More Ghanaians to play in 2015 MLS

 Adam Larsen Kwarasey

The 2015 Major League Soccer (MLS) season will witness more Ghanaian interest when the competition commences on the weekend of March 6, 7 and 8.

Apart from the usual torchbearers, Patrick Nyarko, Dominic Oduro and Gershon Koffie, the 20^th edition of the MLS will officially welcome Ghanaian stars Adam Larsen Kwarasey, David Accam and Kwadwo Poku into the league.

Majority of Ghanaians will shift focus on the Eastern Conference where old faces Dominic Oduro and Patrick Nyarko represent Impact De Montreal and Chicago Fire respectively.

Dominic Oduro

Eastern Conference will have new Ghanaian entrant David Accam doing battle for Chicago Fire while youngster Kwadwo Poku plays for New York City FC.

Western Conference will have their fair share of the Ghanaian representation when another old face Gershon Koffie represents Vancouver Whitecaps with goalkeeper Adam Larsen Kwarasey, another new entrant, representing Portland Timbers.

David Accam

Striker David Accam joined Chicago Fire from Swedish side Helsingborg while goalkeeper Kwarasey made a switch from the Norwegian League to the MLS.

Kwadwo Poku played for Atlanta Silverbacks in the North American Soccer League (NASL) before his audacious move to franchise NYCFC.

Kwadwo Poku

Meanwhile, some Ghanaian-born Americans will lighten up the season with their natural Ghanaian soccer flair.

Kwame Watson-Siriboe will feature for NYCFC with Kofi Opare doing battle for DC United. While C. J Sapong competes in the colors of Philadelphia Union, Houston Dynamo will parade Kofi Kwarteng Frempong Sarkodie while Gyasi Zardes continues his remarkable LA Galaxy story that has already caught the eyes of coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Ghanaian-born English player, Lloyd Sam is also expected to represent Red Bull in the Eastern Conference.

FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON GHANAIAN PLAYERS IN UNITED STATES AND CANADA, WATCH OUT IN A JIFFY FOR www.ghsoccerus.com

Mahatma Otoo makes a dramatic entry into Ghana's squad for AFCON 2015

Mahatma Otoo - A surprised inclusion to the Black Stars squad for Equatorial Guinea 2015

Ghana's coach Avram Grant has finally named his 23-man squad for the 2015 African Cup of Nations due to be held in Equatorial Guinea. 

Surprisingly, former Hearts of Oak and Black Satellites captain Mahatma Otoo earned a dramatic late call up into the team.

According to the official website of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), Norway-based attacker Mahatma Otoo was given a late call-up to join the squad due to striker Abdul-Majeed Waris' failure to recover from an injury.

The squad sees several players named for their maiden appearances in African football's flagship event including Mahatma.

Youngsters Baba Rahman, Daniel Amartey, Frank Acheampong, David Accam and Kwesi Appiah will all be making their first appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations.

England-based defender Jeffrey Schlupp was also excluded from the squad because of an injury that will rule him out of action for about three weeks.

Defender Samuel Inkoom, midfielder Ibrahim Moro and Kwabena Adusei, who were part of the provisional squad were all left out of the final 23-man squad.

Among the experienced invited players are captain Asamoah Gyan, Andre Ayew, Jonathan Mensah, Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and Mubarak Wakaso who will provide the needed experience for the tournament in Equatorial Guinea.

The Black Stars have been drawn against Senegal, Algeria and South Africa in Group C. 

