Monday News and Notes: Egypt, Togo, England, and Boca

It's Monday, which means I'm not entirely back into the swing of things just yet, so instead of a more focused post, I'll give you a couple of things to read over relating to the world of international soccer.

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First, big ups to Egypt, who made history on Sunday by becoming the first team to win the African Cup of Nations three times in row.  Their 1-0 victory over Ghana capped off another dominating continental campaign, in which they outscored their opponents by an astonishing 15-2 margin.  To give an idea of how impressive their offensive output was, look no further than Golden Boot winner Mohammed "Geddo" Nagy, whose 5 goals were more than or equal to the goalscoring totals of 10 teams in the tournament.

Egypt have not lost an ACN match since 2004, yet they have been unable to carry that dominance over to World Cup qualification.  With the tournament complete and with little on the immediate horizon for the Pharaohs (since they won't be heading to South Africa), there have been reports linking Egypt manager Hassan Shehata with Nigeria.  After guiding his side to another African crown and bringing them within 90 minutes of a World Cup berth, it's hard to argue that he doesn't have a strong enough resume to take over the reigns of the Super Eagles.  The only question may be if it is too late in the cycle for him to be able to truly get familiar with his team and make all of the necessary preparations before June.

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More out of Angola, the CAF announced earlier in the week that Togo would receive a two tournament ban from the African Cup of Nations, in light of what they called "government interference" in Togo's decision to pull out following the attack on their bus that left three dead and many shaken.  Togo, along with many others in the international soccer community, have adamantly criticized this decision, with manager Hubert Velud saying he will appeal the ruling.  Togo captain and Manchester City star Emmanuel Adebayor called it "an outrageous decision", and went so far as to say that CAF president Issa Hayatou should step down from his position.

I understand that there are rules in place to keep soccer separate from politics, but there really needs to be a less rigid approach in such an extraordinary situation as this one.  It strikes me as particularly callous that CAF is compounding the suffering of a team who not only were unable to play in a tournament that prepared hard for, but who were also forced to face their own mortality.  It's not as if the Togolese government is meddling with the operations of the national team; they are simply doing their duty of protecting their citizens.  I hope for the sake of the players and fans in Togo that CAF acknowledge their blunder and reverse this egregious display of poor judgment.   

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As I said earlier in the week, everything's coming up Milhouse for the USMNT lately.  Their World Cup opponents?  Not so much.  Yesterday, I recapped Algeria's unimpressive ACN campaign, but they aren't the only ones in Group C dealing with some issues.  Fabio Capello finds himself in a bit of an awkward position amidst the revelations that England captain John Terry had an affair with teammate Wayne Bridge's then-girlfriend.  The scandal has caused somewhat of a schism within the England camp, and it has brought into question Terry's role as captain of the squad.  The upheaval and turmoil within the locker room can only benefit the USMNT, as the Three Lions could still very well be dealing with some disunity issues and tension come June.

Further adding stress to Fabio Capello's life is the recent injury of speedy winger Aaron Lennon.  Though it was initially believed to be nothing more than a more groin issue, Lennon's ailment led doctors to uncover that he will need surgery to repair a hernia.  With Tottenham battling for a Champions League spot, there is the possibility that Lennon would opt to put off the surgery until after the domestic season, playing out the campaign at less than full-strength but essentially taking himself out of World Cup consideration.  Another possibility would be that he gets the surgery as soon as possible to give himself maximum recovery time ahead of South Africa.  The only other option remaining would be to hope Fabio Capello still chooses him and play the World Cup at less than 100%.  Two of those three options bode well for the USMNT (with even the immediate surgery option leaving the possibility of complications or slow recovery that would keep the Tottenham star out, as well), who I'm sure would love to avoid a dangerous attacker like Lennon in June.

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Last, after some speculation that he was headed over to St. Etienne on a loan or a transfer, Carlos Bocanegra is still at Stade Rennes.  Though I can't say for sure whether the end of January precludes the possibility of a loan in France, it seems pretty likely that Boca is staying put for at least the next 5 months.  He has regained a spot in the starting XI over the past couple of weeks, thanks in part to injury, and he has made the most of his appearances.  He has played 90 minutes in each of the last three matches, contributing to a solid run of three consecutive clean sheets for Les Rouges et Noirs.  Hopefully that run of appearances will continue on into May, as Bocanegra will almost undoubtedly play a significant role in the USMNT defense in South Africa if healthy.