Friday's ambush shows how easily insurgents can grab world headlines with attacks on soft targets and raises questions about security for the soccer World Cup in South Africa in June, but South African President Jacob Zuma dismissed any comparison.
After the initial shock of the attack, Togolese players, their head coach and national soccer officials all said they would remain in the competition, but their prime minister ordered the team home and sent a plane to bring them back.
"We had a meeting between players and we told ourselves we were football players and decided to do something nice for our country by playing to pay tribute to those who died," Adebayor told French radio RMC on Sunday. "Unfortunately, the head of state and the country's authorities have made a different decision, so we will pack and go home."
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