Ghana Squad for AFCON 2015

Goalkeepers: Razak Braimah (Mirandes, Spain), Fatau Dauda (AshGold) and Ernest Sowah (Don Bosco, DR Congo)

Defenders: Harrison Afful (Esperance, Tunisia), John Boye (Erciyesspor, Turkey), Jonathan Mensah (Evian, France), Awal Mohammed (Maritzburg, South Africa), Baba Rahman (Augsburg, Germany), Gyimah Edwin (Mpumalanga Black Aces, South Africa), Daniel Amartey, (FC Copenhagen, Denmark)

Midfielders: Rabiu Mohammed (Krasnodar, Russia), Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu (Udinese, Italy), Afriyie Acquah (Parma, Italy), Solomon Asante (T.P. Mazembe, DR Congo), Christian Atsu (Everton, England), Mubarak Wakaso (Celtic, Scotland), Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France), Frank Acheampong (Anderlecht, Belgium), David Accam (Chicago Fire, USA)

Strikers: Jordan Ayew (Lorient, France), Mahatma Otoo (Songdal, Norway) Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain, UAE), Kwesi Appiah (Cambridge United, England).

FIFA-CAF Confab singles out Algeria for praises

The desert Warriors of Algeria 

The senior national team of Algeria, the Desert Warriors, have earned plaudits from their fellow Africans for their outstanding performance during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

In what could be termed as an African soccer’s peer review mechanism held in Cairo, Egypt by head coaches and technical directors of Africa’s member associations, Algeria was praised by many participants at the conference for the level of football they displayed in Brazil.

Reflecting on the technical aspects of Brazil 2014, there was a general feeling among participants that African teams had played their part in the overall success of the World Cup. For the very first time two African representatives reached the second stage of the competition and the general level of football produced was of high quality. Particularly satisfying were the performances of Algeria, who lost narrowly, and in extra time, to eventual champion Germany in the Round of 16. Nigeria fell at the same stage thanks to two late France goals, while Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana both came very close to reaching the second phase.

However, a statement by the Algerian technical director in a FIFA newsletter has gone a long way to point out that it takes a lot of professionalism to achieve what the Desert Warrors achieved in Brazil.

“We have been successful because we have professionalised the structure around the team.        

“We look at every detail. The administration, the organisation and the technical aspects go hand in hand.”

The above statements were attributed to Algeria's technical director, Taoufik Korichi.

Bonus and other financial disputes

Head coaches and technical directors of Africa's member associations, in a discussion during the  September 30 and October 1 Cairo Conference organised by FIFA and CAF to review and learn from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, highlighted the general progress of the continent's football and the improvements that were needed for an African team to win a FIFA World Cup™.

Analysing the example of world champion Germany, the top African technicians agreed that, despite having talented players, their nations still have a number of issues to address, particularly in organisation and administration.

“If we want to move forward we have to professionalise everything around the team," said Volker Finke, who coached for nearly 20 years in the German Bundesliga and is now national coach of Cameroon.

After a disappointing 2014 World Cup, Cameroon are seeking a fresh start with a new generation of young players and is currently leading its group in the 2015 AFCON qualifiers.

Both Finke and Ghana’s representative stressed that disputes around the payment of bonuses to players ahead of the competition had a negative impact in Brazil.

“The money issue affected players' concentration," commented Francis Oti Akenteng, technical director of Ghana.

Ghana's representative Francis Oti Akenteng (2nd from right) in a group picture with some participants

Youth Development and other technical issues

Among other issues that African football is facing, participants mentioned the lack of youth development programmes.

“The national team is not the place where you can teach the basics of technique and tactics; it has to come before," said Ephraim Mashaba, head coach of South Africa.

He pointed as well to the difficulty of working appropriately within the international match calendar, which only allows a few days ahead of and in between matches . This limitation is felt particularly keenly in Africa, where travelling between different countries can take several days.

Shawky Gharib, head coach of Egypt, also underlined the difficulty of having to play international matches during the national league season break, when players are out of shape.

Senegal's technical director, Mayacine Mar, was similarly upbeat. “We have progressed; we are not far from our objective," he said. "But we need more stability of coaches and technical staff to allow them to develop a project over at least four years."

The conference was also a very good opportunity to learn from the World Cup and analyse the tactical evolution of the game. “Football has changed”, said Finke. “In modern football everybody moves, every player has to give to the team and be responsible. The system can change, but what needs to always be there is pressing on the ball and playing collectively, move together”.

