The reaction to the FIFA leader’s comments, not least from Sir Alex Ferguson’s office door, was of overwhelming outrage, seeing as Blatter conveyed either a tenuous grasp of history, or simply the unforgivably insensitive use of the term ‘slavery’ in relation to the purportedly unfair treatment of Ronaldo. Eschewing the comparison of historical slave conditions, modern-day slavery is broadly defined as the submission to authority for the purpose of economic exploitation; in other words, a confusingly inaccurate way to describe a professional athlete’s request for the termination of his willingly signed £100,000+ a week contract with arguably the world’s largest firm, in order to make £250,000 a week playing for one of his current employer’s biggest continental competitors.

Despite a reputation for trimming unruly influences, Ferguson tirelessly convinced his star asset to remain at Old Trafford for a further season, when he ‘reluctantly’ scored 25 goals as United reached the Champions’ League final for the second consecutive year following Premier League and Carling Cup triumphs, before eventually securing his protracted move to Madrid in July of 2009. It is widely considered that Real dwarfed their original investment of £80million in terms of shirt-sale income within hours of Ronaldo’s arrival, perhaps loosely exposing the economic exploitation Blatter had referred to a year earlier. I’m going to avoid describing the multifarious allegations of a more sinister nature that have littered Blatter’s presidency, but instead focus on an issue which the Swiss was so comfortable presenting his opinion on, albeit in an erroneous context.

It seems peculiar that the individual who retains a universal scale of influence in terms of football’s governance expressed his support for player protection when each year, thousands of young and vulnerable footballers are misled and manipulated by rogue agents, taken from their homes with the false promises of wealth and stardom, and then left to fend for themselves on foreign soil when the brutal reality is hastily acknowledged. This growing army of migrant talent has become a familiar part of the landscape in several major European cities, with children as young as 9 forced to beg on the streets of Milan or sell fake Prada handbags in Paris just to survive. The outcome these youngsters are guaranteed is as far removed as possible from the glamorous dream sold by Didier Drogba and Michael Essien, whose faces adorn every billboard in the Ivory Coast and Ghana respectively, selling anything from chocolate to mobile phones. But what is driving this damaging and abusive process and what measures are being conceived to prevent its intensification?

The reality, particularly in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, where a large number of globally established footballers have been exported recently, is that the greater the success had by West African players in Europe, the vaster number of domestic Africans will believe they can follow this path. This has resulted in a substantial growth in the number of illegal football academies being established in Africa, offering children as young as six the chance to be noticed, with roughly 500 operating in Ghana’s capital, Accra, alone. Around 90% of these ‘centres’ are run by local men who claim to be ex-professional footballers, but in fact have limited experience, and are united in their shared intent on discovering the next Stephen Appiah or Asamoah Gyan; or a multi-million pound resource. Most of them charge subscription rates to the enrolled students’ parents and extended families, who, in several cases, remove them from routine schooling to allow them to concentrate on football full-time. The financial rewards reaped from having a professional footballer in the family evoke a rags to riches scenario of Hollywood proportions, so many consider the risk to their child’s education worth taking.

Continued on Page TWO

But for those actually living in the capital, and the rest of what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, 1974 is meaningful for an altogether different sporting occasion. That summer, Zaire became the first team from sub-Saharan Africa to qualify for the World Cup, but their players and fans recall the tournament in West Germany with mixed feelings, despite the achievement of being the first black African representatives on global football’s grandest stage. “I was very proud, and still am, to have represented Black and Central Africa at the World Cup,” says former defender, Mwepu Ilunga. “But we had the erroneous belief that we would be returning from the World Cup as millionaires. We got back home without a penny in our pockets. Look at me now, I’m living like a tramp,” an incensed Ilunga told BBC Sport.

