CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by Heliopolis »

This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by YUJAM »

I agree wholeheartedly. An initiative to restructure the way the game is organized from youth level up would be very helpful. It would be ambitious but that's probably the way forward
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by nanijoe »

Maybe time for an African Super League?
Heliopolis wrote:This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by Cellular »

Heliopolis wrote:This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.
It goes back to your football DNA.

There's something to be said about the "surprise factor". There are no more surprises coming out of Africa. We have a lot of European trained players who play "european" type footie. It is interesting that you listed the teams you listed it. The spine of those teams got their initial football culture (DNA) from Africa. We are trying too much to emulate the Europeans and a copy can never be as good as the original.

To fix this, we have to look at coaching. Even going back to the coaching folks receive in primary and secondary school. Our best chances still lie with our former internationals. They should be given the type of support foreign coaches are given in Africa.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by marutimon »

I'm thinking a team like Zambia would have been a surprise package. They play it like they always played it.

Ghana also is the closest thing from the elite teams to having a specific style of football.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by Heliopolis »

I just look at Egypt and shake my head in disbelief at how bad we are. I imagine Nigeria is in the same boat but will not pass judgment since I do not follow you very closely.

Generally speaking to be successful in soccer you need to have a history of playing the sport, money, and a decent domestic league. Egypt is a trainwreck of a country but has the ingredients to succeed. Yet, we do not have a competitive domestic league, we have only one standout player overseas, and do not have any good domestic coaches. Rather than debating amongst ourselves how we can address these weaknesses we focus on blaming players and coaches for our years of ineptitude. The discourse amongst Egyptians now is that better selection by Cuper will lead to better results, even though we don't have any players who have a proven track record of consistent success. I think our second best attacker this year had a grand total of 13 goals in the Turkish league. If you can't stand out in that league what makes you think you will stand out against the very best at the WC?
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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marutimon wrote:I'm thinking a team like Zambia would have been a surprise package. They play it like they always played it.

Ghana also is the closest thing from the elite teams to having a specific style of football.
Give me a break. I don't have the stats handy but look at how many wins and goals African teams have pulled off at the WC since 1990. We stink it up every year and then say "teams X and Y would've performed better". If those teams were so good they would have qualified for the WC.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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Africans simply cannot defend set pieces. END OF.

This is how Europeans always found a way to end up winning.

I called it before this tournament began, thinking it was only Nigeria, but it is every single African team.

They are simply SCARED TO HEAD THE BALL, OR LACK THE CONCENTRATION TO MARK KNOWN STRIKERS LIKE HARRY KANE. And that is a problem other teams will continue to exploit.

Imagine that Kane had already scored from the corner, and last minute corner you fail to put even one man on him. Just absolutely dumb and stupid. Honestly we deserve the disrespect that other people give us.

It has become comical this year.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by vancity eagle »

marutimon wrote:I'm thinking a team like Zambia would have been a surprise package. They play it like they always played it.

Ghana also is the closest thing from the elite teams to having a specific style of football.
Zambia would have huffed and puffed to no avail, and eventually would have conceded goals on the corner for sure.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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It's not just defending. How many of the games did African teams dominate? Morocco outplayed Iran in the first half but had nothing to show for it. We get dominated due to poor technical skills, coaching, fitness, etc. Set pieces would not be issues if we controlled the game more but instead we go in to games hoping to avoid embarrassment rather than seeking to win.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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Heliopolis wrote:This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.

90% of the African players in the tournament play in Europe like everyone else. I can't wait to see the bright ideas and comments that will come out next week when African teams start winning. I am convinced that at least 3 African teams will advance to the next round.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by vancity eagle »

Heliopolis wrote:It's not just defending. How many of the games did African teams dominate? Morocco outplayed Iran in the first half but had nothing to show for it. We get dominated due to poor technical skills, coaching, fitness, etc. Set pieces would not be issues if we controlled the game more but instead we go in to games hoping to avoid embarrassment rather than seeking to win.

Defending set pieces is the major issue.

There are others, but this is by far the main issue.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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1naija wrote:
Heliopolis wrote:This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.

90% of the African players in the tournament play in Europe like everyone else. I can't wait to see the bright ideas and comments that will come out next week when African teams start winning. I am convinced that at least 3 African teams will advance to the next round.
I'll be shocked if 1 advances. Morocco and Tunisia have no chance while Egypt and Nigeria are in bad shape. We haven't seen Senegal yet but they're in a tough group and we should assume Colombia will finish top 2 leaving Senegal and company to battle it out for the remaining spot.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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Heliopolis wrote:This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.
Other continents like OCF, AFC?
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by Tunisian Gooner »

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

:agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree:

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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Heliopolis wrote:It's not just defending. How many of the games did African teams dominate? Morocco outplayed Iran in the first half but had nothing to show for it. We get dominated due to poor technical skills, coaching, fitness, etc. Set pieces would not be issues if we controlled the game more but instead we go in to games hoping to avoid embarrassment rather than seeking to win.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

That is the point I have been trying to make.

