Togo: surprise team celebrates an “historical qualification”

October 8, 2005 has gone down in sports history as a date of importance. The day marks Togo’s 3-2 victory in the Republic of Congo which clinched the west African country’s very first appearance in the World Cup finals. “Sensation” is a word that’s quite appropriate when describing the Togolese achievement in successfully qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany. The country’s five million citizens celebrated the event so extensively it was as if they had just won a title.

Here you can find information about the star of the team ...

The country was already decked in yellow, the colour of their heroes, even before match kicked off in Congo. Celebrations started up immediately after the final whistle and a long power cut didn’t stop anybody. Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe not only allowed himself to become infected by the euphoria but he also proceeded to lead the jubilation. “We have run the full spectrum of emotions from despair to great happiness. Our players have been worthy representatives of our country.” The “father of the nation” proclaimed football to be a matter of state: “We’ll begin immediately with preparations for the World Cup. I’m certain we’ll cause a few surprises in Germany.” President Gnassingbe again sent his people into ecstasy: “Giving a speech doesn’t show sufficient appreciation. In honour of our national team’s great accomplishment, I hereby declare Monday to be a work free and paid public holiday.” The celebrations thus went into their third day and the euphoria will presumably last until the World Cup.

“As a small country, we actually only wanted to come second in the group in order to qualify for the Africa Cup,” said a surprised Bachirou Salou. The former pro who played for MSV Duisburg, Borussia Dortmund and Hansa Rostock amongst others in the Bundesliga, is the most famous Togolese player in Germany. Salou gave the international players moral support before the decisive games. “We beat Senegal and from that moment onwards we knew everything was possible. I played for a long time in the Bundesliga and came to realise even little teams can beat the Bayern Munich giants. I called the players and told them, you can do it! Just believe in yourselves.”

Senegal were considered to be the hot favourites in the qualifying group which also contained Liberia, Zambia and Mali. At the FIFA World Cup 2002 in Japanund South Korea, the Senegalese beat titleholders France 1-0 in the opening match. They then proceeded to knock out Sweden in the last 16 before they were eliminated themselves at the quarterfinal stage by Turkey. Nobody would have considered Togo could ever become a serious candidate for the World Cup finals in Germany after the preliminary knock-out round prior to the group phase of the African World Cup qualifying competition.

The team guided by Nigerian born national coach Stephen Keshi made heavy weather of beating Equatorial Guinea, who are considerably further down the FIFA world rankings. The first leg was even lost 1-0. A 2-0 win in the second leg put them into the group phase that however again began with a loss (1-0 in Zambia). Another flop in the home game against Senegal would have killed off their hopes but Togo came out on top 3-1. Suddenly it was clear to the Togolese that greater things than a mere second place, which would have given them the right to appear in the continental championships in Egypt in January/February 2006, were possible. Six further wins and two draws followed – including a 2-2 draw in the return game in Senegal.

“The historical qualification is all down to the team and the good organisation of the national football association. We’re therefore very confident about the future. We’ll work hard to eradicate, hopefully, as soon as possible the weaknesses that became prevalent during the course of World Cup qualifying,” said Keshi after the decisive win against Congo.

In contrast to his Ivory Coast counterpart the coach does not have a world star in his ranks. The best known player is Sheyi Emmanuel Adebayor, who is playing for the French first division club AS Monaco in the season leading up to the World Cup. “He’s the star of the team. He can turn a match around,” said Bachirou Salou when praising his countryman.

At the World Cup, Salou will not need to use his telephone in order to keep informed about Togo’s performances. He will probably be just as excited to see how one of the rankest outsiders in World Cup history does in Germany. Public holidays may well be a consequence when they gain a point. The international football federation (FIFA) will probably have to correct its excellent Internet site. The FIFA website provides the following information about the west African country: “Togo appeared in World Cup preliminaries for the first time in 1974 but the Togolese can only dream of ever playing at the finals.” In football, dreams can sometimes become reality far quicker than even experts believe.