Did you manage to catch Togo's match against South Korea? On their debut, they played exceptionally well. Too bad that lost 2-1 but they played really well. To be honest, before coming for the world cup, I never knew that there was a country called Togo. Did a bit of googling and found out some stats about the country.
In 2002, Togo's armed forces numbered approximately 9,450. The army numbered some 9,000 troops including a Presidential Guard unit. Equipment included two main battle tanks and nine Scorpion tanks. The 250-member air force had 16 combat aircraft, and the 200-member naval unit had 2 coastal patrol vessels.
The population of Togo in 2003 was estimated by the United Nations at 4,909,000, which placed it as number 112 in population among the 193 nations of the world.
Situated on the west coast of Africa, Togo has an area of 56,785 sq km (21,925 sq mi), extending 510 km (317 mi) N–S and 140 km (87 mi) E–W. Comparatively, the area occupied by Togo is slightly smaller than the state of West Virginia.
Also found out that the country had seen many coups and counter coups and has a rather volatile and fragile economy & governance. Yet such a small & not so economically developed country manages to send a football team to the world cup finals. It's a case to ponder about.
To think of it, this world cup, most of the debutants are playing rather exceptionally well than much of the fancied names. While The Brazils & Englands revolve around individual names but teams like Togo, Australia, South Korea & yeah...Trinidad & Tobago are showing some real well game results. Though Togo & T&T ended up on losing side but not giving a scare to the big teams. Too bad, ysday T&T lost to England while holding them up to a draw till 80th minute or so.
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