The race to decide Africa’s representatives at the 2010 World Cup will be whittled down to 20 teams this weekend, setting up a potentially thrilling final qualification phase next year.
Benin, Cameroon and Nigeria are already through to the draw in Zurich later this month where the final 20 candidates will be divided into five groups.
But the other 17 qualifiers will be only be determined after the 22 scheduled matches today and tomorrow.
The likes of Burkina Faso, Egypt, the Ivory Coast, Morocco and Tunisia are almost certain to progress but 2006 World Cup finalists Angola, Ghana and Togo do not have the same privilege.
Togo, whose Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has launched a one-man boycott of the national team after a row over travel arrangements, are particularly vulnerable to early elimination.
Even if they beat lowly Swaziland today, they face missing out on the final phase of the qualifiers.
Adebayor sits out a second successive match after walking out on the eve of last month’s game in Zambia when his call to meet the Togo Football Federation president went unheeded.
Togo’s problems have opened the door for Swaziland to emerge as the Cinderella team of the campaign to date.
The tiny southern African kingdom will top Group 11 if they win the match, which is being played in Ghana because of a ban on internationals in Togo after home fans attacked Mali players a year ago in Lome.
“We are going there for a kill,” Swaziland’s key midfielder Denis Masina said.
Meanwhile, Senegal prepare to host Gambia today in a make-or-break qualifier. Coach Lamin Ndiaye knows his future hinges on the outcome today in Dakar.
Algeria (9 points) top the table ahead of a fixture at lowly Liberia (2) while Gambia and Senegal have eight each with the ‘Scorpions’ second because of a better goal difference, plus three to plus two.
Victory for Senegal over opponents they have not lost competitively to since 1962 should see them safely into the final qualifying phase as group winners or one of the best eight runners-up.
A defeat would spell the end for the home side and even a draw might not be enough to earn a place in the third-round draw.
Ndiaye wants Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade among a capacity crowd, believing the presence of the head of state “would be a source of exceptional motivation for the players.”
Ghana could feature in a three-way tie at the top of Group Five and effectively need a deluge of goals to keep up their qualifying chances but go into today’s match against Lesotho in Sekondi without the injured Asamoah Gyan and Michael Essien.
Angola must beat Niger in their Group Three match in Luanda tomorrow to have any hope of qualifying.
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