The two day event was a unique platform for the elite technicians of the African continent to exchange ideas and develop new strategies for the future. “We should stop thinking about winning today but think of winning tomorrow. We need to build very good foundations," was the view of Ghana's technical director, Francis Oti Akenteng.

Participant at the Cairo Conference

GHALCA Top 4 no longer relevant!

Ghana's Premier League Champions Asante Kotoko - would they  play in this year's GHALCA Top 4?

Since 2001, the welfare body of premier and first division soccer clubs in Ghana, the Ghana League Clubs Association, also known as GHALCA has organised the annual preseason tournament dubbed 'The GHALCA Top 4.

According to GHALCA's own interpretations, the Top 4 tournament was introduced to fill the off-season vacuum between the end of one Premier League season and the next. This competition is opened to teams that placed first to fourth on the league table at the end of every football season.

The Top 4 concept was introduced to, among other things, help clubs that will represent Ghana in the competitions organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) as well as to help the rest of the Premier clubs prepare adequately for the upcoming season, raise money for the clubs and the association, to offer a platform for clubs to showcase and test the preparedness of their new players for the ensuing season.

The concept was embraced by all clubs at the time and has over the years, become a permanent feature on the annual football calendar, but after more than a decade, the Top 4 seems to have lost its relevance. The competition was once metamorphosed into a Top 8 and has encountered series of boycotts and several disagreements involving participating clubs.

It is palpably clear that the GHALCA Top 4 has outlived its relevance, most especially, in an era that the Top 4 clubs' places in Africa are not automatically guaranteed. Currently, CAF's allocations for Ghanaian clubs in the  inter clubs competitions varies and are always based on the performances of Ghana's clubs in the previous editions of the CAF competitions.

Even, in the case of CAF allocating four slots for Ghanaian clubs in the inter clubs competitions, only the first and second placed clubs in the league would be guaranteed a place in the CAF Champions League while the CAF Confederations Cup slots would be allocated to the first and second placed teams in the FA Cup.

Therefore, one wonders why GHALCA still organises the competition, even in the mixed of sponsorship difficulties. Arguably, The Top 4 is no longer lucrative to corporate organisations in Ghana and therefore behoves the GHALCA to inject some innovations into their attempts to help clubs prepare adequately for the forthcoming season.

Since GHALCA wants every Ghanaian to believe the Top 4's main agenda is to help all 16 premier clubs to prepare for the season ahead, this writer humbly Suggests that GHALCA should rather collaborate with the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to revive the erstwhile seasonal opening Gala competition for all premier clubs. At least, that will be a perfect platform for the clubs to parade their new signings and also showcase their new jerseys for the forthcoming season. It could be a little innovation to hype the First Capital Plus Premier League!!!

I am pretty sure a three-day gala competition involving all the 16 clubs on one stage will be attractive enough. Companies will surely like to associate themselves with a whole weekend (Friday - Sunday) of a soccer jamboree. 

I believe the Gala competition involving all the 16 premier clubs will ultimately meet GHALCA's agenda of helping clubs to measure their level of readiness as well as putting finishing touches to their teams before the season begins.

Financially, all 16 clubs will benefit from the competition as compared to the Top 4 that is only beneficial to the four competing clubs.

Accra Hearts of Oak likely to play in the GHALCA Top 4

FIFA World Cup: Brazil ready to host the world but Qatar can't wait for 2022

Qatar begins construction of new stadia for 2022 FIFA World Cup

Brazil may be all set to host the rest of the world from June 12, 2014 for a month long soccer extravaganza but Qatar, in their bid to host one of the memorable Senior Soccer World Cup in 2022, have embarked on their own preparations.

Many soccer pundits including FIFA President Sepp Blatter have described the decision to allow Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup as a mistake but Qatar's Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) has vowed to prove the whole world wrong with a perfect organisation come 2022.

The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) is the body to ensure that all preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup™ align with Qatar’s other development imperatives, as described in the Qatar National Vision 2030 and the National Development Strategy 2011-2016. 

