Four years ago Luis Suarez was the World Cup villain for a different reason, as his goal-line save winded up putting Uruguay through to a semi-final clash with the Netherlands, and more significantly, he prevented an exuberant Ghana side from making history. Unbearably close to being the first African side to ever reach a World Cup semi final, Ghana had four years to wallow in what could have been and return with what should have been a better squad.
With key players such as Kwadwo Asamoah, Asamoah Gyan and Kevin Prince Boateng all in their prime combining with new attacking talents like brothers Andre and Jordan Ayew, Ghana appeared to have a huge chance of getting out of the group they were handed, especially after Portugal’s opening 4-0 defeat to Germany.
A lot can be said for the hard work and spirit of the USA side that defeated Ghana’s Black Stars in what would be the game that decided who would advance with Germany, but there is no question that the experience and ability of Jurgen Klinnsman’s squad could not even compare to that of the disappointing Ghanaians. Just by reading through the current clubs of some of these players you can tell a certain level of underperformance on the field: Milan, Porto, Chelsea, Udinese, Schalke, Marseille and Juventus all immediately jump out.
And after all that, words cannot really describe the disaster that followed that USA game: planes full of money landing in Brazil to pay unhappy players, key players being sent home for abusing GFA members, John Boye pictured kissing a wad of cash before scoring an own goal in a crucial group game. It looks bad for African football as a whole when you see this was not even the only nation that imploded at this World Cup.
With stories of possible match fixing hissing around over the last few days, Cameroon have given Ghana a run for their money in terms of having the most embarrassing attempt at competing at the World Cup. The fact that it was at least entertaining from a neutral standpoint is the only positive you could take from The Indomitable Lions’ three games, which hit its nadir as Benoit Assou Ekotto picked a fight with a team mate while Alex Song picked one with Mario Mandzukic’s back for seemingly no reason. Cameroon’s World Cup fell apart before it had even began with the squad refusing to travel as they also got involved in a pay dispute.
Even then, the low points for African football continued, as what probably should have been the best African team ever, the Ivory Coast ‘golden generation’, once again found a way to fail on the big stage, this time managing to lose a game they just needed a point from, as Georgios Samaras’ thoroughly average Greek side crashed Yaya Toure and co. out of the competition at the first hurdle. After almost a decade now of consistently having the best eleven in Africa, they are now on the verge of somehow leaving no mention of themselves in African football history, twice losing the final of the Cup of Nations on penalties, proving that there truly is some psychological barrier remaining for this group.
And yet, still, there are cries to be heard of this being a successful tournament for African football. After all, this is the first time two African sides have reached the knockout stages, and Algeria especially must be commended for their efforts. But it seems that every World Cup we have some kind of sign that African football is on the rise, this time round it’s been Algeria, last time it was Ghana, in 2002 it was Senegal and even back in 1990 it was Cameroon, but somehow it was always ends up being a blip in football history, as African nations return to the peripheries after their moment in the spotlight.
It is even more perplexing looking through the last decade of the African Cup of Nations, a biennial tournament with a format that is even been changed to better suit African teams heading into the World Cup. 2013 saw Burkina Faso reach a final, 2012 saw Zambia win the whole thing and 2006, 2008, 2010 saw Egypt, a nation that has not been to a World Cup since 1990, win three in a row. In many ways, African football does not seem to make sense, and with the continent’s teams again in-between disastrous and competitive, it is going to need to start to.