The retired right full-back remains bitter about several aspects of the ‘Leopards’’ campaign, most notably the fact that Zairean officials are alleged to have pocketed his and his team-mates’ wages for the tournament, something Ilunga would only discover mid-way through the group stages. The opening game saw Zaire defeated 2-0 by Scotland, but Ilunga claims that the players were told that they wouldn’t be paid at all, prior to the next match against Yugoslavia. “Before the Yugoslavia match we learnt that we were not going to be paid, so we refused to play,” claims the defender, who has since become a cult footballing icon for running out of the defensive wall to kick a Brazilian free-kick away in Zaire’s final first-round fixture. Unfortunately, the Leopards were thrashed 9-0 by Yugoslavia, having been persuaded at the last moment to attend the encounter, a result that did immense damage to the image of African football.

Following the humiliating defeat at the hands of Yugoslavia, the late Mobutu Sese Seko, Zaire’s leader at the time, intervened directly in the team’s affairs. “After the match, he sent his presidential guards to threaten us,” remembers Ilunga. “They closed the hotel to all journalists and said that if we lost 4-0 to Brazil, none of us would be able to return home.” The unforgivable treatment of Zaire’s players at the World Cup was in stark contrast to the way they had been received following qualification, when Mobutu is said to have gifted each team member a car and a house. “Mobutu’s generals were so jealous of the gifts we were given that he had to buy them a car each, to keep them quiet,” Ilunga said. In their last game, Zaire lost 3-nil to Brazil, which allowed the team to return home free from the fear of retribution, but Africa’s first World Cup showing saw the Leopards record an unenviable statistic of conceding 14 goals without scoring a single one.

Fast forward almost exactly 36 years and 120 minutes, and Africa’s sixth and longest-surviving representative at the 2010 edition of FIFA’s esteemed international tournament are simply a 12-yard spot-kick from reaching the semi-final stage, a watershed moment in the continent’s history. By this point, the global audience had thrown their full support behind Ghana’s ‘Black Stars’ following Luis Suarez’s deplorable goal-line hand-ball, which prevented the West Africans’ justified progression. Their talisman, Asamoah Gyan, who had scored in three of the previous four games, struck the cross-bar with the game’s final kick, and despite redeeming himself by converting in the subsequent penalty-shootout, Ghana were eliminated following a 4-2 reverse.

The country’s desolate onlookers were at least able to assess their players’ performances with a considerable element of pride, despite Ghana just failing to erode the semi-final barrier which no African side has yet been able to. But what are the factors which have contributed to the vastly altered assessment of African national teams? Previously, one or two representatives at international level would be perceived, by the European media at least, as negligible whipping-boys, with less than technically-adept playing staff. This is clearly no longer a widely-held view, evidenced by the number of African players not only competing in Europe at club level, but also at the very highest echelons of European competition.

The succeeding tournament hosted by Korea and Japan was remembered as much for Senegal’s impressive maiden appearance at a World Cup as for Ronaldo’s relentless form, as Frenchman, Bruno Metsu, led the ‘Lions of Teranga’ to the quarter-finals and a heroes welcome in the capital, Dakar, upon their post-elimination arrival. The acceleration of this trend reached a potentially damaging juncture last summer, when five out of Africa’s six attending nations elected foreign supervision prior to the continent’s first hosting of a World Cup in South Africa. Algeria were the only African representative with a home-grown head coach, – Rabah Saadane – but Nigeria’s conduct in releasing manager, Shaibu Amodu, three months before the tournament highlights a much broader concern within African football. “A lot of people [in Africa] still have the mentality that the European knows more,” said Thomas Mlambo, a distinguished television presenter and analyst on the South Africa-based sports network, SuperSport. The fact that Amodu was sacked following not only the remarkable achievement in qualifying Nigeria for the World Cup, but also in leading them to a third placed finish at the African Cup of Nations last year, emphasizes this confusing ‘mentality’ which inspired the Nigerian Football Federation to replace the 52 year-old with Lars Lagerback, who was only available to take the helm having failed to guide Sweden to the finals tournament.

