I am hoping this time around that IC, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Egypt will all be there with South Africa of course. IMO we will be given an extra spot because it is in Africa.

For once I can honestly believe that we will win the world cup in 2010 and the ivory coast will be the team that wins it. They have such a young team and their players are being sought after by the big european clubs, so I think they will gain the necessary experience needed to actually do something at the WC. They will have a solid defence, a very strong midfield that can defend and also attack, and they will have nice group of strikers(hopefully S.Kalou will be able to replace Drogba). This team along with the support they will have in South Africa will definitely be a team that can dominate the Europeans and South Americans as seen in this World Cup. The only thing though is the need to vastly improve thier finishing and I have seen clips of Kalou and he looks to be very good at putting away his chances and also making chances for himself (as seen in this clip http://youtube.com/watch?v=SIa3l1-QZsw&search=kalou). I believe that Ghana and Ivory COasst will cause havoc in 2010. What do you guys think?

its most certianly africa's best chance to win it.

Nigeria have a young team too thats coming through and they'll go far with the right manager.

I hope cameroon can bring in some fresh talent and I hope eto'o will be playing at his peak and it'll be great for us to see eto'o at the world cup playing his best.

Ivory Coast should do well they now have world cup experience, granted only in the group stage but the young team will have matured and hopefully have strikers who can finish.

Ghana have a young team to, hopefully they have some strikers coming who are coming up who can actually score and they'll be a force.

Hoepfully we'll at least see a afican finalist at the world cup and not just one african team quailifying into the group stage.

i think every single one of those countries you guys have said have a great chance. Nigeria have some very young players who are really skilled and also have experience on the international stage. John Obi Mikel is probably the brightest in that group. Ivory coast i believe are a very strong team. Its just that they were put in a difficult group and they still gave argentina and the netherlands a run for their money. Cameroon have some good players but they are all old except for eto'o. hopefully they will soon have some young talent coming up. 2010 could finally be the year africa wins the cup.

I hope Sotuh Africa goes far they have my boy steven pienaar and delron buckley who both play for dortmind in germany

i agree and its always important for the host to do well. They have to get their in house problems sorted first though

Also history shows that the Host country have never failed to get out of their group.

not to be mean....but I think South Africa will struggle to continue that tradition without a good crop of young players.....frankly....I don't think the current crop.....will be able to.....maybe they will match the home form........of 1996.......if not...lets at least hope they are better than the team that was embarrased at the ACN and lost to Botswana...........................oh...and Ill concur.....that Nigeria and Ivory Coast have the best chance.......Cameroon....will be very old come 2010...and I can count their impressive youth players on my left hand.....then again....what will Eto'o be by then??.....Ghana intrigue me.....but they could certainly use about five more forwards (at the moment all of them are wastepipes)......and a permanent replacement for Kuffour. watch out for Senegal as well......World Cup 2002 quarterfinalists and ACN 2006 semi finalists....like many....I dont rate them highly...and Ill admit luck served them very well at the African Cup of Nations (Only Zimbabwe saved them from first round exit)...but they are talented.

dont forget morocco
a lot of youngs and the best yougers who plays in europe they are in majority oin big clubs , and they have a talent

and last year half finalist in youngest world cup

I can see Nigeria or Ivory Coast lifting the cup in 2010. I heard it is between 32 and 40+ degrees around June-July in South Africa, so that rules out any european side plus argentina, so tleaves brazil or an African side that can cope, hence my reason for saying Nigeria or Ivory Coast can win it.

So the up and coming young players from Cameroon arent that good? there arent any stud prospects?

I think Ghana will do the best out of the African sides, they showed in Germany they were not there just to make up numbers, they have a really young squad with talent in every position so I could see them going very far in 4 yrs time.

talent in every postion....for God's sake man they start Pimpong in one match...and their defence is suspect....but dont sleep on them...they ARE here to stay

Guinea will be in top form for 2010!

I hope to see Ivory Coast go all the way. I rated them so highly at the World Cup, loved watching them. Their style of play and the technical quality of players was fantastic to see.

I hope the experiences from playing at the top club level now after a few of them getting snapped up will help come 2010. I am still waiting on Boka to get snapped up by someone, I thought he was a good player.

I also want to see Egypt do well since I have a mate who is egyption and they won ACN. Not sure if they have any good younger players though.

But yeah go Ivory Coast!

so does anyone know of the state of cameroon team, i mean any promising new talent? i want them to do well, i want to see eto'o in 2010!

ghana do need quaility strikers for sure to have any chance.
Maybe Kalou if he plays for Ivory Coast will be the sriker they've been looking for.

I tip egypt to make an impact at the next WC. They've got the young players to do it (zidan, mido, said). But honestly, CIV to be the next WC champions. i see kalou and drogba (if he's still around) to drive the oppositions crazy. yaya toure will be more mature and eboue will also be a fantastic defender. didier zakora will be the maestro in the midfield.

