Wenger: The show must go on
The Arsenal manager will not be asking for Gunners duo Alex Song and Emmanuel Eboue to be called back following Friday’s attack on the Togo team bus which left three people dead.
Togo, captained by former Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor, have decided to pull out of the tournament after the gunmen opened fire just after the team had crossed the border from the Democratic Republic of Congo into the Angolan enclave of Cabinda.
Adebayor and the rest of the Togo team will be returning home, while Hull boss Phil Brown confirmed he wants his two players in Angola – Gabon striker Daniel Cousin and Nigeria midfielder Seyi Olofinjana – to come back to England.
Chelsea have four players – Ivory Coast duo Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou, Ghana’s Michael Essien and Nigeria’s John Mikel Obi – in Angola, while relegation battlers Portsmouth have several members of their squad at the competition.
It is not yet clear what stance world governing body FIFA will take on the issue should individual federations allow their players to leave Angola and return to domestic competition.
Wenger, though, feels any such decisions must be taken for the right reasons.
“Is it a selfish motivation or is it a real issue over security? We, here, are not in the best position to judge the security of this competition. If you organise the European Championships and you have an incident like that – it can happen, and has happened already – you do not want all your players suddenly to move home.
“You have to judge the place, whether the competition can go on or not, and I don’t know (the intricacies). I don’t like this culture of fear, either. I hate that.”
Togo defender Assimiou Touré has already spoken of his terror during Friday’s attack on his team’s bus as it entered Angola. The Bayer Leverkusen player said he had prayed that he and his colleagues would get out alive.
“It was horrible. I was scared to death,” he said. “The driver and two others on the bus were hit in their lower body and others got bullets in their calf. Nothing happened to me. Thank God I was sat in the penultimate row at the back. They shot at the front.”
Togo, despite warnings to arrive in Angola by plane, travelled by coach with an army escort. The escort, says to Touré, prevented a massacre.
“In the middle of the forest, we were suddenly ambushed and shot at. We were fortunate – they absolutely peppered the first bus with bullets, probably thinking that we were all sitting in there, but that was only our luggage. The whole thing lasted about half an hour. We had an escort and they shot back and kept the attackers in check.
“If the army had not been there, then none of us would be alive now. All I could do was jump under my seat and pray.”
However, a number of players said they were keen to play on as a mark of respect to those killed and injured.
Aston Villa’s Moustapha Salifou was on the bus, and Villa manager Martin O’Neill insisted his club will do everything to help the midfielder recover psychologically from the gun attack.
O’Neill said: “Something like that is going to live with him for a very long time, if not for the rest of his life. It was very, very harrowing and he is actually a very sensitive lad.
“We have a number of people at the football club who I think can help him. Some of the players who are quite close to him will give him as much counselling as possible but I’m hoping in time he will be able to settle down and get back to playing.”
CAF will hold a minute’s silence prior to the first round of group matches, and they named the two men killed as Togo assistant coach Amelete Abalo and team media officer Stan O’Cloo. Reserve goalkeeper Kodjovi Obilale, who is in a stable condition in a South African hospital after surgery.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