Many will have questioned the decision to remove a coach who had spent two years conditioning the team, and succeeded in meeting his short-term objectives, with a manager who had recently failed to accomplish a similar target and with almost no knowledge of the country’s footballing traditions and philosophy. Amodu was actually sacked in a replica scenario prior to the 2002 World Cup and is unlikely to accept a fifth stint as Nigerian head coach should the opportunity arise. An Ivory Coast fan described the unusual racial barrier most African coaches face, and perhaps goes some way to explaining the seemingly irrational choices many African football federations have made recently: “The players have more respect for whites,” says Bienvenue Kehedi, a 26 year-old student in Abidjan. “An Ivorian can’t assert their will against the players because he tries to keep on the side of all the players and is scared of taking tough decisions.” Although European leadership may have assisted a few African nations in achieving their World Cup aspirations before last summer, the continent’s relatively poor showing at the 2010 tournament was interpreted by many as a sign of African football’s static development based on the dependence on foreign coaches.

The 1995 World, European and African Player of the Year, and Liberian legend, George Weah, has claimed that overseas influences are only serving to harm the progression of the sport in Africa. “In 1999, I addressed international coaches at FIFA and I said it; they come to Africa to coach but they are not the right people for the African team because they are not developing our players, they are just making the money, come for vacation and that’s it,” the former AC Milan forward stated.
Weah implied that the Ivory Coast’s, Cameroon’s, Algeria’s, Nigeria’s and hosts South Africa’s premature elimination should act as a wake-up call to provoke a change to the continent’s process of pursuing European management. “The European coaches are not the best for Africa. Some agree with me, some they don’t. Look at the statistics of the World Cup, since Africa started hiring European coaches, only the Africans coaches have done well,” Weah concluded.

The three-time African Player of the Year (1989, 1994 and 1995) may be right in some respects, but the continual appointment of foreign coaches embodies a natural corollary to African players’ increased presence in the European leagues. The employment of European coaches makes sense considering a large number of modern African national teams consist of mainly European-based players, evinced by a Sven Goran-Eriksson selected Ivory Coast squad containing just one Ivorian-based player out of 23 – the third-choice goalkeeper. There is certainly a growing feeling amongst many Africans that a change in organizational structure at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) is required to assist the development of the presently insufficient, and future, African coaches. With a campaign being led by Weah, arguably the continent’s most recognized footballing and political exemplar, it is not inconceivable to imagine prospective World Cups being contested by African nations guided by African managers. “We have to believe in ourselves, believe in our people. Give them the support to be trained and to develop our teams,” pleads Weah. “The CAF needs to wake-up, we need an institution for coaching in Africa. Our people don’t need to go to Europe, they need to stay in Africa and train.” Weah is certainly fighting a valid cause, because in spite of Africa’s varying successes under foreign managers, it would be catastrophic to witness a repeat of Ghana’s Serbian coach, Milovan Rajevac’s, inexcusable despair following the Black Stars’ 1-0 victory over Serbia in last years’ tournament. Africa’s sudden and meteoric ascension to the top of European football’s consciousness must not halt now, and with a burgeoning pool of talent swarming every region on the continent, it is time for the national federations to cultivate the hidden coaching talent to avoid future disappointment, and maintain the extraordinary progression.

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FootballFanCast.com WORLD Exclusive, Robbie Savage’s Face in a Baby Scan

Stamford Bridge in March last year offered its regular exhibition of Champions’ League knockout football as Chelsea welcomed back Jose Mourinho, who slipped away at the end of an expertly masterminded Inter victory without celebrating, as promised, in view of the fans who once worshipped him and would undoubtedly love the chance to do so again. Despite the customary Mourinho sub-plot escalation, the global audience wasn’t salivating at the Portuguese coach’s wisdom in its entirety, as over 4,000 miles away in East Africa, Kenya’s burgeoning legion of football followers were patiently anticipating a far more poignant appearance.