It'll be played in South Africa's winter since their a southern hemis-sphere country. I also read that the South Americans cold find the going tough since it'll be colder than the averge World Cup.

yeah...but cold weather....shouldn't affect the African players too much....as nearly all of them play in Europe.....most of which in dreary cold winters...so....yes....maybe those South Americans...who mostly ply their trade....on beautiful pitches in Spain....will be affected.

2010 should finally be our moment and like most of you, I tip the West Africans to do it for us, probably along with teams like Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. Don't discount the home side just yet btw. Granted they look out of sorts atm but 2010 is still some way out and with Parieirra taking the reigns, I reckon they'll be ready...

The way I see things Tunisia and South Africa will not be doing too much at that tournament....Egypt and Morroco are interesting prospects though.....especially the African Champions....if they can get the Ahly players to have some sort of cohesion the Europe based ones....they would be dangerous...I don't see South Africa qualifying for the next Nations Cup....I believe at this point they live on name only....if the same group of players were representing Cape Verde Islands.....no one would even give them notice....Is it harsh?...yes.....but even with their great organization....Brazilian coaches....and FIFA money...they need to find good young talent...and they must do it now....the current crop is not taking them anywhere.....and that is just my opinion.

i expect CAMEROON to come out on top...not necessarily win it but make a run to the quarters or maybe the semis...

I expect South Africa as well be hosting the world cup the country will be behind uthe players and the young talent looks promising

Which Said do you mean?
Ibrahim Said?

I want South Africa to win it and I think they will go quite far. Don't take it all on names; Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Ghana all had good names pre-WC and 2 of them didn't make it to Germany, while Ivory Coast went home in the group stages. Ghana were the only decent African team. Parreira is at the helm and it looks like SAFA have their head screwed on right. Don't forget, Senegal was largely unknown prior to their run and look how far they went. We're in transition and still have time to get our shit together.

african football is really going somewhere...we have most of the quality strikers in europe right now eg drogba, adebayor, kalou, zidan. i think that it is a definite possibility that an african country can win the world cup very soon...africa has many quality teams such as egypt, ivory coast, cameroon, nigeria, ghana, senegal and morocco... GO AFRICA

IMO, please let Nigeria/Cameroon/South Africa reach the quarterfinals at least. These are my favourite African teams. (I've had a special feel for South Africa for a long time).

Meanwhile, I don't like these 3 narrow Central African countries to like their NTs: Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Togo.

I think you're making a big mistake about this.

Football is a team-work game.

Drogba, Adebayor and Eto'o are world-class players, but in a team.

Last WC Ivory Coast many GREAT players, and they could not get to the best 16. Also the rest african teams, they have fast and strong players.... but they don't have strategies yet.

I know someone will yell at me, but african teams are very inocent, they have much things to learn.

For example when we played against Egypt (last African Champion) in El Cairo! without our best team and also Egypt had the advantage they were playing together some matches and also were happy of winning the Cup.

Argentina did not play well, but just with our 'albiceleste' t-shirt won the match... I don't know, it's my opinion.

Had Argentina played against Egypt in the last African Cup of Nations you would've seen a different game. And by the way, Argentina were only missing Messi, Riquelme and Tevez. Messi due to injury, Riquelme because he wasn't gonna play the next game in the qualifications and you can go ask the coach about Tevez. And about Cote d'Ivoire, it is true that they didn't go through, but have you seen their games against Argentina and Holland? And what do you mean about the strategies part? Egypt won the last two Nations Cup, but they didn;t have Africa's top stars did they? It think there might have been some strategies going on there...

well i think that Africa is still far from making a WC win but hopefully they can make a semi-final(like S.Korea in 2002)

Ivory cost has very good team as individuals but i've to agree Riquelme +10) that they are very inocent
Egypt has beter mentality and better tactics with good preparation and some games against big teams they can make something big
still our ability to qualify is in question
simply we have always great team and still dont qualify but i hope we will have some luck

Ghana and Nigeria are not leaving their nbest days
Ghana is good team also Morroco has good squad
but there is 2 years away from the comptetion and alot of things can change

Yeah, sure, but when they played against us what happened?

Riquelme wans't gonna play the next game in the qualifications? WTFF?? Argentina didn't play in the qualifications yet in 2008. I think we'll play in 15 days or so.

And ONLY Messi, Riquelme and Tévez seems just funny!!!
Ok, we could play against Ivory Coast next week, and let's see if they ONLY miss Drogba and the Toure brothers. What would happened? Pfff.

Riquelme had to play in Copa Libertadores, that's the reason he didn't go. And just for you to know: Riquelme is THE ONLY "VERY IMPORTANT PLAYER" of Argentina. If he doen't play, then the whole team changes.

BTW Messi, Riquelme, Tévez plus CAMBIASSO AND GABRIEL MILITO.
Yes, i've seen them against us, of course. They did play great (btw we scored a legit goal when the score was 0-0).

Maybe...

but it's obvious that if the rest of the African NT don't know shit about strategies, obviously a bit of tactics and strategy from Egypt will do great.

