World Cup 2010

Abedi Pele: Africa Will Win 2010 World Cup

African football legend Abedi Pele believes Africa is destined to lift the World Cup trophy on home soil...

Dec 1, 2009 11:40:19 AM

bedi Pele (C) shakes hands with FIFA President Joseph Sepp Blatter (R) and President of the African Soccer Federation Issa Hayatou

Teams

One of the six African representatives for the 2010 World Cup will lift the trophy, predicts three-time African Footballer of the Year Abedi Pele.

"We definitely will have one African team that goes far and when I say goes far I mean as far as raising the trophy. When I make this prediction people laugh, but I believe it.

"This is our best chance of lifting the trophy because if you study the history of the World Cup Brazil are the only team to win it outside their continent.

"When I told football officials that African champions Egypt would defeat world champions Italy during the FIFA Confederations Cup this year they all laughed.

"It happened and they had to admit I was right," the former Ghana midfield maestro, whose son Dede Ayew helped Ghana win the U-20 World Cup in Egypt, told AFP.

Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and host South Africa are representing the continent in next summer's event that is being staged for the first time in Africa.

"Look at Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria ... these teams are growing so fast."

Pele joins another African football legend George Weah of Liberia who has high hopes that Africa is destined to end its World Cup drought by winning the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Since the tournament was introduced some 79 years ago it has been an all Europe-South America dominance.Since Cameroon reached the 1990 quarter-finals in Italy and Senegal repeating same feat 12 years later in South Korea no African country had broken that record. Ghana came close when it was knocked out in the Round 16 stages in Germany 2006.

K.N.S. Mensah, Goal.com

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