Angola - Portugal FIFA World Cup Match on Sunday will bring more surprises

The 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers were... SURPRISING.

The combined FIFA World Cup / CAF African Cup of Nations qualifiers will long be remembered for the many surprises they generated.

What with the advent of new continental standard-bearers, the decline of the traditional superpowers and the emergence of exciting new goalscorers, this preliminary tournament has required the redrawing of the African football map to take in previously uncharted territories.

The day after the five FIFA World Cup in Germany 2006 qualifying groups were drawn for the African Zone, observers were as good as awarding places in Germany to those countries with a recent track record in major international competitions. But come 9 October this year, things had not quite worked out that way as four new nations with no finals history set about celebrating their qualification.

How do you explain this wind of change, originating in the west of the continent, that has swept Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Angola past their more celebrated peers?

Perhaps their desire was greater; all of them certainly prepared meticulously, while some drew added motivation from revenge. Whatever the reasons, the upshot is that these four upstarts have snatched the tickets to Germany that many saw as almost the divine right of erstwhile giants Cameroon, South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria.

On Sunday, Angola will meet Portugal and if these qualifiers were to tell us anything, we are in for yet another surprise.

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