African teams will lag behind until..

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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by joao »

Samora Machel wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:the problem with African teams is the same problem that they have suffered from for years.

They do not play with their heads. They do not play as a team, for the most part. Everything is way too one dimensional and that is why they will continue to be second best.

They play with their athleticism only and not their heads. Unfortunately football is like the perfect synthesis of physical and mental competition.

At a point in time they physical aspect of the African game was a shock to many teams and you would get the African surprise, but now teams know about the African physical game, and they use their smarts to beat them.

Look at the way Chile continuously opened up the Cameroon defence in the first half with off ball movement slicing them open at will. Now Chile failed to convert their chances and tired in the second half, and this made Cameroon look much better than they are. On another day it would have been 3-0 at halftime.

Now when Cameroon attacked it was so embarassing and frustrating, they could barely string together a few passes in the final third, and these were the aFrican champs. They had many good counter opportunities due to Chile's complacency at the back, but Cameroon never once looked like scoring. It was piss poor. A team like Chile if presented with such opportunity would likely take those chances.

Cameroon is the typical head down, play by myself African football in attack.

I have rarely seen African teams play a good technical passing game, not just utilizing speed and power, but also brains and intelligence and teamwork. Sorry but it is the truth. That is why Egypt won 3 straight ANC titles, because they mastered team work and the passing game you see from teams like CHile or Germany.

There have been few instances where African teams play like this, like I said Egypt, but editions from Nigeria, Ghana, CIV, Senegal have all played this kind of football at times.

This is why I cringe when you hear calls from so called experts for more physical gra gra players. They just never learn that football is not a game of gra gra. It never was.

There have been rare occasions.
This is my biggest pet hate about African football. We need more technical players. Skill will always undo physique.
Look at Argentina they produce these tiny forwards who score for fun eg Tevez, Aguero and Messi
...And if anyone is noticing, these players rarely score headers. They just need the ball at their feet around the 18 or just outside,
and they can create wonders. No need getting them to contest for aerial balls.
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governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy.”

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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by camex »

joao wrote:
Samora Machel wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:the problem with African teams is the same problem that they have suffered from for years.

They do not play with their heads. They do not play as a team, for the most part. Everything is way too one dimensional and that is why they will continue to be second best.

They play with their athleticism only and not their heads. Unfortunately football is like the perfect synthesis of physical and mental competition.

At a point in time they physical aspect of the African game was a shock to many teams and you would get the African surprise, but now teams know about the African physical game, and they use their smarts to beat them.

Look at the way Chile continuously opened up the Cameroon defence in the first half with off ball movement slicing them open at will. Now Chile failed to convert their chances and tired in the second half, and this made Cameroon look much better than they are. On another day it would have been 3-0 at halftime.

Now when Cameroon attacked it was so embarassing and frustrating, they could barely string together a few passes in the final third, and these were the aFrican champs. They had many good counter opportunities due to Chile's complacency at the back, but Cameroon never once looked like scoring. It was piss poor. A team like Chile if presented with such opportunity would likely take those chances.

Cameroon is the typical head down, play by myself African football in attack.

I have rarely seen African teams play a good technical passing game, not just utilizing speed and power, but also brains and intelligence and teamwork. Sorry but it is the truth. That is why Egypt won 3 straight ANC titles, because they mastered team work and the passing game you see from teams like CHile or Germany.

There have been few instances where African teams play like this, like I said Egypt, but editions from Nigeria, Ghana, CIV, Senegal have all played this kind of football at times.

This is why I cringe when you hear calls from so called experts for more physical gra gra players. They just never learn that football is not a game of gra gra. It never was.

There have been rare occasions.
This is my biggest pet hate about African football. We need more technical players. Skill will always undo physique.
Look at Argentina they produce these tiny forwards who score for fun eg Tevez, Aguero and Messi
...And if anyone is noticing, these players rarely score headers. They just need the ball at their feet around the 18 or just outside,
and they can create wonders. No need getting them to contest for aerial balls.
The players need to be trained in a good environment. Stadia with decent pitches. This is the same problem we find in education. If an african as talented as Einstein was born in the continent. Would the school system as it is give him the training he needs to get the most of his talent?
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by joao »

camex wrote:
joao wrote:
Samora Machel wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:the problem with African teams is the same problem that they have suffered from for years.

They do not play with their heads. They do not play as a team, for the most part. Everything is way too one dimensional and that is why they will continue to be second best.

They play with their athleticism only and not their heads. Unfortunately football is like the perfect synthesis of physical and mental competition.

At a point in time they physical aspect of the African game was a shock to many teams and you would get the African surprise, but now teams know about the African physical game, and they use their smarts to beat them.

Look at the way Chile continuously opened up the Cameroon defence in the first half with off ball movement slicing them open at will. Now Chile failed to convert their chances and tired in the second half, and this made Cameroon look much better than they are. On another day it would have been 3-0 at halftime.

Now when Cameroon attacked it was so embarassing and frustrating, they could barely string together a few passes in the final third, and these were the aFrican champs. They had many good counter opportunities due to Chile's complacency at the back, but Cameroon never once looked like scoring. It was piss poor. A team like Chile if presented with such opportunity would likely take those chances.

Cameroon is the typical head down, play by myself African football in attack.

I have rarely seen African teams play a good technical passing game, not just utilizing speed and power, but also brains and intelligence and teamwork. Sorry but it is the truth. That is why Egypt won 3 straight ANC titles, because they mastered team work and the passing game you see from teams like CHile or Germany.

There have been few instances where African teams play like this, like I said Egypt, but editions from Nigeria, Ghana, CIV, Senegal have all played this kind of football at times.

This is why I cringe when you hear calls from so called experts for more physical gra gra players. They just never learn that football is not a game of gra gra. It never was.

