Soccer in Togo

Africans love soccer. So do I. I wish I could say that I follow the games religiously, but I don’t. But, whenever I catch one on tv, it’s very difficult to get my attention away from the game. I just heard in the news that Togo has been excluded from the Africa Cup of Nations. I found a video clip explaining a bit of the story,

There is even a link to with information about the team attack:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Togo_national_football_team_bus_attack

Which lead me to research a bit about Togo’s national team. I found this information in Wiki:

WORLD CUP 2006

Togo lost their opening game of the World Cup, despite having taken the lead against South Korea through a goal by Mohamed Kader. In the second half, Jean-Paul Abalo was sent off after 55 minutes, and goals from Lee Chun-Soo and Ahn Jung-Hwan sealed a 2–1 defeat for Togo.

Togo's next opponents in Group G were Switzerland, with the match scheduled for the afternoon of 19 June. However, the Togo squad and manager Pfitser threatened to refuse to fulfil the fixture and take strike action. The squad and manager had been quoted as requesting payments from the Fédération Togolaise de Football for participating in the tournament of around €155,000 (US$192,000) with added bonuses for victories or draws. FIFA personally negotiated with the squad and manager on 17 June, persuading them to travel to Dortmund in time to fulfil the fixture;[1] goals from Alexander Frei and Tranquillo Barnetta resulted in a 2–0 defeat. FIFA subsequently imposed a CHF100,000 fine on the Togolese federation for "behaviour unworthy of a participant in the World Cup."

Togo's final group game against France ended in 2–0 defeat. Togo left the tournament with no points gained.