The heirs of West Africa's stars carry all our hopes

In a joke doing the rounds on social media, a WhatsApp group of African national soccer teams lists Egypt and Morocco as having "left the group", Zimbabwe as being "blocked", and South Africa as "last seen" in 2010. The Pharaohs' chances of making an impact at the World Cup in Russia were always slim, and faded further when Spanish ruffian Sergio Ramos retired Mohamed Salah through injury in the Champions League final before the Fifa spectacle in Russia had even begun.