If not for the criminal zonal qualification formula, Ivory Coast and Ghana would have pushed for a place in this world cup.
Zambia did thier best but we can see that their excellent pre-tournament preparations with high caliber friendlies failed to adequately prepare them for competing at this stage.
I beat my chest confidently to say Ghana and Ivory Coast would not have been mercilessly taken to the sword like Zambia endured in the hands for Japan today.
Sadly, I can’t make a case for Cameroon because they had two bites of the qualification cherry but they lost out to formidable Nigeria and then Portugal in the intercontinental playoffs, losing by a single goal on both occasions.
I watched in horror as Japan tore Zambia to shreds. Time and again they perforated their defence with startling accuracy before delivering several kisses of death.
When you see the way Nigeria played against Canada, you see how the team pulled together to maintain the structural integrity of their shape and formation.
That level of organization and the penalty save sealed the deal.
But Zambia allowed themselves to drawn into different directions before being decimated and dissected.
But they will learn from this.
If not distracted, Ghana and Ivory Coast are way too experienced to fall that flat.
I hope CAF will finally dump the zonal qualification formula or else they will witness more African countries being embarrassed like Zambia was today.