Togo vs Gabon

Togo has been through a tumultuous odyssey that has been tragedy and disappointment since reaching its first World Cup in 2006. Now, the country is looking to return to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), with Gabon standing in their way of a spot in South Africa.

Even before the country played in the World Cup, Togo was in the headlines for off field issues. The big story that arose in Togo came when its coach threatened to quit prior to the World Cup. Although its coach managed during the group stage, Togo went out of the tournament with only a Mohamed Kader goal and no wins or points.

During qualifying for AFCON 2008, a plane crash killed 20 member of Togo. Emmanuel Adebayor has been the central figure in Togo to its first ever World Cup, to go along with three AFCON tournaments. However, not only has Togo never advanced past the group stage, but in the 2010 edition, following a deadly bus attack, Togo withdrew from the tournament. With the government ordering the team to come home immediately and not participate at AFCON 2010, Togo was handed a two-year ban by Africa’s governing body (CAF), prompting Adebayor to retire.

Yet, Africa’s governing body lifted the ban, and Togo was allowed to compete in qualifying for AFCON 2012. The country suffered a fourth place finish in qualifying, managing just one victory in eight qualifiers. After the AFCON 2012 qualifying phase, Togo nearly suffered a huge embarrassment: the country began qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in the first round. The first leg was a head-scratching 1-1 draw in Guinea-Bissau. Despite winning the second leg 1-0 at home, Togo got their goal courtesy of Guinea-Bissau’s goalkeeper Jonas: a third-minute own goal which Togo was able to hang on to the next round.

In contrast, Gabon has been an African team on the rise. In AFCON 2010, Gabon missed out on a quarterfinal place. Despite winning against Cameroon 1-0 on a goal by Daniel Cousin, Gabon lost on tiebrakers to Zambia and Cameroon.

As co-hosts for AFCON 2012, Gabon did not disappoint, as like the other co-host Equatorial Guinea, Gabon reached the quarterfinals after two games. The main player on Gabon responsible for just its second ever quarterfinal appearance was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Despite being the only player to miss a penalty kick against Mali in the quarterfinals, Aubameyang scored all three goals in the group stage: none proved more dramatic that the game winner he scored against Morocco.

The teams had meet in qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Gabon defeated Togo in the first meeting 3-0 on the field, a result that remained the same by forfeiture due to Togo fielding an ineligible player. Togo would win the second meeting 1-0. The teams have also met in seven friendlies, the most recent coming less than a month prior to the 2010 World Cup.  Togo continued its World Cup qualifying with a 1-1 draw at home to Libya and a 2-0 loss in Congo Dr. Gabon began its campaign with a scoreless draw in Niger and a 1-0 home victory against Burkina Faso.

Can Togo overcome tragedy and put it aside for the country to return to AFCON? Will Gabon emerge as a new power in African football? The answer will come this October.