That is if a Fifa technical report on the performance of African teams at the 2010 FIFA World Cup is anything to go by.
The report, presented late last week by the world football controlling bodys Technical Study Group (TSG), which comprised South African legend Jomo Sono, Zambias Kalusha Bwalya and Frenchman and former Liverpool coach, Gerard Houllier, blamed the bad performance of African teams at this years World Cup, which the continent hosted, on foreign coaches and in some instances, their late appointments.
The group covered all the matches and filed reports on wide-ranging issues during the tournament, including offering their unique and exclusive views in informative columns, picking out and commenting on the highlights of the days games.
The TSG, which has been present at every FIFA competition for the last 40 years, said the timing of some of the appointments was Africa s biggest downfall.
Of the six teams, only Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira (South Africa ) had been at the helm for long, having been first hired in 2006, but the 1994 World Cup winner, who also reached the quarterfinals in 2006 with his native Brazil , could not help power the pathetic Bafana Bafana past the first round.
Only Ghana managed, as they did in 2006, to go through the first round, as the Black Stars fell to Uruguay in the penalty shootout of a tense quarterfinal match.
Short notice
All the other five teams from the host continent fell at the first bullet, with former powerhouses Nigeria , Algeria and Cameroon failing to even win a single game, even though the North Africans were under the tutelage of a local coach – the only African team to do that.
Five of the six African teams had foreign coaches, most of whom were either brought on board at short notice or only for the World Cup finals, read the report, in part.
The coaches chances of success were limited by the fact that they often did not fully identify with the African culture, mentality and lifestyle or knew too little about these factors.?Nigeria hired Lars Lagerback at the end of March, barely three months before the start of the tournament in June.
The report also blames the staging of the Africa Cup of Nations during the same year as the World Cup, saying this probably had a negative effect on the Africans, whose players were burned-out during the worlds biggest soccer showcase.
Another issue is the staging of the Africa Cup of Nations in the same year as the World Cup. The difficulty resides in keeping players motivated and fit for two such major competitions, the report argues, in what should not apply to hosts South Africa, who missed out on the AFCON 2010 and spent most of the time preparing for the World Cup.
Faith in youth
The report further claims South Africa lacks faith in youth as opposed to their counterparts, Ghana and that could have been one of the differences between the two teams. ??
Ghana s ongoing youth and development work was clearly in evidence, with five members of the team that won the Fifa U20 World Cup in 2009 making their squad, two of whom were regulars, with another player starting three matches.
“The fact that youth football is viewed differently in South Africa than in Ghana was demonstrated by the fact that none of the players used by South Africa at the U20 World Cup in Egypt were selected for the senior squad, it says.
Of the 23 players that Ghana brought to the World Cup, fullback Hans Sarpei was the oldest at 34 and if he decides to follow in Fabio Canavaro or Paulo Maldinis footsteps, might be there at Brazil 2014, should the Black Stars qualify.
The rest of the squad was made up of players with an average age of 22 years, most of them product of the Under-20 team that won the African Youth Championships and beat Brazil to win the Under-20 FIFA World Cup in Egypt last year.
Their youngest squad member Jonathan Mensah, turned 20 years-old three days after the World Cup.
Post published in: Football