Two African players expected to shine at the World Cup

By LEONNARD OJWANG
Published June 9, 2010

Didier Drogba

This year, not only is the FIFA World Cup tournament in Africa, but also for Africans. More than ever, most African teams believe that if there was a time in the 80-year history of the tournament, that the cup will come to Africa, then it is this year. The venue is perfect – South Africa. Africans are expected to rally behind one of their own ( with good reason).

The foreign media are already scrutinizing the massive, expensive stadiums in South Africa. In a few days, their focus will shift toward the African lads, expected to pull tricks and magic, to enable their teams sail through round one of the games. Even though each team has equal chances of winning the coveted cup, some foreign teams have their feet ahead of the rest, as they jet into South Africa. Such teams include Brazil, Argentina, England, Germany, Italy, France and Uruguay.

They are the formidable seven; they have won it with style, talent, creativity, and love for the game. To this day, Brazil is the most successful World Cup team (all wins were away from home), and are the only nation to have played in every World Cup. They have five titles to their name. Italy (1934 and 1938) and Brazil (1958 and 1962), are the only nations to have won consecutive titles. Brazil and Germany have both made the most appearances in the final, with seven. The Netherlands, Hungary and Czechoslovakia have each reached the finals twice, but lost on all occasions. Germany has made the most appearances in the top four, with 11. Of the 18 times the World Cup has been staged, the host nations have won on six times. This means, South Africa has the slimmest of chances to keep the cup.

Most foreign teams boast the best strikers, and defenders in the world. Africa too has two incredible players to look up to: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon). Both are captains of their respective teams. Hopefully, they haven’t forgotten about Liberia’s George Weah, the first and only African, to be named FIFA Player of the Year.

Didier Drogba commands the tiniest chunk on the hero’s corner. Born is Abidjan, Ivory Coast, he was sent to France at the age of 5 to live with his uncle, Michel Goba, a professional footballer. This presented a chance for Drogba, to begin his career as a junior player at Levallois Football club. Here Drogba became a prolific scorer and by age 21, had become a formidable professional .His professional career took him to, Le Mans (1997 to 2002), Guingamp (2002 to 2003), Marseille (2003 to 2004) and now Chelsea (2004 to present).

In January 2007, Drogba was crowned the Ivorian Player of the Year, ahead of Kader Keita, Aruna Dindane, and Kolo Touré. In March 2010, he was named 2009 African Footballer of the Year, ahead of Samuel Eto’o and Michael Essien, the second time in his career. Internationally, Drogba has been runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo, in the PFA Player of the Year award.

Drogba scored six goals, in five qualification games for his Ivorian national team (The Elephants), which enabled them to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Drogba is married to Alla, a Malian whom he met in Paris, and has three children.

Ninety minute with Drogba, is like watching a thriller movie, where the hunter becomes the hunted, and the enemy is thought to have been killed, before somehow returning to life to revenge. You never know when and how Drogba will strike. He is strong and fast, and he has a knack for the ball, like a baby to the mother’s breast. He loves it. He loves the attention.

On the pitch, he dances, he cruises, he preens and does it all. When the fun gets into his head, he shouts expletives, and demands attention from television crews, around the pitch. In his bag, he carries the Golden Boot award he recently earned for scoring the most goals in the Premier League, ahead of Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney. In fact, in the last league match for Chelsea’s, he scored a hat-trick in the second half of the game. In this World Cup, he is fired up, and ready to continue with this incredible goal scoring streak. Unfortunately, in a friendly match on June 4, Drogba fractured his elbow in a high challenge from Japan’s defender Túlio. We certainly hope that he will be fit and ready for the World Cup.

Samuel Eto'o

Offer a little more of the big money, and you get Samuel Eto’o Fils. He was born in 1981, in a little known village, Nkon, in Cameroon. At the age of 17 and 3 months, Eto’o was the youngest player at the FIFA World Cup, in 1998, pitting Cameroon against Italy. He again played for Cameroon’s The Indomitable Lions in the 2002 edition, when he scored the game-winner against Saudi Arabia, Cameroon’s only win of the tournament.

Eto’o has won three major tournaments with The Indomitable Lions: the 2000 and 2002 African Nations Cup, and the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He has played in five African Nations Cup editions, where he is the all-time leading scorer with 18 goals. His accomplishments include the coveted African Footballer of the Year – 2003 and 2004.

At the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, Eto’o landed Brazil an upset, scoring his only goal in the group stage. Even though The Indomitable Lions were later eliminated in the quarter finals, he was the top scorer with five goals.

In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Eto’o was top scorer for the second consecutive tournament, matching his 2006 total of five goals.
Eto’o is the record holder in number of appearances, by an African player in La Liga, and has scored more than 100 goals, in five seasons with FC Barcelona.

Eto’o is the most decorated African player of all time. This year, with Barcelona and Inter Milan, he became the first player to win two European Continental Trebles. In fact, he is the second player, to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals, and the fourth player, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Gerard Piqué, to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row, while playing for different teams.

This year, Eto’o not only begins his 2010 World Cup, with the captaincy on his shoulders. His success is painted with his ability to wade through defenders with force, and is credited as one of the few strikers in the world, who loves style rather than power. He is very quick on and off the ball, and has incredible ability to score with both feet, as well as his head.

Eto’o’s style of play is cheeky, warm and powerful. He runs at defenders and goalkeepers, with lucid confidence, like a bat in the dead of the night. He has a shadowy frame, which enables him to run on well-placed passes and score on the first touch. His trademark style is to dribble the ball past goalkeepers, and score in an empty net. His agility is youthful, and his daring nature, is what The Indomitable Lions require to win their matches. Currently, only the World Cup gold medal is amiss from his shelf. He needs it badly.

Related Posts