Woe betide Africa soccer
THERE were high hopes that this year’s World Cup could, at very the least, see African nations rising up to the challenge in the Fifa soccer showpiece.
But alas that was not to be as the five participants – Tunisia, Senegal, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria – all packed their bags and headed home, having failed to make it past the first round.
What was clearly evident though was that these teams were so unprepared for the task at hand. Thus they failed to carry the African hopes for a world cup glory. Granted, no one expected any of the continental teams to lift the trophy, but at the very least there was reasonable expectation that they could compete against some of the best teams in the world. After all it has been a world cup of upsets - where defending champions Germany were dumped out of the first round.
Even the predictions of soccer legends like Brazil’s former super striker Pelé did not materialise. As far back as 1977, the great Pelé had predicted that - with the abundance of available raw talent - Africa would soon produce world champions. For now that remains a dream deferred.
No doubt the failure of these teams has open them up to criticism - with lack of commitment cited as the number one reason for the poor Russian campaign.
Many commentators agree that Africa’s football’s problems are of her own doing.
Some of the world’s best players come from this continent, yet when called upon to perform country duty they fail to rise to the occasion.
With deeper introspection we may find that much of what ails the game in Africa is the chronic corruption, inner wrangles and sheer greed of those in power.
Players also choose to pursue fame and fortune in European leagues and do not take national call-ups seriously. This makes it difficult for the team to gel together and produce results. If anything donning their national colours should be the pride of every player. Arrogance also plays a role where the players sometimes see themselves as bigger than the nations they represent. There have been numerous instances
where players have held their federations ransom - demanding higher purses and threatening to boycott tournaments.
It happened in Brazil in 2014 when Cameroon had a dispute over bonuses and refused to fly out until their demands were met.
Ghanaian players also boycotted training over bonuses. The Ghana incident was resolved when the government forked out millions to avert a national embarrassment. Obviously African federations has also not painted themselves in glory - with mismanagement and personal greed trumping sports development. Until we fix we fix the basics then there is no hope for our teams.