Why the Afrikan challenge failed?
We are just about half way through the World Cup and it seems like the Afrikan challenge is seriously faltering if not entirely crushed.
Readers may remember that we featured the Afrikan teams that had made it to South Afrika and analyzed their chances of success in the tournament.
I was of the impression following my analysis that only Ghana and Ivory Coast will qualify for the second round. After two weeks or so of the tournament nothing has changed my mind that I can only see Ghana making it to the second round.
I was never of the view that just because the world Cup was being staged on Afrikan soil an Afrikan team would win it. Having seen the draw and studying the permutations, I was of the impression that an Afrikan team would do well to make it even to the Quarter Finals.
With South Afrika, Cameroun, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Algeria already out of the competition, the onus is on Ghana to make Afrika proud by at least reaching the quarter finals.
I never thought that Bafana Bafana would qualify from their group for the simple reason that they are simply just not good enough and their lack of big tournament experience was cruelly exposed at this tournament. To compound this it appears that the South Afrikan Football Federation spent too much time on the actual staging of the tournament rather than paying equal attention to the team.
Although one could say that the South Afrikans had adequate preparation, it could also be argued that their team did not contain any match winners. It is great trying to put all the logistics in place to stage a World Cup but if one has not got a good team to go with the logistics and infrastructure, then arguably the whole exercise becomes futile.
One cannot underpin the significant fact that South Afrika have staged a magnificent World Cup, with first class stadia, hotels, infrastructure and the like and coupled with the spectacular opening ceremony South Afrika have proved to the world that an Afrikan nation is more than capable of staging a global event such as the World Cup.
Despite this Bafana Bafana have been very disappointing and become the first host team in 80 years not to make it to the second phase. It was always a lot to ask of Bafana Bafana to get out from a tough looking group. As already mentioned Bafana Bafana has a very weak team that was unable to compete and this is mainly for the reason that they lacked genuine match winners.
Apart from two players the bulk of Bafana Bafana's team was made up of local players from their domestic league, which shows the weakness of the South Afrikan domestic league as it was obvious that these players did not have what it takes to play at the highest level.
One cannot entirely blame the coach for Bafana Bafana's exit as a workman is only as good with the tools at his disposal. Carlos Alberto Pereira was a World Cup winning coach with Brazil in 1994 so he is a winner but because of a lack of real quality in the Bafana Bafana team, he was unable to weave any magic.
The bottom line for South Afrika is that they have got to get back to the drawing board and build a team that firstly can challenge in Afrika and then the World. South Afrika should use the legacy of staging the World Cup by really investing in their domestic leagues and lower down so that a new generation of talent can emerge and move the country forward.
In terms of Nigeria, they too have big problems with their team and it was not a surprise for me that they failed to deliver in South Afrika. Nigeria as a footballing nation has been in decline since that great team of the early to mid 1990's that were Afrikan champions and made the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup and won the Olympic football gold medal in 1996.
Again as with South Afrika, The Nigerian FA has failed to invest in its footballing academies that will see a crop of new and exciting players make the grade into senior level. In addition to this Nigeria has not found a manager that will inspire and motivate the Nigerian team to realize its full potential.
It goes without saying that the Super Eagles have the talent but the big problem seems to be getting them to play as an effective unit and sacking the previous manager with only months to go before the World Cup and expecting Lars Lagerback to work miracles was counterproductive.
Likewise the Nigerian FA will have to think long and hard into getting the right coach and adopting the right strategies that will make the Super Eagles a force to reckon with in the future. This is so instrumental in changing the Super Eagles fortunes because at times in this tournament some of their players were lethargic and lackadaisical in their approach and any manager that the Super Eagles get must dispel this trait that is in some of their players.
As with Cameroon, the desire and passion was not there in order for the indomitable lions to progress to the last 16. In a group that they SHOULD have qualified from, a lackluster performance against Japan was followed by an improved performance against the Danes but one which lacked a cutting edge and a ruthless discipline as the Cameroonians succumbed to a more disciplined and hungry Danish team.
Again it seems to me that the choice of Paul Le Guen as manager has not been able to turn around the fortunes of the indomitable lions who like the Super Eagles are a shadow of the team they were in the 1990's.
The Cameroonian FA must again really analyze their choice of manager and get a manager who can inspire and motivate the indomitable lions to greater success and more importantly get a replacement for Samuel Eto'o who will be too old when the next World Cup takes place in Brazil in 2014. (To be cont'd.)
Author: Dr. Kwame Osei/Public Agenda