AFRICAN NATIONS CUP "NO -SHOW " HITS WORLD CUP TEAMS

AFRICAN NATIONS CUP "NO -SHOW " HITS WORLD CUP TEAMS

BY ABDULMUMINI ADEKU..

The inability of the Confederation of the African Football [C.A.F] to stage the continental show piece .African Nations Cup at least three months to the World Cup currently holding in Russia will appear to have taken its toll on the nations that represented the continent at the showpiece.

For the first time since 1986world Cup held in Mexico ,where Morocco.s Atlas Lions got into the 2nd Round and narrowly lost out to Germany ,no nation has made it thus far this time around in 2018 with no hosting of the Nations Cup in Sight.

In previous years like in 1990,The Indomitable Lions of Cameroun used the Nations Cup as a test run and even if they did not do well enough ,went ahead to strategies and stun the world at Italia 90 with Roger Milla's iconic makosa dance becoming that fiesta's major trade mark  and infact he became rated the 7th best Footballer in the World after the festivities.

In 1994,the Super Eagles of Nigeria won the African Nations Cup and this gave them the impetus to face the entire world at the U.S.A. 94 World Cup where  it emerged the 5th best football playing nation in the world in terms of ranking aside from being the 2nd most entertaining team in the world at the time.

In 1996,the decisions by the then Nigerian Head of State at the time:General Sani Abacha to withdraw the national team on political grounds from the African Nations Cup held that year in South Africa also affected the morale of the Super Eagles of Nigeria at the World Cup held 2 years later in France ,1998..

In 2002,debutant .Terenga Lions of Senegal who had set the tournament alight with a scintillating display as a runner-up,went on to move mountain when it sting  Les Bleus of France in the opener en route a Quarter Final exit thus making Africa proud at the time.

In 2006 till date the trends of African performance has continued to oscillate to and from as the African Nations Cup continues to be used as a barometer for measuring the preparation of the teams preparing for the world cup and not just friendlies alone like this year :2018