AFRICA'S ANGST

Pele’s prediction that an African nation would lift the World Cup before 2000, remains unfulfilled. Can we expect a change in the script in the desert?

- [e-mail]

Sometimes, some stories are meant to be incomplete, but they are riveting, dramatic and symbolic. Let’s turn back the clock to the Soccer City in Johannesburg 12 July ago and reconstruct Asamoah Gyan’s story. With the quarterfinal match tied 1-1 and just a few seconds of the extra-time remaining, Uruguay striker Luis Suarez triggered off one of the most controversial deus ex machina plots in World Cup history with his own ‘hand of god’ moment — stopping Ghana forward Dominic Adiyiah’s goal-bound header and the potential match-winner with his hands.