Pot Breakdowns

Here is my breakdown for who I’d like Benin to draw from each pot this Wednesday.

There are no envious choices out of Pot 1 which contains Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria. Benin lost to both Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire back at the Nations Cup in January. The best draw would be Ghana who struggled immensely on the road in the last stage and are not in their best form despite being the best of the African sides at the last World Cup. The next best choice would be Cote d’Ivoire who were in indifferent form in a weak group. I’d next pick Cameroon because I feel Benin would be able to see more of the ball against Cameroon then they would against Egypt who possess a great ability to control possession. I would prefer Egypt over Nigeria though because the Super Eagles even in bad form cruised past Benin in the Nations Cup.

Pot 2 contains Algeria, Guinea, Mali, Morocco and Tunisia. In this group there is a clear choice for who I want Benin to draw and that is Algeria. The Algerians have been dormant for some time right now and remain very poor travelers. My next choice would be Morocco who despite possessing some tremendous players seem to be stuck in a neutral gear right now. They are a good side but seem unable to get back to the level that saw them as World Cup regulars in the 1990s. Next I would take Guinea who also seems to be stuck where they are right now. They have yet to show the ability to dethrone the top sides of African football. There win over Morocco at the Nations Cup is why I’d prefer for Benin to draw the Atlas Lions. Mali would be my 4th choice even though I don’t feel like they have lived up to their potential considering they possess a number of world class players they are still yet to achieve any real success. Tunisia is clearly the team to avoid. They are World Cup veterans and have as deep a pool of players as any other national team on the continent.

Finally is Pot 4 which contains Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan and World Cup 2006 finalists Togo. The team to avoid is clearly Togo and its combustible federation. Despite a federation very much prone to self-inflicted chaos, Togo know what it takes to qualify for a World Cup having done so four years ago. Plus Togo at their best is a clear level ahead of the rest of the sides in this pot. Conversely Mozambique is the clear choice for the team to draw. They advanced has runners up from a barren group aside from Cote d’Ivoire. I have severe doubts that they could’ve advanced from a number of other groups. I would rank the other three sides about the same with a slight nod to Sudan as the toughest of the three because they qualified for the last Nations Cup so their current form at least dates back longer than June.

So here is my ideal group for Benin:
Ghana
Algeria
Benin
Mozambique

If they were to get that draw I would give the Squirrels a real chance of making it to South Africa.

To me the worst group would be:
Nigeria
Tunisia
Benin
Togo

In that group I would just be hoping for Benin to make it to Angola.

I will post again with my post-draw thoughts after the draw is made on Wednesday.