Africa falls as Europe battles South America

With the chips down, the World Cup enters the quarters in Brazil this weekend with no African side in sight, thanks largely to player indiscipline and lack of mental toughness which saw them packing home early.

Nigeria and Algeria, the only two from Africa's five to have made it into the last 16, fell out last Monday, but not without a fight, especially by Algeria who took their game against the fancied Germany into extra time before bowing bravely on a 2-1 deficit.

Exactly not the same could be said of the Nigeria’s Super Eagles whose wings were clipped by France (beaten 2-0) at the same arena in Brasilia where their West African neighbours, Ghana’s Black Stars, were earlier eclipsed by Portugal in the group match.

It was a tale of two teams with what appeared an identical fate, each arriving in Brasilia with money problems and ending up scoring own goals.

Ghana defender, John Boye, scored an own goal in the 2-1 loss to Portugal, with goalkeeper Fatau Dauda completing the  mess by gifting the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo to fire home, after skipper Asamoah Gyan had levelled to scores.

In similar fashion, Nigeria's goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama, punched out a ball during a French attack only for it to find the head of Paul Pogba, and the coup de grace came when skipper Joseph Yobo deflected a ground shot past goalie Enyeama.

What must also be intriguing was the fact that both teams also boycotted a training session to back their respective demands for cash payments to be made to them and, in each case, it took the intervention of their political leaders, Ghana's President John Mahama and President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria, for restraint to be exercised.

However, while the Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi, and the team captain, Yobo have called time on their international duties for their country following their disappointment in Brazil, their Ghanaian counterparts, Coach Kwasi Appiah and skipper Gyan have not made any such move. 

ln the case of the Indomitable Lions, they appeared to have lost their focus long before they entered Brazil for the World Cup as they started their money problems way back in Cameroun, leading to their delayed arrival at the tournament as planned.

But none of the early African departures has been surprising more than the first round elimination of Cote d'Ivoire’s Elephants. Doubtless, the Elephants were a team of talent with the Didier Drogbas, Yaya Toures, Wilfried Bonys, Salomon Kalous, Gervinhos, Ismael Tiotes and Didier Zokoras populating their ranks, and in a group of Colombia, Greece and Japan, they must have been everybody's bet to cross over the group stage this time around.

But once again, for the third consecutive time, they were cocooned after losing two matches, 2-1 respectively to Colombia and Greece, and winning one by the same margin against Japan. 

Brazil may as well be the end of Cote d'Ivoire's talent of under-achievers, with the likes of Drogba, Kolo Toure, Kalou, Zokora and Gervinho almost certain to miss out on the next World Cup. 

Meanwhile, their coach, Sabri Lamouchi, like Keshi, has already thrown in the towel, and may be looking elsewhere for a new challenge. 

Indeed, many would have thought before kick-off to Brazil on June 12 that this should be a year for African teams at the World Cup, having presented the continent's best with teams such as Ghana beating their chest to surpass their quarter-finals epoch at the last tournament four years ago. 

But the roll call for the last eight in the quarter-finals has South American and European teams dominating with hosts, Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Argentina and Belgium in the pack. 

And it will be France versus Germany in the first match in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil against Colombia in the second in Fortaleza, both today, while tomorrow Argentina come up against Belgium in the first match in Brasilia and Netherlands clash with Costa Rica in the second in Salvador.