Source: Telegraph
World Cup 2010: Didier Drogba spearheads African Six Pack
The player is Didier Drogba who, of course, captains the Ivory Coast, not South Africa, and is just about the most famous sportsman on the continent. Even so, it might have been expected that the hosts could have found one of the Bafana Bafana players to promote. [LNB]But the World Cup finals will be like no other, and not just because they are being held in Africa for the first time. With 77 days to go, the organisers have launched a movement called the "African Six Pack", which means that South Africa, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria will support each other during the tournament. They will all be the 'home' nation. [LNB] Related ArticlesWorld Cup violence fearsHargreaves fears pain may hinder full recoveryBobby Zamora strengthens World Cup caseRicardo Carvalho ruled out for a monthAncelotti: we must treat each game like a finalSport on television"It's called a six pack, like the beer," Danny Jordaan, the head of South Africa 2010, said. "There is almost an acceptance that we do not expect too much from our team but it's important that the host nation team does perform. [LNB]"So the achievements and victories of one African country are celebrated by every African country which is very different from Europe. If Germany were to win the World Cup, no one in England would celebrate, would they? In fact they would be angry." It's hard to argue with that. [LNB]The Africans have done this before, of course, and the celebrations which followed the exploits of Cameroon and Roger Milla, who reached the last eight of the 1990 World Cup, were spread far and wide, as was the more recent success of Ghana in winning the Under-20 World Cup. [LNB]But this will be on a far different, far grander and far more powerful scale and may just be what Fabio Capello is on about when he said he fears that an African nation and most people expect that to be the Ivorians may surprise everyone. [LNB]Interesting, by the way, that Uefa president Michel Platini singled out England, along with Spain and Brazil, as one of only three teams with the "quality" to win. He may be an irritant to some but Platini is also a shrewd judge of the game. [LNB]Rooney scan is Fergie scam[LNB]For England to succeed in South Africa, they surely need Wayne Rooney. The state of his knee he was diagnosed as suffering from inflammation to his kneecap tendons last month has, therefore, caused some debate, especially as he limped heavily away from Old Trafford last weekend and may be rested against Bolton on Saturday. [LNB]But England and United supporters can breathe a bit more easily. Scans have shown that Rooney is suffering from nothing more than bruising and that there is no real cause for concern. Indeed exercising and playing may actually help the situation rather than resting. [LNB]Still, it may be in Sir Alex Ferguson's interests those fabled mind games? to suggest otherwise as United launch into the sharp end of the season. [LNB]Are you sure Mr Ancelotti? [LNB]Chelsea have grown increasingly irritated by stories that manager Carlo Ancelotti is under pressure although given their record of chopping and changing, and the indications that have been given about what is expected at Stamford Bridge, then that is hardly a surprise. [LNB]Ancelotti has certainly come out fighting in the past week, talking of the need to treat every game until the end of the season as a "cup final" (shades of Gérard Houllier there?) But his public statements shouldn't always been taken at face value, as we know. [LNB]Here are two from him to consider. "I'm sure. One hundred per cent. I'm sure because I think that, at the end of the season, we will have had a very good season," he said last Friday when asked if he would still be Chelsea manager next season. [LNB]And: "If you had to ask me to express in a percentage I would say that it's 100 per cent certain that I will still be at Milan next year," he said on May 23, 2009. [LNB]He was appointed Chelsea manager on June 1, 10 days later. And that is 100 per cent true. [LNB]Mancini will be the only change[LNB]It was an interesting evening for yet another Italian, Roberto Mancini, at Eastlands on Wednesday and not just because of Manchester City's defeat and his touchline dust-up with Everton manager David Moyes. [LNB]As well as making his permitted three substitutions during the game, the Italian also made no fewer than eight positional changes, switching his players around at a bewildering speed and leaving several confused as to what their role was. [LNB]No wonder they lost. And, according to sources, that defeat has heightened the sense within the dressing room, first highlighted in this column, that Mancini will not be around to make any more changes next season. [LNB]
