------------------------- * * X.com * Facebook * E-Mail * * * X.com * Facebook * E-Mail * Messenger * WhatsApp * Dieser Beitrag stammt aus dem SPIEGEL-Archiv. Warum ist das wichtig? When

Ambroise Klevor walks around the streets of Lomé, the Togolese capital, he longs for the high spirits of last year. The party began in October 2005 and didn't let up until the following

January. The celebrations should have kept going right until the World Cup. Togo  (population 5 million) qualified unexpectedly ahead of Senegal and Mali to win a World Cup place and

brought the multi-ethnic Togolese populace together -- welcome relief for a country from which 35,000 have emigrated over the past six months following a change of government. Klevor is one

five months after qualification the national team started to fall apart. Togo was knocked out of the African Nations Cup in Egypt in the first round following defeats against the Democratic

Republic of Congo, Cameroon and Angola. The team's performance was characterized by a combination of inexperience, lack of footballing awareness and players who appeared completely

incompatible. The squad ranged from superstar Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, London) down to Sherif Touré Cougbadja (Concordia Ihrhove) -- from the heights of the European game to northern

German local league obscurity. Added to that was the chronic failure of the country's financially weak football association to prepare properly for the African Nations Cup. The Togolese

team landed in Egypt just one day before their opening game, after last minute negotiations about player remuneration -- problems which clearly have not gone away. Improved cohesion and

teamwork were essential after the team's abject performance in Egypt, if the country was to avoid even greater public humiliation at the World Cup. Controversially, the Togolese

Football Association sent for a new coach. A GERMAN COACH FOR AFRICA The new trainer, Germany's Otto Pfister, 68, knew only too well that things had to change. He was called up after

his predecessor Stephen Keshi and the team's biggest star, Emmanuel Adebayor, almost came to blows right in front of a group of journalists. The Arsenal forward accused Keshi of

offering to be his agent just before his move from Monaco to Arsenal. The coach, a Nigerian, angrily denied the allegations, which could have seriously damaged his reputation. The practice

-- whereby African national coaches cash in on the transfer of their best players to Europe -- is not uncommon. "I know the reasons behind the fallout, but I can't talk about them

publicly," Pfister says when asked about the split between trainer and star and his own controversial appointment. Once Pfister received threats after he commented on African transfer

practices in an interview with SPIEGEL. He also called Adebayor the team's "natural leader", but left the impression that, under his management, there wouldn't be the

same kinds of discussions between coach and star about training methods and practice times that occurred before the African Nations cup under Keshi. But many of Togo's players

acknowledged Keshi's personal flair following the Nigerian's resignation. They lobbied for him to remain the coach. He was, after all, a man who had managed to turn a team that was

only good for the occasional qualifier for the African Nations Cup into a World Cup participant. "It's not the right time to change the coach so close to the World Cup,"

players complained in an interview with the BBC. "The new trainer doesn't know the players and has too little time to get acquainted. What can he achieve in three months?"

asked defender Eric Akoto -- a comment which implied no criticism of Otto Pfister. Perhaps many players were simply reflecting the feelings of the Togolese people and the country's

sport journalists. "Nobody here understood why Keshi had to go," says journalist Klevor. "Sure, he made mistakes at the African Nations Cup, but above all he helped us get to

the African Nations Cup in the first place and then the World Cup itself." WEAKNESS IN THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION "Players who speak up for Keshi are just anxious they will

lose their place in the World Cup squad because they just sit on the bench for their European clubs," says Togolese Football Association President Rock Gnassingbe -- brother of the

Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé -- in response to his critics. The response should be taken with a pinch of salt given that this situation applies to the majority of the team's

players. Captain Yaovi Abalo, who himself plays for amateur French side Dunkerque says, "The problem in Togo is the Togolese Football Association." Only a few players play for top

flight European clubs, and that's another of new trainer Pfister's concerns. Akoto gets to the point "You've got to believe it, but there aren't any better players

in Togo." The political situation, refugee problems and cultural diversity -- the country is populated by 40 different ethnic groups -- each have their own affect on the national team.

Take Eric Akoto, whose family left Togo for Ghana. He wants to play for Togo, even though he previously played for the Ghanaian youth team. His situation is not exceptional. "If you

have the chance to experience a World Cup, that's a big deal," says Akoto. Under Pfister the hunt for young players with Togolese roots continues. Under Keshi's management,

even Valérien Ismaël (Bayern Munich defender of French extraction) was asked to play for Togo, but he declined. Given all the upheavals it doesn't come as a surprise when Togolese

journalist Klevor says that, "apart from Adebayor and our goalkeeper Kossi Agass," nobody is yet a sure bet for the Togolese team. In the run-up to the World Cup, trainor Pfister

traveled from country to country looking at possible candidates. "During the African Nations Cup there were six players not in the squad who are first choice players for European

clubs," he says. The trainer met his expanded squad for the first time on May 10 in Holland as part of the "longest preparation period of any World Cup team." But he was only

able to form a proper impression of his squad's potential in his first friendly match before the tournament against Saudi Arabia (Togo lost 1-0). One day later he had to name his final

squad, according to FIFA rules. "Of course, like every trainer I have my seven or eight key players in mind. The preparation time serves to get the players fit and build a team

spirit," Pfister says. He should know well before Togo 's first game against South Korea if he can meet the expectations of his superiors. The Togolese Football Association

envisions a competitive game against the Koreans and, better still, qualification for the quarter finals. Pfister has tried to distance himself from the football association's whims.

His World Cup preparations were presented as fact -- "my way or the highway". He knew what he was getting himself into and had it written into his contract that only the president

of the Togolese Football Association is allowed to communicate with him. They had to know who's the boss. Pfister seems prepared, despite recent events. "Things can only get

better," says Pfister. They need to -- and not just on the playing field. But will they? Just days before the start of the World Cup, Pfister quit his job as trainer -- saying his

players had not been properly paid and that it was causing them to lose their focus on the game. On Monday, he told the news agency Reuters that he was back on again and that he would coach

the team's first-ever World Cup match against South Korea on Tuesday. What he wouldn't say, however, is whether he would stay on as coach for further games.