Ghana aim to lift Africa
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Rustenburg - Ghana hope to lift flagging African spirits at the continent's first World Cup on Saturday in a tournament livened by the success of other underdogs against supposed heavyweights of global soccer.
After France and Spain suffered early upsets by lower-ranking teams, Germany became the latest European power to taste surprise defeat - 1-0 to Serbia on Friday.
Then Slovenia, the smallest nation in the tournament with a population of just over two million, put in a fantastic display against a strong United States team, going 2-0 up before being pegged back for a 2-2 draw in a free-flowing game.
Not to be outdone, Algeria on Friday night shocked a spiritless England by holding them to a scoreless draw, bringing boos for Fabio Capello's men from their own fans in one of the worst games of the tournament so far.
The locals will undoubtedly be behind Ghana in Rustenburg on Saturday as the Black Cats try to overcome an Australia side deprived of its talisman Tim Cahill through suspension after a red card in the 4-0 defeat to Germany.
"For Australia, this is the last chance," Ghana's Serb coach Milovan Rajevac said.
Another traditional African power, Cameroon, had an awful start with a 1-0 defeat to Japan and will hope to bury that memory against Denmark in Group E on Saturday night in Pretoria.
Their camp is reeling, however, from discontent among senior players unhappy at coach Paul Le Guen's decision to overlook them in favour of less experienced youngsters.
"They cannot withstand the sort of pressure that comes with playing in big tournaments such as the World Cup," said midfielder Achille Emana. Coach Le Guen has avoided the media, but the dissent is hardly going to help team spirit.
Various players and coaches have been criticising the new Jabulani ball, the effect of the altitude, and even the droning noise of the vuvuzelas at South Africa 2010. But pundits say stage-fright and poor preparation are hindering Africa's teams.
Despite some forecasts of an African "breakthrough" and the presence of the continent's best from all over Europe's leagues, no national team has managed to better Cameroon and Senegal's World Cup quarter-final showings in 1990 and 2002.
Of six African teams at this tournament, only Ghana have won so far. The biggest dampener for Africa has been the hosts' failure to shine, with Bafana Bafana on the verge of elimination after picking up just one point in two games.
That has dulled the noise of vuvuzela horns and threatens to give South Africa an unwanted record of being the only World Cup hosts not to reach the second stage.
In Saturday's other match, also in Group E, Netherlands take on Japan hoping to improve on a stuttering display that nevertheless saw them win their first game against Denmark 2-0.
The Dutch will probably miss injured wing wizard Arjen Robben, though even without him their strike power is formidable.
"The Dutch themselves think their strength lies in attack so what we need to do is try to wind them up and frustrate them," said Japan's midfielder Yuki Abe.
French and Spanish media have been tearing into their teams after surprise defeats to Mexico and Switzerland respectively.
"It was Waterloo in the Limpopo," said France's Le Figaro newspaper, referring to Napoleon's 1815 defeat and the South African province where Les Bleus were beaten by Mexico.
The boos for England presaged what will no doubt be a similar media savaging.
Amid an inquisition over Spain's shock defeat - which saw them displaced by Brazil as bookies' favourites - British media said the pitch-side presence of Spanish keeper Iker Casillas' glamorous journalist girlfriend had been a fatal distraction.
Diego Maradona's Argentina have taken a relaxed approach to that issue and it seems to be paying off with two wins out of two in a fantastic tournament so far for Latin American teams.
"Sex isn't a problem. It's only a problem if they're doing it at two in the morning with a bottle of champagne on the go," team doctor Donato Villani said before the tournament.
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