Along with its stakeholders, the SC is tasked with delivering stadia and other infrastructure for an amazing 2022 FIFA World Cup™ that will leave a lasting legacy for Qatar, the region and the world. 

Workers on site during the ground breaking ceremony

Even before Brazil 2014 starts and even before Russia takes over preparations for the 2018 edition, the Qatar Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) has already broken grounds on the first proposed Host Venue to be delivered ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The second phase of construction is underway on-site at Al Wakrah, with HBK contracting company carrying out the works. As a Qatari contractor, the decision to award HBK the contract following a tender process implemented for a number of Qatari contractors with local knowledge and proven capabilities follows the SC’s vision to develop the private sector.

The local construction company has begun major excavation, in preparation of the foundations being laid in September. This latest phase of construction is scheduled to finish around March 2015, with stadium completion expected in 2018. The early works at Al Wakrah were carried out by AMANA. Foundation work by HBK will be marked by a ceremony in September, followed by the announcement of the main construction company at the end of the year.

Embedded in the contract won by HBK are the SC’s Workers’ Welfare Standards. These standards —which are aligned with Qatari Labour Law and international best practice and have been incorporated in all contracts —set clear guidelines that protect the rights of workers throughout the entire chain of contracting, from recruitment to repatriation.

Excavators at work

The 40,000-seater New Al Wakrah Stadium, future home of Al Wakrah Sports Club, was the first of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup™ proposed host venues to be revealed. The stadium will be surrounded by a 560,000 m2 (60-hectare) precinct with a new sports centre and community hub. The precinct will include a range of community facilities, including a park, mosque, school, hotel, wedding hall, vocational training centre and retail outlets leaving behind a true legacy for community.

Following the tournament, the stadium’s capacity will be reduced to 20,000 with the extra modular seats removed, re-configured and donated to countries in need of sporting infrastructure in consultation with FIFA and the continental football confederations. With the rigorous implementation of the Workers’ Welfare Standards at all stages of construction, the new Al Wakrah Stadium will also contribute to a significant legacy of enhanced workers’ welfare in the country.  

                                                 Excavators at work

2013 CAF Awards - Is Obi Mikel the surprise package?

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the top three players for the 2013 African player of the year awards. This was after the Head Coaches of the National Associations affiliated to CAF voted in their order of preference to decide on the eventual winner of the flagship category of the Glo-CAF Awards Gala scheduled for Thursday, January 9, 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Nigeria's John Obi Mikel with the African soccer ultimate trophy

The Ivorian pair of Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba make the final three for a second successive year and will be joined by John Obi Mikel of Nigeria.after end of voting from members of the Technical & Development and the Media Committees.   

Ivorian Yaya Toure is the reigning African Player of the Year  but the multi-million dollar question on the lips of African football pundits is whether somebody can unseat the Man City enforcer in the flagship awards?

There is no doubt Yaya Toure is the front runner for this award as the winner of the last two editions  is still at his peak. He scored two goals in the last Cup of Nations  including a spectacular free-kick against Tunisia at the group stage. Though the Elephants failed to go past the quarters, he has served as the pillar of the Ivorian team in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, netting four goals in the process. At Manchester City, he is a cult figure and has been the driving force for the club. For the current 2013-14 season, the midfielder has found the back of the net several times. 

CAF couldn't have said more than this about Toure but in my opinion,  another notable player who could give the Ivorian and Man City midfield dynamo a run for his money is Chelsea and Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel.

CAF says Mikel is enjoying probably his best moment in football. A regular with the star-studded Chelsea, he played an influential role in the buildup to the 2013 UEFA Europa League crown. In September 21 this year, he broke his goal duck in the English Premier League with his first goal in 185 matches in a 2-0 win over Fulham. Also, he netted a cracker against Uruguay at the FIFA Confederation Cup in Brazil in July besides claiming a gold medal with the Super Eagles at the Africa Cup of Nations. He was also instrumental for Nigeria in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

This writer believes Mikel  could cause a major upset in January 9, 2014 in Lagos, Nigeria. 

