Johannesburg — And then there were two! Africa must feel hard-done that only two of their initial five representatives are still in the World Cup.
After African teams qualified for the knockout stage in the last 24 years only by being group runners-up, Morocco broke that streak out in Qatar.
The Atlas Lions beat the odds to top Group F after bagging seven points. That was the second time they topped a group after their 1986 effort.
In reaching the knockout stage they were joined by continental kings Senegal who’ll be proud of their efforts after missing star Sadio Mane.
Morocco and Senegal still have a lot of work to do as they’ll face Spain and England on Sunday and Tuesday respectively in the last 16.
But qualifying for the quarter-finals should be far from being an achievement for Africans, given how close Ghana came to the semis in 2010.
The Black Stars lost to Uruguay in the quarter-final on penalty shoot-outs thanks to Luis Suarez’s handball late in extra-time.
Ghana failed to avenge that defeat and reach the last 16 in the ongoing showpiece when they lost 2-0 to the Uruguayans on Friday night.
The Black Stars’ exit resulted in the resignation of coach Otto Addo who’ll focus on his duties as Borussia Dortmund’s assistant coach.
Despite the loss, Ghana unleashed a sensation in the 22-year-old Mohammed Kudus in Qatar.
After his exploits, the Ajax Amsterdam player is said to be on the radar of European clubs such as FC Barcelona.
After the Black Stars' exit, Africa’s next bet was on Cameroon. But they endured another ‘so close and yet so far’ moment after beating Brazil 1-0.
Rigobert Song's team became the first side to beat the record five-time world champions in the group stage.
Kudos should go to Vincent Aboubakar for that win. The Indomitable Lions skipper scored in stoppage time to earn his nation and Africa a famous win.
Aboubakar got a red card for taking off his shirt in celebration ‒ it was his second bookable offence. But who cared? He, Song and Africa didn’t.
And that's why after his goal, a lot of people were interested in why coach Song started Aboubakar from the bench in the first two group games.
Well, that remains a mystery. The World Cup was taxing for many nations and some called up players who were still injured from club duty.
If that was not the case, some nations just benched their best players. How do you explain why Tunisia’s Wahbi Khazri made cameos?
Khazri has been Tunisia’s best player for some time. And he duly proved his worth in Qatar, scoring the only goal in their win over champions France.
But that strike wasn’t enough to see them reach the last 16, leaving Africans relying only on Morocco and Senegal.
IOL Sport