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THE WEEK IN INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL
Mixed Fortunes For African Nations Hosts, Plus The Rest Of The Week's News
By Gavin Hamilton, Editor Of World Soccer Magazine
GHANA kicked off the opening match of the 2000 African Cup of Nations on Saturday - but they could only manage a 1-1 draw with Cameroon in the national stadium in Accra.
It wasn't the best of starts for the co-hosts, who are one of the favourites to win the tournament. The Ghanaian side features a new generation of talented players which has grown up together, competing in the World Under-17 and Under-20 championships. Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah, whose personal feud frustrated the progress of the senior team throughout the 1990s, have retired, leaving such promising players as Bayern Munich's Sammy Kuffour, Peter Ofori-Quaye of Olympiakos and Charles Akonnor to help Ghana realise their potential on the wider stage.
Italian Giuseppe Dossena, a non-playing member of Italy's 1982 World Cup-winning squad, has installed tactical discipline as coach, and results in recent friendly matches have been impressive. However, Dossena's touch and a lively home crowd were not enough against Cameroon, who took the lead in the first half on Saturday through Marc-Vivien Foe. The Indomitable Lions should have added to their tally before half-time, but Pierre Wome, Patrick Mboma and Sorelle Njitap all missed good chances.
Ghana rallied after the break, and equalised through Kwarme Ayew, brother of Abedi Pele. After sharing the points in the points in their opening match, Ghana and Cameroon are the favourites to reach the quarter-finals from a tough first-round group, which also features Ivory Coast and Togo.
Co-hosts Nigeria made a superb start to their campaign with a 4-2 victory over Tunisia in the opening Group D match in Lagos. Augustine 'Jay Jay' Okocha and Victor Ikpeba scored two goals each for the Super Eagles and Walid Azaiez and Adel Sellimi were on target for Tunisia, who faded badly in the second half. Arsenal striker Kanu created two of Nigeria's goals, but also spurned a clear chance late on.
Iran proved that their historic win over the United States at the 1998 World Cup was no fluke when they held the Americans to a 1-1 draw in Los Angeles in the final match of their recent US tour.
Iran took an early lead through Mehdi Mahdavikia on seven minutes and withstood an attacking onslaught from the Americans. The US equalised early in the second half when Cobi Jones' cross flew straight in from the right. The Americans had chances to grab a winner, but the match ended in a diplomatic draw. An estimated 90% of the 49,212 crowd in the Pasadena Rose Bowl were Iranian.
Australian confidence in the build-up for this year's Olympic Games was dealt a blow when the Under-23 side, admitttedly without their best player, Harry Kewell, was beaten 3-0 by South Korea in a four-nations friendly tournament in Adelaide after earlier victories over Ghana and Nigeria.
Two interesting coaching appointments last week. Ukraine persuaded long-serving Dynamo Kiev coach Valery Lobanovsky to become national coach in place of Josef Szabo. Lobanovsky, 60, spent two weeks in hospital with heart problems last October, but knows the national team well as most play for his Dynamo side. Meanwhile, former Argentina coach Carlos Bilardo, who led his country to World Cup victory in 1986 and to runners-up spot in 1990, has taken charge of Libya's bid to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.
RESULTS
Sunday, January 16
United States 1 Iran 1 (friendly)
Tuesday, January 18
Morocco 1 Trinidad & Tobago 1 (friendly)
Thursday, Janury 20
Mexico 3 Romania 1 (friendly)
Saturday, January 22
Ghana 1 Cameroon 1 (African Nations Cup)
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