Andrew Muchineripi World Cup
Nothing happened in the first series of group matches to suggest that traditional World Cup giants Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Italy will not be heavily involved come crunch time.
Argentina and Germany won without great exertion, Brazil found the going tough because the Scots proved tough, and do not read too much into Chile holding Italy because the Azzurri are notoriously slow starters.
Among the dark horses, one would like to see England against a team with a better goalkeeper than Tunisia’s, while Spain seem determined to maintain their image as the great underachievers.
Yugoslavia were too bad to be true when squeezing past Iran so we should reserve judgment while skilful Holland showed they also possess strength when battling to a goalless draw with Belgium.
Nigeria, the best bet from Africa, once again proved what a spirited bunch they are by twice coming from behind to defeat Spain, although one must express concern about goalkeeper Peter Rufai.
Morocco and Cameroon more than matched European “hard men” Norway and Austria before snatching draws from the jaws of victory as, sad but true, only African teams can do.
Poor goalkeeping cost Africa dearly, with Moroccan Driss Benzekri the worst offender, closely followed by Tunisian Chokri al- Ouaer and Rufai, while Jacques Songo’o of Cameroon and Hans Vonk performed admirably.
SuperSport analyst Terry Paine was moved to comment that Benzekri had more flaps than a jumbo jet because he refused to even consider a fisted clearance, preferring to try and palm the ball away.
Al-Ouaer, who South Africans will remember from the 1996 African Nations Cup final, was labelled Count Dracula, such was his dislike of crosses.
England captain Alan Shearer would never have scored his goal against Peter Schmeichel.
How ironic that Vonk, the one African goalkeeper capable of dealing with air raids, suffered the greatest humiliation as Bafana Bafana suffered a record defeat for an African World Cup debutant.
While many will recall the nine-goal mauling Yugoslavia handed the then Zaire, the Central Africans lost their first match only 2-0 to a Scottish team led by the late Billy Bremner.
This World Cup has been full of surprises with many of them pleasant, including the seemingly instant death of the brutal tackle from behind. So much for the theory that leopards do not change their spots (or studs).
Perhaps the disappearance of the “hatchetmen” has left referees so shellshocked that they have chosen to ignore all those niggling fouls that either go unpunished or disrupt play.
Shirt-pulling is challenging strongly for flavour of the month among fouls with the slow-motion replays from the superb French television coverage revealing the alarming extent of the problem.
Before some corners in the Germany-United States match, Oliver Bierhoff and his markers were in danger of stripping each other naked such was the force with which cloth was stretched.
There are also far too many niggling fouls that spoil the entertainment value and the Muchineripi message to world controlling body Fdration Internationale des Football Associations (FIFA) is that the time may not be far off when a leaf must be taken from the basketball book.
Those who commit continual “minor” fouls (that kill the game as a spectacle) must be sent off for a specific period of time because crime is still paying on the football field.
Enough of the gloom, though. Let me conclude by picking just some of the many magical moments already provided by France 98 that have kept us captivated for seemingly endless hours.
It began for me with the opening match between Brazil and Scotland and the beautiful Flower of Scotland. Sing it a thousand times, boyos. What a moving, passionate national anthem.
Within 24 hours we saw a goal from the other “Divine Ponytail”, Moroccan playmaker Mustapha Hadji, that had Africa stamped all over it.
A long pass, electrifying pace, a shuffle of the feet and a shot perfectly placed.
Mario Salas emphasised what Manchester United are going to miss next season with a couple of great goals for surprisingly confident Chile against Italy. The Red Devils’s loss is certainly Lazio’s gain.
Luis Hernandez, who looked like he had just come from acting in an episode of Baywatch, was a revelation as he scored the two goals that powered Mexico to victory over a South Korean team still seeking its first World Cup win 44 years on.
There will be upsets during the next few weeks, but watching Germany and Argentina coasting to victory without even considering overdrive makes you realise that cometh the hour, cometh the big guns.
ENDS