Obi Mikel has distinguished himself very well for club and country. For instance, many pundits underrated his contributions for Chelsea but he was, no doubt, one of the consistent performers for Chelsea that saw them win the Europa Cup. 

Mikel has also remained the fulcrum of the Super Eagles. In fact, the Nigerian national team is built around Mikel and he deserves more commendations for wining the Europa Cup with Chelsea as well as the Cup of Nations trophy with Nigeria in the year under review.

I think Mikel did much better in the 2013 Cup of Nations and the World Cup qualifiers than Yaya Toure, hence my belief that the Nigerian may unseat Yaya Toure.

Even on the club level, albeit debatable, Yaya Toure was not miles ahead of Mikel. At least, Mikel, played a pivotal role in the Chelsea setup that won the Europa Cup.

He also helped his Nigerian colleagues to conquer Africa after a 19-year wait while Toure and his galaxy of Ivorian stars got bundled out of the African Cup in the quarter final stage.

Even though a decision by CAF to award Senegalese international El Hadji Diouf  the 2001 African player of the year ahead of Ghana's Samuel Osei Kuffour was one of the most unpleasant surprises in the history of the awards, I for see another surprise, but this one will be a pleasant one when the Nigerian will be named as the 2013 African best player.

I believe the period that always put the European leagues ahead of our own Cup of Nations and our own World Cup qualifiers is past and gone so if we want to honour a true African best player, then we must look deep into who did extremely well for his national team in the Cup of Nations and World Cup qualifier before we look at club performances. In other words, let's put our continental competitions ahead of European leagues, at least, just for this year, so that we can juxtapose the contributions of the final shortlisted players in the Cup of Nations and the World Cup qualifiers.

As for Didier Drogba, this writer is still wondering why the Ivorian super star made the final list this time. Don't get me wrong, he has been and will remain one of the finest strikers on earth but I don't think he did enough to make the final cut in 2013.

CAF believes Drogba at 35 is yet to lose his shine after scoring three goals as the Elephants reached a third successive World Cup appearance. They say the former Chelsea talisman bounced back from a disappointing spell in China and has been banging in the goals in Turkey. He scored five in 13 appearances during Galatasaray’s triumph in the 2012-13 season and still scoring in the current season, in all competitions for Galatasaray, including the UEFA Champions League. 

But is that really enough to put Drogba in the final three?

For the purpose of argument, I want to narrow the list to just Toure and Mikel and debate dispassionately about who really contributed immensely to his national team and even his club in the year 2013. I am doing this because I can state with all certainty that Drogba remains a ranked outsider in this race.

The fact that Mikel was a cynosure for his countrymen and Africans in the Cup of Nations as well as the World Cup qualifiers, coupled with the fact that he was instrumental for Chelsea in 2013 are enough justifications why Obi Mikel must win the award ahead of Toure.

Toure is, no doubt, a true genius in the colours of Man City; he sometimes also carry the Elephants of Ivory Coast on his shoulders but the only thing the Ivorian can boast of is the fact that he played a key role in Ivory Coast's qualification to the World Cup. And that is it!

But in 2013, Mikel can boast of the fact that he did not only lead the Super Eagles to Nations Cup glory but also made an impression in the Confederation Cup in Brazil, helped qualified Nigeria to the World Cup and also helped Chelsea win the UEFA Europa Cup.

Below are the fact file of the three finalists:

Name: Didier Drogba

Date of Birth: March 11, 1978

Country: Cote d’Ivoire

Club: Galatasaray (Turkey)

Name: John Obi Mikel

Date of Birth: April 22, 1987

Country: Nigeria

Club: Chelsea (England)

Name: Yaya Toure

Date of Birth: May 13, 1983

Country: Cote d’Ivoire

Club: Manchester City (England)   

World Cup 2014: Underrate Africans at your own peril!

Ghana Black Stars can't wait to run the show in Brazil!

