Paris: Football greats Pele and Franz
Beckenbauer have both backed African sides to prosper at this
summer's World Cup in South Africa, when the tournament visits
the continent for the very first time.
Pele, a World Cup winner with Brazil in 1958, 1962 and
1970, famously predicted that an African team would win the
tournament before the year 2000.
His prediction proved wide of the mark but he expects the
continent's leading lights to fare well on home soil.
"It's difficult to say what will happen this year, but
maybe we will see a surprise," he told the FIFA website.
"The African teams have tough groups but if they qualify
for the knockout stage, there'll certainly be a surprise."
Beckenbauer captained hosts West Germany to the trophy in
1974 and he echoed Pele's optimistic assessment of the African
sides' chances.
"I'm confident that an African team can reach the
semi-finals," Beckenbauer said. "Ghana are strong, Ivory Coast
are strong and the South Africans have home advantage."
Ivory Coast landed themselves in arguably the toughest
group of all the African teams and must compete with
pre-tournament favourites Brazil, Portugal and North Korea for
a place in the knockout phase.
Ghana were drawn alongside Germany, Serbia and Australia
in a tight Group D, while Cameroon will face the Netherlands,
Denmark and Japan in Group E. Roger Milla captured the hearts of football fans
worldwide with his exploits for Cameroon at the 1990 World Cup
in Italy and he views the decision to award this summer's
tournament to South Africa as a victory in itself.
"In Africa, we are so happy to have received this World
Cup -- we could not believe we would get it," he said.
"Every time I come to Zurich, I thank (FIFA) president
(Sepp) Blatter for that."
Hosts South Africa meet Mexico in the tournament's
opening game in Johannesburg on June 11 and Mexican great Hugo
Sanchez anticipates a memorable occasion.
"I'm very happy for Africa," said the former Real Madrid
star.
"To have South Africa hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup is
not only very good for football, but also for the whole
African continent."
Nigeria and Algeria are the other African sides to have
qualified for the quadrennial showpiece.
Algeria face England, USA and Slovenia in Group C, while
Nigeria will meet Greece, South Korea and Diego Maradona's
Argentina in Group B.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, February 09, 2010, 21:11