Unbeaten, unimpressive

World Cup finalists fail to shine in Mali

BAMAKO (Reuters) -- Three wins and two draws have left the five African countries heading to the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea undefeated after the first round of matches at the African Nations Cup finals.

But they have given supporters little to enthuse over.

The five -- Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia -- have been the subject of the lion's share of attention at the tournament but have all proven sluggish in their respective opening matches.

Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal all won their first matches but by a slim 1-0 scoreline and with a great deal of difficulty as they turned in mediocre performances, exposing defensive frailties and showing little attacking acumen.

Nigeria was a 1-0 winner over Algeria in Bamako on Monday with Julius Aghahowa's goal the only one scored in four matches played on a dour day of football.

But the Nigerians could well have lost the game against their north African opponents, who squandered several easy opportunities to pull off an upset win in group A.

On Sunday, Senegal were outplayed for a large part of their game against Egypt in group D but won with a late goal from defender Lamine Diatta, who headed the winner from outside the penalty area after the ball had been punched directly at him by the opposing goalkeeping.

Cameroon, despite new-style sleeveless shirts, had to rely on a rocket from key striker Patrick Mboma to give them the three points in their match against the Democratic Republic of Congo in Sikasso on Sunday.

Came close

Cameroon is the defending champion and boasts a squad full of players from its gold-medal winning team at the last Olympic Games in Sydney.

Both South Africa and Tunisia were held to goalless draws in their first matches and could well have suffered surprise defeats.

Burkina Faso came close on several occasions in its match with the South Africans in Segou on Sunday night while Tunisia profited from some poor Zambian finishing in their match in Bamako on Monday.

"We are taking a while to get used to each other again," said Nigerian captain Sunday Oliseh after his team's narrow win.

The match was the first for the Super Eagles since a friendly against Japan in October.

"There are no easy games at this competition," said South African coach Carlos Queiroz.

"We did everything right in our game except score."

Poor finishing has been a major characteristic of the first eight matches, with only five goals so far.

"You have to give everybody a chance to get used to the conditions, which are hot and bumpy," said Noureddine Naybet of Morocco, one of four other teams at the Nations Cup who have been to previous World Cup finals but are not headed to Asia later this year. The tournament resumes Thursday after a two-day break.

 

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