The-Shot.Net Writers Club - Preview Group D: Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Benin

Group D
has this years 'The Group Of Death' label. With Nigeria, South Africa, and Morocco, three giants of African football are battling for only two places in the quarter final.
Means: At least one of the three will have to go home after the first round.
And: would normally, as we know African football, probably fire their coach.

But South Africa already did that with two weeks to go before the tournament. An idea which sounds ridiculous to outsiders.
The given reason was Mashaba's bad relationship with some players, especially the European professionals like Fortune, who already quit the Nations Cup campaign a while ago.
More professionals from Europe like Benni McCarthy were left out, because they refused to arrive for the full preperation period. Further he was accused of nominating injured players.
Maybe reason eanough. But with letting him do the damage and then firing him with two weeks to go sounds stupid.
As it gives you the worst of both worlds: Neither McCarthy, Fortune, Bartlett, or Fish will play. Nor will coach Mashaba have the chance to prove himself right with his selection, his preperation plan, and his strategy.
Mahsaba went to court, got right, but had to agree to quit the idea coaching at the Nations Cup anyway.
Instead there is some other coach who will have to cope now with what Mashaba started and left.
First consequence was a Cosafa Cup defeat, a regional competition game that was intended to serve as preperation as well.

So coaching is the big topic in this group.

Nigeri, as usual with only few months to go before the tournament, seemed to have hired a prominent coach in Bryan Robson, until they discovered they did not have the money to pay him. This opens an unexpected rare chance for a little bit of continuity in the Nigerian program as now coach Chukwu will have the chance to continue his work a little longer.
And this could be the point that brings the Nigerian to start as real favorites.
No coach that first has to get known the players, no players that first have to adapt the new coach's ideas.
Years long Nigeria had self destructed what had seemed the coming golden age of African Football in the mid 90's by bad preperations, by hiring and firing coaches, by adopting and abandoning selection strategies.
In the climax of the program Nigeria went to the World Cup 2002 to replace the February Nations Cup semi-finalists with an inexperienced team to 'build a completely new team unregarding the results' only to have a new coach and all different players already weeks later after a disappointing showing.
The only success for Nigeria had come at Tunisia 1994 after a four years build up by Dutch coach Westerhof and his assistant Bonfrere who then continued the work to have the Super Eagles win Olympic gold ion 1996. From then on it was downhill despite having a collection of high profile internationals in European Leagues, at that time clearly the best in Africa.
But not only administration, players too did not focus on the game, involved in bonus wrangles (suspecting officials to keep them) or other off pitch affairs or just being complacent like before the knock out against Danmark 1998.
2004 preperations seem less hysterical, only angered by the late arrival of the Premier League professionals, but who will be topfit at least, led by a Jay Jay Okocha in top form, having a striking quality upfront in Kanu, Ayegbeni, and Aghahowa that few other teams have.
It only remains to be seen whether the goalkeeping problem has been solved.

Morocco are another name with a self destruction history: impatient as so many others in Africa, they disbanded their thoroughly groomed team of the late 90's and fired coach Henri Michel after a similar group of death constellation saw them as the losers at Ghana Nigeria 2000. Todays new team, after some years of evolution, has a face, has had some good results but the real test is now. Morocco seldom have been real good at Nations Cup tournaments, especially when at subsaharan locations and especially against those teams. So it might help that this years edition is in a surrounding more similar to home. In Tunisia 1994 by the way they had not been able to qualify.

Benin finally have another coaching story to tell. It points to Ghana where a certain Cecil Jones A. suffered from similar circumstances as the ones described in the Nigeria preview above. With the consequence that he took over the Squirrels who already had been brought on the way to improvement in the past years. He coached them to an unexpected success in a qualifying group with Zambia and now Benin are at Tunisia while Ghana are not.
Their most prominent players are Omar Tchomogo, the captain who scored the decisive goals and has since moved from French Ligue 2 outfit Valence to Ligue 1 club Guingamp. The other might be Moussa Latoundi from German 2nd Bundesliga team Cottbus, for whom he already played when they were in Bundesliga 1.
Benin are debutants and will try to emulate Congo's role in that Nigeria-Morocco-Tunisia group of death of 2000 where they angered all three bigs with a committed resistance.
Their big chance lies in the opening match against South Africa, who might be lacking confidence after all the problems before the Cup.