The tragedy about this weekend’s African Cup of Nations is that if its North African contenders Tunisia and Morocco are indeed the best on the continent, only one of them will be in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany as both are in the same group in the qualifying stages.
This diminishes Africa’s chances of making an impact on the biggest stage of football.
Hosts Tunisia must be jubilant to be in the finals after their disastrous early exit from the same tournament 10 years ago, when they were also hosts. The country has never won the Africa Cup of Nations but has come close twice — they were runners up in 1965 and 1996.
While their competitors in the final, Morocco, last won the tournament in 1976 on foreign soil they would be keen to do it again in Tunisia against 11 players on the field, plus the 50 000-odd Tunisian supporters.Â
Both Tunisia and Morocco seem determined to succeed — Morocco walloped Mali 4-0 in the semifinal, while Tunisia beat Nigeria 5-3 on penalties. A thrilling encounter is expected by fans up North — the Cup finals have been dominated by West Africans for the past decade.
Tunisia had an easy ride in the earlier group stages, but beat the best in the knockout rounds and semifinal — teams that were touted to win this tournament: Senegal and Nigeria.Â
In the group stages they beat newcomers Rwanda 2-1 in an unconvincing match, then seemed to go up a gear or two against Congo-Kinshasa who they beat 3-0 before drawing with Guinea 1-1.
The quarterfinals saw them play 2002 World Cup quarterfinalists Senegal, whom they beat 1-0 before meeting Super Eagles Nigeria in a penalty shootout that dashed Nigeria’s hope of repeating their feat of 10 years ago, by winning the trophy in Tunisia.
Tunisia is aiming to join the ranks of those countries that have won the tournament on home soil and bolster the theory of home advantage.
In their line-up none other than Fracileudo dos Santos can propel this team to victory. He will be helped by Jwar Mnari who is a real menace.
The final offers Dos Santos an opportunity to add to his total three goals so far, and hopefully surpass the four goals scored by Patrick Mboma of Cameroon and Frederic Kanoute of Mali, thereby winning him the top goal-scorer award in the tournament.
While Morocco’s road was not that tough, they faced a few hurdles. They beat Nigeria 1-0 and went on to thrash newcomers Benin 4-0, before drawing with South Africa 1-1.
Their quarterfinal game against Algeria was one of the best of the tournament — they disposed of Algeria 3-1 before drubbing Mali 4-0. Morocco is more than capable of causing an upset and have proven goal poachers in Marouane Chamakh, Youssef Hadji and Jawad Zairi.
But then again, their road to the final has not been that hard.