros last year, and the more-than-decent performance during the latest Uefa Nations League campaign.
And so Tunisia deserved lots of credit for holding their own against Denmark at the Education City Stadium on Tuesday, playing out the tournament’s first 0-0 result. The Carthage Eagles’ next outing would, by any metric, be the easiest they could reasonably expect to play in Group D.
Australia, thrashed by France in their own opener, boasts roughly the same record at the World Cup as Tunisia, so the teams are rather evenly matched. A win for either would blow the group wide open – especially if Denmark are able to pick maximum points off France, as they’ve done twice in the last five months.
Should Tunisia emerge triumphant, it might not matter how badly they fare against the mighty French on Matchday 3; they’d have every cause to feel very optimistic about maiden passage into the World Cup’s knockout rounds.
MOROCCO
Like their North African neighbours, Morocco also acquitted themselves well against an European side tipped to make good progress in Qatar – one that, during the last tournament, actually went all the way to the final.
The Croats are back, at an edition that would be star man and skipper Luka Modric’s swansong, and dominated a scoreless game. Morocco were resilient, but they’d have to be even tougher in order to withstand their fiery next opponents: Belgium.
The Red Devils, No.2 in the world, were a tad fortunate to scrape a win from their opening game with Canada, the World Cup returnees who showed just how vulnerable the Belgian backline could be – if a certain Thibaut Courtois didn’t exist, that is.
The Real Madrid goalkeeper – best in the world, right now – saved a penalty that would otherwise have made Alphonso Davies Canada’s first-ever World Cup goalscorer, and there is little reason to believe he wouldn’t be in similarly inspired form against the Moroccans.
But the Atlas Lions could try. Or dream – at the very least.
CAMEROON
Africa hoped that, on the fourth attempt, the continent would win a first game, when Cameroon took on Switzerland earlier on Thursday.
But the Indomitable Lions, despite putting in a real effort – eight shots in all, five of which drew saves from goalkeeper Yann Sommer – also turned up empty-handed, losing 1-0 to the Swiss, a people ordinarily harmless until they take to the field in some sport.
Only that the player whose goal left Cameroon broken is – or was – one of their own: Switzerland forward Breel Embolo, born in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, five years before he left the country with his mother for France and eventually ended up with Swiss citizenship in 2014.
Embolo not celebrating that decisive strike would do less to soothe hurt Cameroonian feelings than a first win at the World Cup in two decades. The next – and best, given they round out their group-stage activity against sparkling Brazil – chance to break that duck would come against Serbia on Monday.
Failure to take that chance could, realistically, have them packing even before facing the Selecao in a week’s time.
GHANA
And so it took Ghana, later that evening, to register Africa’s first two goals – through veteran Andre Ayew and rookie Osman Bukari – at this World Cup. In the end, though, they were still two goals short of becoming the first African side to win a game at these finals.
The game burst into life, following an uneventful first half, when Cristiano Ronaldo gave Portugal the lead – and carved a small slice of World Cup history, the first man to score at five editions – with a penalty awarded for the slightest of fouls, after first having a goal chalked off for the slightest of fouls.
Ayew’s quickfire equaliser raised hopes of a potential comeback – the sort that saw Saudi Arabia and Japan upset Argentina and Germany, respectively, earlier in the tournament – but Portugal snuffed out those hopes with two more goals, through Joao Felix and Rafael Leao.
Bukari would set up a nervy finale with a header – and a celebration – worthy of Ronaldo, but Portugal held on to get their tournament off to a winning start, against the weakest of their three Group H opponents. For Ghana, the disappointment was palpable, as was the pride of proving themselves – yet again – as Africa’s great entertainers on this stage.
That refusal to back down against even superior opposition should serve them well come Monday, against South Korea, who could only grind out a draw with Uruguay. A less cautious start than the one head coach Otto Addo adopted versus the Portuguese should help Ghana seize the early initiative from Son Heung-min and Co., kicking on from there.
Enn Y. Frimpong – Ink & Kicks