With five minutes remaining, and a 3-1 Inter lead seemingly enough to send the Italians through to the quarter-finals, Mourinho removed Wesley Sneijder, and replaced the Dutch forward with Nairobi-born Macdonald Mariga, the first Kenyan representative in the history of the Champions’ League. Mariga’s story isn’t all together unfamiliar, although it has been revealed this year that the midfielder earns $1.3million a year, the most of any East African player by a distance. But what encouraged Mariga’s journey from his agricultural background in Nakuru, playing in front of a diminutive crowd for Kenya’s national military team, to securing the attention of hundreds of millions of spectators from all corners of the globe, not to mention sharing occupational residency with Samuel Eto’o and Didier Drogba?

The aforementioned experienced contrasting emotions that night not least due to the result, but also since Drogba was dismissed for an unnecessary assault on Thiago Motta following Eto’o’s match-winner. Nevertheless, both had already cemented their statuses in their home continent as both athletic and political icons long before Mariga confirmed his place amongst his country’s most admired sporting paladins. The strikers are hailed as much for their charitable endowments as for their celebrity, with Drogba immortalized in the Ivory Coast for effectively ending five years of civil war, but how did either achieve such influential prominence having emerged from the humblest of beginnings? Youth academies have naturally played a significant role in exporting the continent’s precocious talents for the opportunities of greater exposure playing in Europe’s wealthier leagues, but their structure and organization is far more complex than the development facilities Premier League fans are used to. On the surface, this process appears to assist young Africans in the pursuit of their footballing ambitions, but the reality is far more brutal, and the coordination of several academies is only serving to harm the future of football in Africa.

Since the turn of the millennium, European fans, and particularly those who follow Premier League clubs, have witnessed a sudden infiltration of Ivorian talent, principally attributed to the MimoSifcom Academy near the country’s largest city, Abidjan. MimoSifcom is the official development facility of ASEC Mimosas, perhaps the Ivory Coast’s most famous footballing institution, and represents one of the few academies which demonstrate an authentically-African philosophy. The academy was one of the first structures of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa when founded in 1994, and its extant values mirror those of its European counterparts in that MimoSifcom provide hopeful thirteen to 17 year-olds with an academic as well as footballing education. The idea, as with any academy of this nature, is to promote promising candidates in to the Mimosas first-team, but with the mid-term intention to export the most gifted individuals to Europe in order to recover the costs of training young players and to sustain a steady flow of replacements for the successful graduates.

Continued on Page TWO

Mirror Football is reporting that Spurs are leading four fellow Premier League sides in the race to sign Cameroon midfielder Achille Emana.

The 28 year old attacking midfielder has won 35 caps for Cameroon and could be available for as little as £4.45m – because his current club Real Betis need to balance the books. Everton, Birmingham, Wigan and West Ham are also believed to be interested in the player.

Emana’s agent Bill McMurdo said “There are a lot of Premier League clubs interested in him. I know for sure. Everton, Spurs, Birmingham, West Ham and Wigan have all watched him over the last few weeks. Nobody’s made an offer. In the case of Birmingham, and especially West Ham and Wigan, they don’t know if they will stay up so they won’t make offers until their Premier League status is assured.”

McMurdo went on to say he expects Emana to be in the Premier League next season, he said “If he wants to go, and I know that he does, I think he will be with an English club next season. There’s a strong possibility of that. He’s very keen to leave, be it to come to England or to go to France. There are no concrete offers yet, but he could well come to England. I know that at least one of those clubs is really keen on him.”

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Juan Valera met a Jose Antonio Reyes corner to head the hosts in front after 13 minutes at the Vicente Calderon.

Uruguay front-man Diego Forlan made it 2-0 in the 34th minute, collecting a Tiago through-ball and rounding Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate to slot home his seventh goal of the season.

Atletico were a left a man short from the 70th minute when captain Antonio Lopez received a straight red for tugging down Emilio Insue inside the box, preventing the striker from running through on goal.

But Cameroon striker Pierre Webo failed to convert the resulting penalty, with his spot-kick saved by David De Gea.

Any hope of a comeback for Mallorca receded further when midfielder Jonathan De Guzman saw red for a late tackle on Juanfran.

Reyes then wrapped up the scoring in the 90th minute.

Finding himself unmarked at the back post, the former Arsenal and Seville man shot low beyond Aouate to make it 3-0.

