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Return of the King
Stephen Appiah return to fitness has been met with sighs of relief all over Ghana. The Black Star’s inspirational capital has endured a torrid year, suffering from a debilitating knee injury that kept him from the pitch as well as problems with his club Fenerbahce. In last to last seasons Turkish league as well as the Champions League, Stephen Appiah formed a key component in a Fenerbahce team that proved a tough opponent in Europe, and won the Turkish Championship. Appiah has not enjoyed much joy since, and his recent re-emergence for the Black Stars could not have come soon enough, with Ghana somewhat stagnating since the departure of the excellent Claude Leroy. Ghana face hardship in their quest for qualification for South Africa 2010 and will need Appiah to secure their place, particularly considering the absence of Michael Essien, who has now himself pick up a serious knee injury.
South Africa coach Joel Santana has a huge mess on his hands.
With Bafana Bafana's 1-0 loss to Guinea in a friendly on Tuesday, coupled with their ousting from the 2010 African Cup of Nations following a 1-0 loss to Nigeria, the knives are out for the embattled Brazilian.
The qualification for the 2010 World Cup and 2010 African Nations Cup reached the business end this weekend with a full roster of games across the continent. Cameroon, Benin, and Nigeria all won to secure top spots in their groups. Egypt, Kenya, Rwanda and Burkina Faso have also done enouht to ensure they go forward to the second group phase of qualification, which will see the remaining twenty teams battle it out in groups of 4 to secure the 16 spots at Angola's inaugural Cup of Nations and the 4 places at the first World Cup on African soil. The battle to join them is set to go to the wire with the 3/4 of the teams still in contention as we anticipate the final round of group games.
The team les Elephants selected for this Olympic tournament was very different to the one that finished 4th at this year’s Cup of Nations. Unlike Argentina, Brazil and many other sides, they chose not to take any overage players; every player in the squad was 23 or younger. This meant an opportunity to shine for many youngsters looking to break in to the senior team for the South Africa 2010 qualifying tournament.
