JOHANNESBURG — Cameroon superstar Samuel Eto'o warned that the World Cup is all about preparation and Africa once again largely ignored the message as Ghana snatched defeat from jaws of quarter-final glory.
While football followers around the world cried foul as a deliberate Uruguay handball robbed the Black Stars of a semi-final spot, the resultant shoot-out exposed a team ill equipped for the nerve-jangling task.
Dominic Adiyiah could be excused his unconvincing shoot-out attempt on the grounds of youth, but the failure by experienced captain John Mensah left much to be desired.
His awkward two-step run-up and timid shot smacked of someone who had not spent a lot of time practising the skill and South African TV analyst and former England and Liverpool star John Barnes showed little sympathy.
"When you are a defender and not a regular penalty taker you do not take just two steps before kicking the ball. You make a longer run up and belt the ball," he explained.
Inter Milan striker Eto'o would nod approval having warned in an interview that African expectations of winning the first World Cup staged on the continent were unlikely to be realised.
"It is all about preparations on and off the field. Good food, good hotel rooms, timely airline connections count, as do no interruptions to sign autographs in the middle of the night when you are trying to sleep.
"Failure to win the World Cup during this golden era for African football with stars like Michael Essien and Didier Drogba will be a tragedy," added the winner of three consecutive African Footballer of the Year titles.
The shoot-out loss of Ghana following the last-kick-of-the-game penalty miss by Asamoah Gyan was a sad end to a six-team African challenge that once again floundered at the last-eight stage as did those of Cameroon and Senegal.
Ghana were the sole contenders to make it past the first round despite the absence of injured midfield star Michael Essien with hosts South Africa, Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Nigeria falling by the wayside.
South Africa held Mexico and beat troubled France, but were outclassed by Uruguay in between and former star Jomo Sono felt shortchanged by the first exit of a World Cup host after the mini-league phase.
"I believe we could have done better with the prepa
rations we put in, the money we put in, with a highly qualified coach as well," said the 2002 World Cup coach of Bafana Bafana (The Boys).
"There are too many individual African footballers who want to play for themselves instead of the team," he said echoing the views of many African football commentators.
"Africa must learn from this World Cup that collective effort is more important than individuals. Ghana lacked big names, but worked and fought for each other."
Ivory Coast trailed Brazil and Portugal after once again being the victims of a cruel draw, and holding an England team they were in awe of was a wonderful consolation for goal-shy Algeria.
Cameroon and Nigeria proved the biggest flops with Eto'o and other senior Indomitable Lions not on the same wavelength as coach Paul le Guen while the Super Eagles paid for shabby preparations.
A livid government reacted to one point from three matches by barring the team from international competition for two years, which placed it on a collision course with world football rulers FIFA.
Zambian Kalusha Bwalya, the 1988 African Footballer of the Year, said the World Cup had been a massive "wake-up call" for a continent lagging behind Europe, South America and Asia.
"The pressure of having the tournament on African soil for the first time may have got the better of some players. We were not good at times. We could not manage the stress, the nervousness."
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