A Flying Start

I gotta be honest, if you told me a week ago that after the first game against Cameroon, all Togo would need to do is beat Gabon in their second game to be all alone in first place after 2 games I would have been ecstatic. Well, that’s exactly the position Les Eperviers find themselves in after a well-fought 1-0 victory over Cameroon on Saturday.

Due to the wonders of technology I was even fortunate enough to be able to watch the entire game live on Saturday morning. If you are wondering how to watch the African qualifiers and don’t mind shelling out a few bucks, check out myafricanfootball.com. It was pretty good quality and how else would I have been able to watch a Togo soccer match over here in Canada? Feel free to share any other ideas you have for watching these games.

But, back to the game. Leading up to the game I was quite comfortable with the underdog role but once I heard that Adebayor had made the trip from the Arsenal injury list to Accra, Ghana for the game, my confidence immediately doubled. For Togo to have any shot at consecutive World Cup qualifications, Emmanuel has to do what he did in 2006, and that is carry the team on his back. Also coming back from injury to make an appearance was Cameroon star Samuel Eto’o, although he didn’t have too much of an impact. Here are the complete starting lineups the teams fielded on Saturday:
TOGO
* 16 Kodjovi OBILALE (GK)
* 2 Dare NIBOMBE
* 4 Emmanuel ADEBAYOR
* 5 Richmond FORSON
* 6 Abdul MAMAH
* 7 Moustapha SALIFOU
* 8 Komlan AMEWOU
* 9 Thomas DOSSEVI
* 10 Cherif Toure MAMAM
* 12 Serge AKAKPO
* 15 Alaixys ROMAO

CAMEROON
* (GK) Idriss KAMENI 1
* Benoit ASSOU-EKOTTO 3
* Rigobert SONG 4
* Andre BIKEY 5
* Modeste MBAMI 7
* GEREMI 8
* Samuel ETOO 9
* Jean MAKOUN 11
* Daniel KOME 12
* Atchoyi SOMEN 13
* Achille WEBO 15

Cameroon’s worst fears were realized in the 11th minute when Adebayor fought off Andre Bikey and put the ball in the back of the net. Togo, under the direction of coach Jean Thissen, had had a strong start and were rewarded. Admittedly, Cameroon enjoyed an edge in possession for the remainder of the game and created the bulk of the scoring chances but Togo’s defence held strong and keeper Kodjovi Obilale made a few nice saves. Adebayor wasted a chance for a second goal and some insurance when he missed a spot kick in the late stages after being taken down in the box.

All in all, Togo played a smart game against a stronger opponent. They started well, got the goal, and then protected the lead. Seen as this was their “home” game against Cameroon (being that they are still banned from having home games in Togo due to previous riots) it was crucial to come away with something and a win is better than what I expected. Up next is Gabon in Libreville on June 6. A win there and Togo will be all alone atop group A, thanks to Gabon’s stunning 2-1 victory over Morocco in Casablanca.

But that wasn’t the only surprise during the first weekend of qualifiers on the African continent. Elsewhere, Mozambique drew with Nigeria, Zambia held Egypt to a 1-1 draw, and Sudan tied Mali with the same scoreline. I hesitate to call Burkina Faso’s 4-2 win over Guinea an upset because these Stallions are on quite a roll, seen as they haven’t lost in the 7 qualification games they have played this time around. They have a tough task in front of them though having to get by the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire who dismantled Malawi 5-0 in their first game.

June will be a crucial month with all teams playing 2 games. Stay tuned, things will get interesting.