As i said, African players are really above the average. Very fast and fit. But still inocent.

Hope you'll do better in SA.

Nothing special, Argentina won 2-0.


Well Argentina is ranked first in the world, I still don't understand how can they depend that heavily on those three. And in case you forgot, Messi and Tevez weren't even regular starters in the last World Cup.

Maybe, but to be honest VIP is a new phrase for me in football. Same point as above.


Hmmm, I thought Cambiasso and Milito were in the squad???????


I still don't get your point about tactics and strategies. Most of the players play in European clubs anyway, who in your opinion are the kings of tactics. Link?

How would the weather affect SA teams like Arg and Bra? It's almost the same climate for southern Brazil and Argentina...Imo it will be these 2 nations that will lift the cup. AN african nation to hold up the cup...I doubt it..No african teams look to be threatening atm ....

I second that, Africa's got talents but the gap is too vast to be filled at the moment and the financial problems, unprofessional mentality and lack of experience will always stand in the way.

Another thing that kills african teams is they fall as fast as they rise and media plays a big part of it. South Africa is in shambles as a team...Nigeria I thought they would of been a force of nature by now. Same with Ghana..Look at Senegal they ust disappeared. The admins needs reform and foriegn investors to make an attractive league. No doubt in my mind africa has talent..

As an African its dissapointing for me to say, I can't see an African Team lifting the world cup soon.

A team like Ivory Coast has the players, but they don't have the strong mentailty of the Egyptian team or Germans or Italians to do it. Of course The Germans and Italians strong mentaility has come from winning trophies, and IC aren't alone in having a weak mentaility, England cough cough, Spain.

I think to win the World Cup the African FA's need to have the level of organisation of European F.A. its very hard for a 3rd world country to do that, where football is not a priority.
You only have to look the Nigerian F.A(Worst Example). Even if they don't have the best players in Africa right now, globally they should be doing a lot better.

African Countries cannot afford a very experienced tactically astute coach like Hiddink they can guide them past tricky European Countries. SA had Parriera who is a great coach but they never had the players of the West African Countries. Another Disadvantage.

Egypt play like such a well oiled unit, that Ivory Coast and Cameroon need to take a look at, they play as a complete team.

I can see Egypt doing well in 2010 i think they are taking it seriosuly to qualify and do well, I do Believe Cameroon too will not want to miss another WC.

Even so to win the World Cup you need a lot of luck, but in terms of African Teams being very consistent as in staying in the top 15 teams in the world is very tough, thats down to good administration and Money.

I'm not going to cut short the african nations..I mean they have olympic gold and a couple of youth WC's but the fame and fortune took that fire away from them and it has created a gap.

I would love to see an African nation win it. I'm getting tired of seeing the same teams everytime competing for the title and nobody else stepping up.

I think Egypt, Ivory Coast, or Cameroon have the talent to do it. I think defense is what the problems are with these African teams. They just don't have any. Too wide open and disorganized int he back. No structure whatsoever.

The problem is that African teams are not tactuically disciplined enough. I remember Argentina vs Ivory Coast at the WC, Argentina started off the game at a modest tempo and was being very cautious rather than simply attacking attacking and attacking. Ivory Coast on the other hand was like a pitbull off its leash as soon as the whistle went. Non stop attacks , from the full backs all the way up to Drogba were trying to break Argentina and they nearly did but some bad finishing prevented them from going a few goals up. Then they get caught napping on corner kick and Crespo scores, then again they get caught napping defensively and Riquelme was left all alone and you know what happens next, a perfect through ball is played to the Rabbit Saviola and he puts it away. After that the Ivorians stepped up their attack to the next degree and could have been caught out even more but were relentless in their attack.

They managed to get one back and were a bit unlucky to not get another but it was the mental discipline of the argentinians that kept them in it. They knew that the Ivorians were gonna be exposed in defence and just simply waited for their moment and delivered their killer blows with it. It is the exact same story in when the Ivorians play Holland and Serbia, only with Serbia they were able to finish off their chances after going down two goals to finish off 3-2.

I have never seen an African team have nations like Holland and Argentina on their back heels when attacking, so many chances they got but they couldnt take them and they were a bit lucky with a few off the line clearances. Those games showed me what class the Ivory Coast team is in, they just need a manager who needs to make them like a Wolf, one that takes its time, waits for the right moment and then strikes in deadly fashion, and not a wild pitbull who just wants to tear the head off its opponent.

^^ it think youre right there.

If you look at the IC squad is very comparable to Hollands. But I think IC especailly need a coach who can curb they're attacking enthusiasm and get them to be more balanced.

But I tell you this that IC did change in this ACN 2008, they weren't gone ho any more and played more patiently. They were doing very well until they capitulated against Egypt when they were finally tested.

Its very much a mirror image of Holland in the Euro 2008, that when they came under pressure they could not react properly after being on such a winning run.

We shall see, but the African FAs still need the organisation in place for tournaments and freindlies.