The African Nations

How exactly the African teams will fair this year is - as always - a little uncertain. We all remember 38-year-old Roger Milla's introduction into World Cup folklore back in 1990, his great finishing and funky little dance at the corner flags to celebrate his goals will live with many of us for ever. But since then, apart from a little Senegalese cameo in 2002, the African nations have unfortunately failed to deliver on the big stage. There's a plethora of talent mind you. From Milla to George Weah, Abdi Pele to Madjer, we've seen some real beauties along the way. But unfortunately, non has really had the team to take them all the way. This year, however, things may very well be a little different. The first point to make is that all 6 teams in years competition will be feeling a little more at home than usual. This is the first time every other country is having to ship off to their back yard for a change and I think that'll make a big difference. And even though I personally think the Fifa's world ranking system to be a bit of farce, it's curious to notice that there are no fewer than 8 African teams in the top 50 this year. Mind you, South Africa are only in 83rd so I think that says something about that. Still, there'll be some top, top African players involved this year with the only real notable absentees being Adebayor, maybe Freddi Kanute and most recently, the injury to Michael Essien which is a huge blow for Ghana's World Cup hopes.

Firstly, we gotta look at South Africa. It was unfortunate to see Andile Jali ruled out this year. The Orland Pirates midfielder has shown real promise but was not selected due to a possible heart problem. It's a sad start to his career but there's still plenty of hope for the 20-year-old's future and I wish him all the best. The big man though for Bafana Bafana this year has to be Everton's Steven Pienaar. I've loved watching him this season and he's hit some important and cracking goals in for david moyes' Toffees. If he's on song, then South Africa have a good chance of at least making it to the Quater-finals this year. I'm sure Carlos Alberto Parreira is very happy to have him there. There's no shortage of flair through this team but they'll also have the metal of Benni McCarthy up front to count on. I've always rated the ex Ajax, Porto and Blackburn star and although this season he's been plagued by a few injuries, he's confirmed fully fit now and that'll be a big, big boost for South Africa. At the back, captain Aaron Mokoena should provide some solid cover and keep your eye out for Katlego Mphela. If he can produce anything like his incredible free kick against Spain last year, we should be in for a treat there :) (check out the goal here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia06mLaUBlk)

The five other African teams in this year's competition are Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria. All teams have some strong points but the weakest has to be Algeria. With the exception of their veteran captain Yazid Mansouri and fellow midfielder Karim Ziani, Algeria will be seriously lacking in fire power at this world cup. My tip for the team with the best chance of progressing is Cameroon (I'd say Ivory Coast too but if I said that, it'd have to be at the expense of Portugal in the group stages! - here's that 'bias' coming into play ;) ). Cousins Rigobert and Alex Song are in the squad and even though the former is a little on the old side, him and Alex, along with Benoît Assou-Ekotto and Tottenham team mate Sébastien Bassong should really sure up that defense. In midfield, highly rated Achille Emana will fall into the holding roll just behind, the one I consider be, the best African Football Player of his generation and captain, Samuel Eto'o. The striker's stats are formidable with 44 in 94 for his country, over 100 for Barcelona in 5 seasons at the Camp Nou, and is currently still notching them up for Inter too. Heck, if anyone can, then Sam can ;)

Nigeria will have a strong spine to the team with Joseph Yobo, Mikel and Yakubu running through the middle of it. Obafemi Martins should also be one to look out for but is often a bit of a hit-n-miss, along with Utaka who just can't bring the kind of consistency needed for these big matches. I think Nigeria are strong but, paired in the same group as Argentina, Greece and South Korea, I can't see them progressing through to the next round.

Ghana have been dealt a massive blow with the news that their star midfielder Michael Essien will not play in the tournament this year. It's a real sad one for them and for everyone who loves the beautiful game. The team can still boast midfielding wonders Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari but with their rock defensive midfielder out, their manager Milovan Rajevac will do well to get them very far in this year's competition. The only possible positive is that their group is not especially tough. Apart from Germany, Ghana should be favorites on 'home' soil against Australia and Serbia.

And finally, The Ivory Coast. Alongside the Cameroon, The Elephants are probably the strongest African team this year but, drawn in the 'group of death' with North Korea, Portugal and Brazil, it's gonna be a tough one for them to progress. If they do (and it'll probably be at the expense of my beloved Portugal), I think they stand an even greater chance of progressing than Cameroon and South Africa. Their manager Sven-Göran Eriksson will be pleased to see his side led out by the ever fierce, always fighting, super talented captain Didier Drogba. The guy is 32 years old but could probably keep playing till he was 50! Actually, personally, I don't like him. I've never liked him and neither did the Chelsea fans when he first got there. His play acting reputation makes it hard to know whether he's genuinley injured when he goes down or not and frankly, that just puts him right in my bad books. Still, his career total of 135 goals in just over 300 games, including 43 in 66 for his country speaks volumes. In Korea, he's simply known as 'Drog-god' and his all round play is always a wonder to watch. But that's not all the Ivory Coast have got in their arsenal. The Touré brothers will take their places in the national team line-up along with Didier Zokora, Emmanuel Eboué, Aruna Dindane and also Drogba's team mate at Chelsea, Salomon Kalou, who's really shone through in the Premiership this season. In fact, all but 2 of the teams players play in leagues in Europe and all will certainly be up for doing their best in this, the first World Cup in Africa :)