Refocusing after Zambia 1, Togo 0

After all the controversy and speculation that surrounded the build-up to this game, I would be lying if I said I expected an outcome different from a 1-0 defeat. After the rumoured plane-crashes, the star player staying home and the recent exit of the manager, I knew it would take some sort of miracle for Togo to pull out a win or even a draw in hostile Zambian territory.

I was able to catch the second half of the game before I headed to work thanks to the magic of the internet but to be honest, the bowl of Strawberry-frosted Mini Wheats I was enjoying was far more interesting then the football game. The Togo squad had no attacking options with both Adebayor and Adekanmi Olufade absent and looked extremely nonchalant and uninterested for the entire second half. There was very little possession, few crisp passes, and no organization. Chalk it up to distractions, lack of preparation, the absence of a few key players, who knows, but the bottom line is that Togo didn’t seem concerned with the outcome of the game. But Togo playing as poorly as they did, were only denied a point by a well-taken laser by Zambian Felix Katongo in the first half.

Maybe both Adebayor and the rest of the team realized that all it takes for them to progress to the next stage of qualification is a victory over 141st ranked Swaziland in October. Sounds easy enough except that Togo already lost to the Swazi’s 2-1 back on June 8.

On the bright side, the game will be in Ghana so if Adebayor has any more fear of crashing planes he can just hop on a moped and scoot across the border.