One day To Go
Frankfurt — Senegal, Cameroon and Nigeria have already cemented Africa's place in soccer history. On Friday, 30 African countries will be drawn into groups to select the five teams that will seek to confirm the continent's stature at the 2006 World Cup.

Senegal was a golden goal away from getting Africa its first semifinal slot at the World Cup in Japan and South Korea last year, but lost in overtime to overachieving Turkey. And with Nigeria and Cameroon winning the last two Olympic tournaments, no one will be underestimating African nations.
Friday's draw will allow only the winners of six-team groups a place in the finals, setting the stage for many heated qualifying games.
The five qualifiers for the 2002 Cup — Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia — were placed in the top pot for the draw, with a second pot consisting of Egypt, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Congo and Mali, based on their FIFA ranking.
Algeria, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Kenya and Burkina Faso are in Pot C. Ghana, Angola and Libya head pot D.
The division could set up such interesting group including one like Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana.
So far, Africa has already eliminated 21 countries in pre-qualifying. The World Cup draw will also count as qualifiers for the African Cup in Egypt the same year.
At Friday's ceremony, the African groups will be drawn by Ghana's former African player of the year Abedi Pele and Senegal musician Youssou N'Dour.
African teams will be looking to make a good showing in Germany, considering that the continent will stage its first World Cup in 2010. The host country will be picked next spring. Tunisia, Libya, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco are bidding for the finals. Nigeria has withdrawn from the bid due to a lack of funds.
The 2006 World Cup will be held from June 9 to July 9, with the opening match set for Munich and the final planned for Berlin.
When West Germany hosted the 1974 World Cup, Congo — the former Zaire — was Africa's representative and its first-round exit was highlighted by a 9-0 loss to Yugoslavia.
Much has changed since.
Cameroon earned respect for Africa when it beat defending champion Argentina in the opening game of the 1990 World Cup and went on to reach the quarter-finals. Nigeria reached the second round in the 1994 and 1998 editions.
Nigeria also won Africa's first major championship by taking the Olympic title in 1996. Cameroon extended Africa's reign by adding the 2000 Sydney Games gold medal.
Then last year, Senegal stunned defending champion France in the opening game 1-0, and went on to the quarter-finals, losing 1-0 to Turkey on a golden goal.