Atletico move back to sixth at the expense of Athletic Bilbao, while Mallorca remain ninth.

Elokobi settled in Welling he joined up with nearby non-league side Dulwich Hamlet, who are no strangers in helping the development of Premier League players. Peter Crouch, Marlon King and Leon Cort are just some of the players who spent time at Champion Hill.

An impressive 2003-04 season helped draw the attention of League One side Colchester United. The manager of the U’s at the time was Phil Parkinson and he decided to take Elokobi to Layer Road in June 2004.

Having not appeared for the first team for the first part of the season, Parkinson allowed Elokobi to join Chester City on loan in early 2005. Under the management of Ian Rush, the defender made his league debut against Swansea on January 29^th. However, the loan spell turned out to be a disappointing one, with Chester losing the five games that Elokobi played in – with the final game ending prematurely after he got himself sent off.

The following season at Colchester turned out to be more successful as Elokobi forced his way in to the first team. Colchester had a good season themselves, securing promotion to the Championship by finishing runners-up in the division. The season also saw Elokobi score his first ever goal, during an LDV Vans Trophy match against Northampton.

On deadline day of the January 2008 transfer window, Mick McCarthy brought Elokobi to Molineux. All of a sudden, he found himself challenging for promotion instead of battling relegation! Elokobi established himself in the first team and made 15 appearances as Wolves narrowly missed out on a play-off position.

The 2008-09 season started well for Elokobi, who was now considered the first-choice left-back at Molineux. However, just a few games into the campaign, he suffered knee ligament damage during a match against Ipswich. The injury kept him out for the rest of the season and he had to watch on as Wolves stormed to the Championship title.

With the new Premier League campaign approaching, Elokobi worked hard to up his fitness. After being named on the bench for the opening two games, he made his Premier League debut when he came on as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat at Manchester City. He went on to make over 20 appearances as Wolves successfully avoided relegation and finished in 15^th place.

So far this year, George has been in and out of the team, but he did score his first Wolves goal during the Carling Cup defeat at Manchester United last month. However, his biggest achievement came early this week when he was called up to the Cameroon squad for the first time. He will join up with the likes of Samuel Eto’o and Alex Song at a training camp in France ahead of crucial fixtures against Senegal next year.

The Cameroon-born left-back, who proudly sports Cameroon sweatbands every match, truly is a rags to riches story. Elokobi is possibly one the most “physically gifted” players around, as he looks more like a quarter-back than a left-back when he lines up for Wolves.

I think it is fair to say that everyone can be happy for George, who has worked his way up the footballing ladder at an alarming rate. Let’s just hope Javier Clemente has enough faith to give George his international debut – well, I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one to tell him he’s no playing!

This week saw the arrival of London Fashion Week where every year, designers from around the world showcase the best of their designs for an expectant public. The same could be said for football fans who eagerly anticipate the release of their team’s new kit.

Instead of having a new design every year like their couture counterparts, clubs change their kits every other season. However, for some of these monstrosities, two years would be an absolute eternity if you had to don these shocking creations week-in-week-out. Here’s our list of the top 10 worst football kits in football history.

Click on the image below to see which kits made the TOP 10!

Any other sartorial aberrations you feel we’ve missed out?

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It does however make you think will an African nation ever be able to win one and what will it take for it to happen? The great Pele incorrectly predicted that an African team would win the World Cup by the end of the 20th Century, despite his incorrect prediction; the African teams have all greatly improved in recent years. Many of them have produced some world class players, but unfortunately they haven’t all been for one team. As a result most African teams seem to have one or two world class players and then the rest are either good or average. If only Africa could play as a continent then they would have a great team that might even possibly be able to win a World Cup.

Here is what a current Africa XI could look like:

Goalkeeper: Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria)

The Nigerian goalkeeper really came to prominence in the World Cup despite the Super Eagles poor showing, he was named as man of the match two of their three games. Enyeama’s form has seen him linked with a move to the Premiership this season and it is hardly surprising, he has been overlooked for some time and perhaps now will get some deserved recognition.