African countries that qualified to next summer's FIFA World Cup in Brazil have not been given even a dog's chance to make it to the second stage of the competition.

In fact, the so called soccer pundits in Europe and America have predicted that all five African torch bearers will fall on the way side after the first round with the funny thoughts that they find themselves in groups that are beyond their capabilities.

For me, such claims are laughable, to say the least.

If you claim to know more about the game and your country is drawn against any African team, then you better brace yourself up for more surprises because you can only underrate an African side at the World Cup at your own peril.

Since 1986, at least, a single African side has made it to the second stage of the competition to defy the odds. To put it in numbers, the second stage of  seven consecutive World Cups have always recorded an African participant, albeit, some of these countries made it from an insurmountable groups.

For instance, mention can be made of Ghana in a group with Germany, Serbia and Australia in 2010; Ghana in a group with Italy, Czech Republic and United States in 2006; Senegal in a group with France, Denmark and Uruguay in 2002 as well as Nigeria in a group with Spain, Bulgaria and Paraguay in 1998.

Then, there was Nigeria again in a group with Bulgaria, Argentina and Greece in 1994; Cameroon in a group with Argentina, Romania and Soviet Union in 1990 likewise Morocco in a group with Poland, England and Portugal in 1986.

There were periods African teams were counted among the mere participants but we proved the bookies wrong and even went as far as the quarter final.

One more chance for  these group of Ivory Coast  players to make a mark on the world stage

Talk of Ghana's wonderful run in the 2010 World Cup, Senegal's amazing performances in 2002 as well as Cameroon's swashbuckling form in 1990;  yet some pundits don't want to give us the needed respect. Haven't we done enough to earn that all important respect?

Even before they condemn us as one of the also-rans in the upcoming tournament, they should, at least, acknowledge how difficult the African qualifiers were.

Out of 52 nations, only five made it to Brazil after a tortuous, winding and  tedious qualifying rounds. There were three rounds of qualifying. The first round found 24 teams trying to make it into the second round of competition, where there were 10 groups of four teams. In the third round, the 10 group winners played off over two legs to determine who took Africa's five places in Brazil. It was a no joke format and those who sailed through must be respected!

Let us advance the arguments by taking a closer look at the groups that the African representatives find themselves in. 

Cameroon has done it before and the onus lie on the current players to repeat the dose

Cameroon find themselves in Group A alongside host and of course, one of the favourites,  Brazil, as well as Croatia and Mexico. Cameroon got this far after topping a qualifying group that consisted of Libya, Congo DR and Togo and later defeated Tunisia 4-1 on aggregate in two legged play off.

Mexico, after a disastrous campaign in the CONCACAF zone, had to settle with a play off with lowly rated New Zealand before qualifying to the World Cup. They had an emphatic  9-3 victory over New Zealand after two legs. But who cares? After all, which African team can't beat New Zealand and which of the five African representatives can't qualify automatically from the CONCACAF zone?

During the UEFA World Cup qualifiers proper, Croatia were housed in Group A with Belgium, Serbia, Scotland, Wales and Macedonia. Croatia placed a distant second behind Belgium and had to qualify after beating Iceland 2-0 after two legs. Again, how many African teams can Iceland beat?

Now let's look at Group C that consist of  Colombia, Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan.

In the African qualifiers, the Ivorians won a group that consisted of Morocco, Tanzania and the Gambia and had to go into a serious tango with Senegal before booking a place to the World Cup after a 4-2 aggregate score over their west African rivals.

Colombia made it to Brazil after placing second behind Argentina in the CONMEBOL or the South American zone while Japan, from Asia, were the first country to qualify for the World Cup. As for Greece they were forced to engage Romania in a play off before they made it to the World Cup. They defeated Romania 4-2 on aggregate after placing second behind Bosnia-Hercegovina in the UEFA Group G. This writer would not be far from right to suggest that Cote d'Ivoire, in a good day, may force the other group opponents to laugh at the wrong sides of their mouths.

