What ails African Football

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Pele had predicted that an African nation would win the World Cup by the year 2010. But Pele is not really clairvoyant like many of his previous forecasts this has gone wrong.

Four of the six African nations, South Africa (Group A), Nigeria (group B), Algeria (group C) and Cameroon (group E) are already eliminated in the group league stage. Ivory Coast in group G need to win by margin of over 8 goals in their last match with North Korea and hope Brazil beat Portugal. This is an unlikely scenario and so Ivory Coast will also fall the by wayside. Ghana is Africa's only representative in the round of sixteen, where they meet the United States of America (USA) in Rustenburg on Sunday June 29.

What went wrong with the African teams? It was like a home match for many of the African nations as they received adequate crowd support in South Africa. The African players have experience of European leagues and so are aware of the pressures of big competitions. So what went wrong with the African teams?

The problem is with the respective national federations. The preparations are not adequate. There is not adequate mental and physical preparation of the squad. The European players just return and join the squad and take time to blend. Though it must be admitted that injuries to key players Michael Essien (Ghana) and John Obi Mikel (Nigeria) did have a major impact on the fortune of both these teams.

Another problem is that they keep chopping and changing coaches. They seem to have a colonial mindset that only foreign, mostly European coaches can help them do well. Five of the African nations, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast had foreign coaches. Only Algeria had a local coach Rabah Saadane, who was also their coach in the 1982 World Cup.

Of the remaining five, only South Africa and Ghana had a foreign coach for a long period of time. The Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira, with over 40 years of experience was with South Africa for over a year. His side showed improvement and played with good organization. Rapid passing, quick movement off the ball and a good level of fitness made South Africa effective and despite limited talent available, they played above themselves, beat France 2-1 and drew with Mexico 1-1 and finished third in their group.

Similarly Ghana had Serbian coach Milovan Rajevac for over two years. Despite the absence of key midfielder Michael Essien, Ghana played effectively to reach the round of sixteen. Rajevac had spent time in Ghana and so was aware of the quality of the junior players that he introduced in the team. Defenders 22 year-old Rahim Ayew, the son of former African player of the year Abedi Pele, 20 year old right back Samuel Inkoom and 22 year old left back Isaac Vorsah. Despite problems of scoring goals, Ghana is a well knit unit.

The other three fancied African nations disappointed. Cameroon, like the Indian hockey team lives in the past. There is too much nostalgia for the quarter final appearance in the 1990 World Cup and the exploits of charismatic striker Roger Milla. Their French coach Paul le Guen joined them in July 2009. He oversaw a sharp turn around in form to qualify the team for a place at the 2010 finals. The Indomitable Lions flopped at the World cup, losing their opening two matches 0-1 to Japan and 1-2 to Denmark. Both Japan and Denmark exploited defensive weaknesses and Cameroon never looked penetrative.

Paul le Guen first played skipper Samuel Eto'o on the flanks and then after a players protest shifted him as striker for next match. There was distinct lack of harmony in the squad with veteran Rigobert Song not liking that he had been axed as skipper. It was noticed that when Paul le Guen went to shake the hands of all his reserve players after their second loss, none of them stood up and many looked away.

Nigeria opted for the Swedish coach Lars Lagerback in March 2010 and expected him to work miracles. He did not understand the mentality of his players and did not find a winning combination. He kept changing his forwards and so Nigeria were never really effective. The choice of temperamental midfielder Sani Keita in the match against the hard tackling Greece was a mistake as Keita lost his cool, got sent off and the match changed. Greece came from behind to win 2-1. Nigeria went back without a win.

Ivory Coast were unlucky that ace striker Didier Drogba fractured his arm in a friendly match with Japan on the eve of the tournament. He was not match fit and though he played he could not display his usual bustling, muscular, all running game. Also sadly for Ivory Coast's other strikers Salomon Kalou (Chelsea) and Aruna Dindane were big flops. But their choice of coach the taciturn Swede Sven Goran Eriksson since only March 2010 was their biggest error. Eriksson instilled some discipline in defence but curbed the natural flair of Ivory Coast with his emphasis on organization and keeping shape. Ivory Coast could not play with their natural flair.

So the first African World Cup has not seen African nations excel, mainly due to their own lack of preparation.