Right Back: Madjid Bougherra (Algeria)

Rangers player Bougherra is very much a ‘footballing defender’, he is very comfortable with the ball at his feet, so much so that he won the award for the Scottish Premier League goal of the season last year. The former Charlton player has been linked with a move to Barcelona following his impressive form in Glasgow for the past two years.

Centre-Back: Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast)

Experienced defender Toure is one of the lynch pins of the Ivory Coast, although he may be inconsistent at time for Manchester City he is a reliable presence for his country. Although he has yet to recapture his Arsenal form at club level remains a top player.

Centre-Back: John Mensah (Ghana)

Former Sunderland loanee Mensah was a rock in defence for Ghana at the World Cup; he was definitely one of the main reasons why the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals. Interestingly statistics show that Sunderland were better in games last season with Mensah in the side than without.

Left Back: Taye Taiwo (Nigeria)

The marauding left back has long been considered the ‘Nigerian Roberto Carlos’, his game is very much based on the legendary Brazilians and also has a powerful left foot; Taiwo has long been admired for his efforts with his club Marseille.

Right Midfield: Mohamed Sissoko (Mali)

Juventus midfielder Sissoko is a tough tackling player who always gives his all, although he may not have had the best of times at Liverpool he has really flourished in Turin and is a firm fans favourite at the club.

Centre Midfield: Michael Essien (Ghana)

Arguably the best African player in the world right now, Essien is the perfect midfielder. He can tackle, shoot and pass all with great ability; it’s no wonder why he is currently the most expensive African player of all time. Unfortunately Essien didn’t get a chance to show off skills in South Africa as he picked up an injury in the African Cup of Nations which ruled him out.

Centre Midfield: Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)

The new Manchester City signing has been a great player for Barcelona in the last few years and can consider himself unlucky to have been deemed not part of Pep Guardiola’s plans for next season.

Left Midfield: Seydou Keita (Mali)

A regular in the midfield for Barcelona, a lot of Keita’s work goes un-noticed but he has shown to be a key player for the side at times. The Malian always works tirelessly for the team and covers a lot of distance whenever he plays.

Centre Forward: Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)

Drogba has shown himself to be one of the most lethal strikers in Europe at Chelsea, the front man is big and powerful and a constant threat for defenders, who have to be at the top of their game to handle him. It’s fair to say he isn’t everybody’s favourite player but love him or hate him, the man is a class act.

Centre Forward: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)

Eto’o has also proved to be one of the best strikers in the world, his blistering pace and fantastic finishing ability have gotten on him so many goals in recent years, a truly fantastic striker.

Do you think that team would be good enough to win the World Cup?

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Click on image to see a gallery of the BEST BABES at the World Cup this summer

10. The Slovenian goalkeeper is a coward

When Landon Donovan’s rocket early in the second half of USA’s game against Slovenia hit the back of the net, one couldn’t help but notice Slovenia’s ‘keeper move out of the way rather than make a save. What is surprising is that the goalkeeper is Samir Handanovic who plays for Udinese and is regarded as a good goalkeeper in Italy. He is probably the side’s most high profile player and to see him bottling a save doesn’t fill you with a lot of confidence about Slovenia’s chances.

9. Dennis Rommedahl is actually a good player!

Fans of Charlton Athletic including myself will be scratching their heads wondering, why couldn’t Dennis Rommedahl show that kind of form at Charlton on a regular basis? The Danish midfielder looked inspired during Denmark’s 2-1 victory over Cameroon. His blistering pace caused the Cameroon defence all kinds of problems down the right hand side managing to put in a cross for Nicolas Bendtner to score and cancel out Samuel Eto’o’ s opener. Then he in the second half he went on to a score the winner for his side by twisting and turning his way through the defence before placing a nicely curled shot into the back of the net.