African Champions Nigeria to prove a point in Brazil

Another African representative, Nigeria (current African champions) will battle Argentina, Bosnia-Hercegovina, and Iran in Group F. Argentina, as expected, topped the CONMEBOL zone in the qualifiers while Iran also won the Asia Group A ahead of South Korea. 

In the UEFA World Cup qualifiers, Bosnia-Hercegovinah only had Greece to contend with in the Group G as they only beat the Greek to the first place by superior goals. The likes of Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Liechtenstein were no match for Bosnia and I believe a lot of African countries can also beat such teams in every competitive encounters. So why should Bosnia-Hercegovina be seen as much superior than Nigeria?

Group G will see favourites Germany, Portugal and USA coming face to face with Ghana and again, many have predicted that Ghana wont survive the first round in this group and I ask why?

These group of pundits forget that Ghana qualified from a tough group from the CAF qualifiers that included the 2012 African Champions Zambia, Lesotho and Sudan before calling off the bluff of mighty Egypt in the play off.

Of course, Germany were peerless in their qualifiers as they shrugged off challenges from Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Faeroe Island and Kazakhstan in UEFA Group C while Portugal had to beat Sweden in the play off to book a place to the World Cup after they had failed to win their qualifying Group F that housed winners Russia, Israel, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. Portugal couldn't beat Russia to book an automatic place to the World Cup and had to rely on a Cristiano Ronaldo magic to beat off competition from Sweden in the play off and the pundits want us to believe they are far better than the Black Stars of Ghana. 

Make no mistake, the Ghanaians also boast of stars but they always go into competitions as a unified force - their trump card. 

Then come the USA who won the CONCACAF zone that included lowly rated teams like Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama and Jamaica. Once again, let me place on record that any of the five African representatives to Brazil could beat any team from the CONCACAF region.

Algeria has been tagged as the dark horses among the African representatives to Brazil  and they had to contend with Belgium, Russia and South Korea in Group H. And one may not be far from right to condemn Algeria in such a group but again, there are surprises in the game of soccer.

Certainly, Belgium has rediscovered their form with more talented players scattered all over Europe.  That was why they defeated Croatia, Serbia, Scotland, Wales and Macedonia in UEFA Group A qualifiers. 

It is also no secret that Russia qualified ahead of Portugal, Israel, Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg in UEFA Group F  qualifiers but that cannot write off the Algerians just like that.

South Korea also qualified after placing second in the Asia Group A behind Iran while Algeria managed to beat Burkina Faso in the play off after battling to win a tough CAF Group H that had the likes of Mali, Benin and Rwanda.

Honestly, if Algeria gets their acts together and plan adequately, they can rob shoulders with any of these teams. seriously, every African team that made it to the World Cup is capable of going beyond the first round and can progress to the semi final of the competition.

Algeria - Can they spring a surprise?

There are so many active African players playing top level football in the various European leagues as well as the UEFA Champions League and the Europa Cup that will stand to be counted among top performers in Brazil.

The qualified African teams still boast of players who  have seen it all at the international stage. There are players who have tasted senior World Cup before so I don't think players of the African teams would be overawed when they come face to face with the Neymars, the Falcaos, the C Ronaldos, the Messis, the Eden Hazards, the Ozils etc.

I believe the Essiens, the Muntaris' the Asamoah Gyans, the Eto'os, the Drogbas, the Yaya Toures, the Mikel Obis, the Victor Moses, the Madjid Bougherras at any given time can rise to the occasion.

Not only names, but all the five African countries boast of a unified team that can cause a stir at the World Cup.

Pundits in Europe and America don't want to admit that the likes of Ghana, Nigeria and Algeria boast of a young team and very organised sides with many players having European football experience as well as the likes of Cameroonian and Ivoirian stars who have played together for a long period and have amassed a lot of experience globally.

Africans are no longer minnows on the world stage, hence, whoever underrate Africa in Brazil 2014 does so at their own peril. we have come of age and can not be seen as pushovers!