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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by Tunisian Gooner »

Scipio Africanus wrote:
Heliopolis wrote:It's not just defending. How many of the games did African teams dominate? Morocco outplayed Iran in the first half but had nothing to show for it. We get dominated due to poor technical skills, coaching, fitness, etc. Set pieces would not be issues if we controlled the game more but instead we go in to games hoping to avoid embarrassment rather than seeking to win.

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

That is the point I have been trying to make.
Yep CAF teams don't see the game.

Like a QB, in high school you pass to wide open receivers, in college you pass into easy gaps for receivers to catch the ball but in the NFL you must throw receivers open.

CAF football is rudimentary. Tunisia today, players had acres of space to exploit but consistently ignored the required pass into space. We can't think the game, just play out the most simplistic options, straight out of the football for dummies book.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by oscar52 »

One of the issues is the economic situation and thus low funds available for sports development among competing priorities. Europeans have turned sports into a science and a lot of Africans still mostly see it as a hobby thus relying too much on pure talent. Back when I was in college I went to play pickup soccer with some Europeans (mostly Germans). The way they play the sports is a bit different from the way I learned to play it. They maximize energy and their football was very direct (long passes), pass, pass, cross, head/deflect ball into net. I only went about three times before I stopped going because it was boring football to me, very little dribbling or running with the ball was going on so you can be 300 lb and still play it quite well. They admired my dribbling and I admired their technical abilities. When you see these Germans head the ball, its a thing of beauty even for the chubby ones, its like they were professionally trained with such accuracy and power. That said I think they will also struggle if they leave their group and come play in a Nigerian setup where we do a lot of running/dribbling with the ball at our feet which probably leads to fatigue quicker. The issue Nigeria is having right now is that the Nigerians are no longer playing Nigerian footy but instead copying European footballers with a European coach to boot and officiating that favors the European style of play. Like someone already said a copy will probably not be able to do it like the original. Nigerians should not abandon their style but instead study it and improve it so that head to head with another style it comes out on top. Asserting some influence over the rules that govern the game will also help.
Last edited by oscar52 on Tue Jun 19, 2018 3:13 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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It is football not soccer. .when you learn that, Africa can move forward
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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vancity eagle wrote:Africans simply cannot defend set pieces. END OF.

This is how Europeans always found a way to end up winning.

I called it before this tournament began, thinking it was only Nigeria, but it is every single African team.

They are simply SCARED TO HEAD THE BALL, OR LACK THE CONCENTRATION TO MARK KNOWN STRIKERS LIKE HARRY KANE. And that is a problem other teams will continue to exploit.

Imagine that Kane had already scored from the corner, and last minute corner you fail to put even one man on him. Just absolutely dumb and stupid. Honestly we deserve the disrespect that other people give us.

It has become comical this year.
I disagree. Defending or lack of is only a small part of the story. I mean it's not like the African teams have been attacking with reckless abandon but forgetting to lock the door at the back. They hardly attack consistently and they can't defend either. Its a very deep rooted issue imho
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by Heliopolis »

We are terrible and I've been blowing the horn since the 2010 WC. This WC is not an aberration but part of a consistent trend of African teams being below standard and uncompetitive globally. Hopefully the leaders of African FA's recognize this but given the decline of the game in the continent throughout this millennium, I doubt that'll be the case.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

Post by mate »

Great points all around. But I cull and emphasize this one the most:
One of the issues is the economic situation and thus low funds available for sports development among competing priorities.
Take care of this and the rest will follow. Then African teams will play to potential.
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Re: CAF needs to come up with an African soccer strategy

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Heliopolis wrote:This WC is yet another reminder of how poor African soccer is. Unfortunately we have African brothers and sisters who see poor showings for our continent at the WC as blips on the map but the fact is Africa has been a poor performer at the WC for decades now. The reason we celebrate the likes of Cameroon (90), Nigeria (94), Senegal (02), and Ghana (10) is because they are outliers. You don't find other continents celebrating R16 and R8 appearances at the WC.

Until we have a concerted continental effort to improve the game in Africa we will continue to see poor showings at the WC. Y'all can complain about weak domestic leagues and foreign coaches all you want but there are so many exceptions out there that prove there is no single path to success. We need to look in the mirror and realize we have had huge structural challenges in place for decades now which have led to WC futility for far too long. There's no reason that countries like Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, Cameroon, etc should be so bad at soccer yet it's our own incompetence that sets us back.
Apart from Europe & South America, African soccer is relatively at par with other continents. The game has improved in Africa but the top Europe/South American teams are also improving. When you remove the world top tier countries, the rest teams are not so much different.

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