Ivory Coast's Guy Demel (20) argues with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo during a 2010 World Cup Group G soccer match at Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in Port Elizabeth June 15, 2010.OLEG POPOV/Reuters
Just a week into the tournament that was touted as "Africa's World Cup," the dominant teams are the same as always: South American and European.
It might be the first World Cup on African soil, but the Africans themselves are being left in the dust. Only one African team, Ghana, has managed a win so far. And the host country, South Africa, stands on the verge of elimination.
Nigeria, traditionally considered one of the stronger African teams, has now lost both of its first two matches at the 2010 World Cup, and has only itself to blame. Nigeria was leading 1-0 over Greece on Thursday, when one of its players, Sani Kaita, committed a catastrophic error.
After tangling with a Greek player, Kaita lashed out with an impulsive kick. He was immediately given a red card, leaving Nigeria short-handed for the rest of the match, and Greece capitalized by scoring two goals and winning 2-1. Some observers called it the most foolish mistake of the World Cup so far.
South Africa, meanwhile, was hit with another heavy blow on Thursday, when Mexico beat France 2-0. It means South Africa faces even longer odds of advancing to the next round. The South Africans must beat France next week to have any hope of advancing, but even then they will be eliminated if Mexico and Uruguay play to a draw. Uruguay defeated South Africa by a 3-0 score on Wednesday.
In other groups, Cameroon and Algeria were defeated in their opening matches and face tougher opposition in their next games. Ghana was the sole winner, beating Serbia 1-0.
The only other African team with a significant chance, at this point, is Ivory Coast, which held powerful Portugal to a scoreless draw.
FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, has been promoting this heavily as an African World Cup that would "celebrate Africa's humanity."
But the African teams have few advantages in this tournament. Most were placed in difficult groups. And aside from South Africa, their fan support has been sparse.
Because most tickets were sold to credit-card holders on the Internet, many African fans were effectively excluded, and only 11,000 fans are attending the World Cup from African countries outside the host nation.
Geoffrey York