8. Holland look efficient

Although they didn’t look spectacular in their game against Japan they got the result at the end of it, much like in their game with Denmark. As of writing they are the only side along with Brazil and Argentina to have won their two opening games, and they have made the best start out of all the sides in Europe. The fact that they haven’t blown anyone away yet but possess so much talent is scary thought for other sides and they will surely be a force to be reckoned with in the knockout stages.

7. Ghana know how to celebrate

After coolly slotting away a penalty for Ghana, Asamoah Gyan and his team mates all proceeded to break into a wonderfully choreographed celebration that has got to be the best one of the tournament so far!

6. Luis Fabiano knows how to score a good goal or two

Brazil striker Luis Fabiano finally opened his World Cup account by scoring two well taken goals against the Ivory Coast yesterday. His first was a powerful shot smashed into the back the net after a lovely passing team move. The second goal he scored was a sublime finish reminiscent of Paul Gascoigne’s goal for England against Scotland in Euro 96. It was perhaps the best goal of the tournament so far but the claim will be spoilt because of a debateable hand ball by Fabiano.

Continue reading on the next page to see the final 5

North Korea showed immense spirit and fight when they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Brazil in their Group G opener yesterday. Although the Koreans suffered defeat they held their own against the Brazilian superstars for 55 minutes, they scored a great and deserved goal in the 89th minute to set up a tense finish. Had they been able to grab a point it would have been a tremendous result for the tournament’s lowest FIFA ranked side coming in at 105. With the Brazilians ranked as number one in the world the game should have been a total mismatch but this wasn’t the case. The match got me thinking about the times when a giant has succumbed to inferior opposition, so here are the top five World Cup giant killings:

5. Cameroon v Argentina

At Italia 90’, Cameroon, inspired by Roger Milla were able to defeat reigning champions Argentina in their opening Group B game. Omam Biyick scored the game’s only goal and Cameroon went on to remarkably reach the quarter-finals, becoming the first African team to do so in only their second World Cup. Argentina went on to reach the final but lost out to winners West Germany.

4. Senegal v France

12 years later Senegal went on to have a very similar tournament to Cameroon. Playing in their first ever and to date only World Cup, Senegal shocked everyone by beating the reigning World and European champions France in their opening game. Papa Boupa Diop was the hero for Senegal scoring the game’s only goal after half an hour, France could never get going in the match and afterwards ended up going out in the group stage without scoring a single goal in the whole tournament. Senegal reached the quarter-finals becoming only the second African nation to do so.

3. Ireland v Italy

Who could forget Ray Houghton’s chip over the Italian goalkeeper and the wild celebrations afterwards. Playing in the Giants Stadium in New Jersey, Ireland had the full backing of supporters and went on to win the game 1-0. Jack Charlton ended up taking his unfancied Irish team who were the oldest in the tournament through the group stage and into the second round. The defeat didn’t matter too much for Italy who managed to reach the final, but the victory for Ireland will always remain as one of their greatest memories.

2. USA v England

In the 1950 World Cup staged in Brazil, England met the USA in the group stages of the tournament. England were seen as huge favourites for the match but ended up losing by solitary goal when Haitian-born Joe Gaetjens scored past England and Wolves goalkeeper Bert Williams. Both England and the USA were eliminated from the group stage and the USA didn’t appear in another World Cup until 40 years later in Italia 90’.

1. North Korea v Italy

Prior to this year’s World Cup North Korea have only ever played in the tournament on one occasion. That year was 1966 which everyone will know as a great year for England but it was also a great year for North Korea. Just like now in 2010 North Korea came into the tournament with not many people knowing too much about them and they were expected to go out in the group stage making very little impact. However North Korea didn’t read the script and beat Italy in their final group game which took them through to the quarter-finals at the Italians expense, where they faced Portugal. North Korea then incredibly took at 3-0 half-time lead against a Portugal side that contained the great Eusebio. Their hopes of a semi-final place were then dashed when Portugal rallied back in the second half and ended up winning the game 5-3 with Eusebio grabbing four goals. Still North Korea’s victory over Italy serves as a constant reminder that no team at international level should ever be under-estimated.

Are there any other World Cup giant killings that you would like to add?

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