There have been rare occasions.
This is my biggest pet hate about African football. We need more technical players. Skill will always undo physique.
Look at Argentina they produce these tiny forwards who score for fun eg Tevez, Aguero and Messi
...And if anyone is noticing, these players rarely score headers. They just need the ball at their feet around the 18 or just outside,
and they can create wonders. No need getting them to contest for aerial balls.
The players need to be trained in a good environment. Stadia with decent pitches. This is the same problem we find in education. If an african as talented as Einstein was born in the continent. Would the school system as it is give him the training he needs to get the most of his talent?
Einstein's world is objective, and he operates as an individual. Also there are many
Africans from the much disparaged schools on the continent whose performances in
advanced institutions have been acclaimed.

Football is subjective, and the players need to work as a team.
Many players coming out of Africa already have the individual tools to succeed,
it's the team concept discipline that is lacking. Drogba, Etoo, and Kanu understood
the team concept, which was why they were successful everywhere they played.
The current African SE, Lions, and Elephants are very talented, but individualism is
ruining their chances at world recognition.
"We now live in a nation where doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge,
governments destroy freedom, the press destroys information, religion destroys morals, and our banks destroy the economy.”

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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by camex »

joao wrote:
camex wrote:
joao wrote:
Samora Machel wrote:
vancity eagle wrote:the problem with African teams is the same problem that they have suffered from for years.

They do not play with their heads. They do not play as a team, for the most part. Everything is way too one dimensional and that is why they will continue to be second best.

They play with their athleticism only and not their heads. Unfortunately football is like the perfect synthesis of physical and mental competition.

At a point in time they physical aspect of the African game was a shock to many teams and you would get the African surprise, but now teams know about the African physical game, and they use their smarts to beat them.

Look at the way Chile continuously opened up the Cameroon defence in the first half with off ball movement slicing them open at will. Now Chile failed to convert their chances and tired in the second half, and this made Cameroon look much better than they are. On another day it would have been 3-0 at halftime.

Now when Cameroon attacked it was so embarassing and frustrating, they could barely string together a few passes in the final third, and these were the aFrican champs. They had many good counter opportunities due to Chile's complacency at the back, but Cameroon never once looked like scoring. It was piss poor. A team like Chile if presented with such opportunity would likely take those chances.

Cameroon is the typical head down, play by myself African football in attack.

I have rarely seen African teams play a good technical passing game, not just utilizing speed and power, but also brains and intelligence and teamwork. Sorry but it is the truth. That is why Egypt won 3 straight ANC titles, because they mastered team work and the passing game you see from teams like CHile or Germany.

There have been few instances where African teams play like this, like I said Egypt, but editions from Nigeria, Ghana, CIV, Senegal have all played this kind of football at times.

This is why I cringe when you hear calls from so called experts for more physical gra gra players. They just never learn that football is not a game of gra gra. It never was.

There have been rare occasions.
This is my biggest pet hate about African football. We need more technical players. Skill will always undo physique.
Look at Argentina they produce these tiny forwards who score for fun eg Tevez, Aguero and Messi
...And if anyone is noticing, these players rarely score headers. They just need the ball at their feet around the 18 or just outside,
and they can create wonders. No need getting them to contest for aerial balls.
The players need to be trained in a good environment. Stadia with decent pitches. This is the same problem we find in education. If an african as talented as Einstein was born in the continent. Would the school system as it is give him the training he needs to get the most of his talent?
Einstein's world is objective, and he operates as an individual. Also there are many
Africans from the much disparaged schools on the continent whose performances in
advanced institutions have been acclaimed.

Football is subjective, and the players need to work as a team.
Many players coming out of Africa already have the individual tools to succeed,
it's the team concept discipline that is lacking. Drogba, Etoo, and Kanu understood
the team concept, which was why they were successful everywhere they played.
The current African SE, Lions, and Elephants are very talented, but individualism is
ruining their chances at world recognition.
For one Einstein was a genius but not an excellent student. He even failed at his first attempt to get into Polytechnique of Zurich. That said he was not working an isolation either. He had great teachers and learned a lof of math in school which helped him develop the general theory of relativity too. He got help from his classmate,Marcel Grossman for his first job too.

Team work is taught in football too. There is where coaching plays an important role. Rinus Michel invented total football for example. Thats no different from inventions in sciences.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by soccernut »

Humble observations about GWG.

1. No situational awareness in the box.
2. No deadball specialists.
3. Lacking on-and off movement off the ball. Watch Argentina.
4. One dimensional style of play – spraying passes, stroking the ball around and coming mostly through the middle and players for the most part wait for the ball to come to them. No outbursts from midfield into final third like the Super Eagles of 1994.
5. No aerial style of play to execute into the mix like European style of play. Yet, most of our players play in European leagues.
6. Poor marking by defenders, who retreat and do not deal with set pieces effectively.
7. No good free-kick takers. No good wall set up for such set pieces.
8. Lack of creative and committed players who can turn a game on a dime. Okocha, Muda Lawal.
9. No good headers – Thompson Usiyen.
10. No crossers – Finnidi.
11. Slow, lethargic and indecisive style of play.
12. Terrible ball control skills – You don’t see our players trapping aerial balls with their knees, ankles, and chest in continuous motion so as to assist or create scoring opportunities.
13. Our players are mostly tired by the 70th minute. This may be due to heavy carb diet or lack of top-flight football with their respective clubs.

14. Lack of total 94 minutes total concentration. Watch ARG vs. NIG 2014.

15. Our footballers are not as passionate as some of the world’s best footballers; soccer is a means to climbing the economic ladder and eventually living the good life. Hence, our best football only exists at junior level when these guys are green and hungry.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by Kabalega »

soccernut wrote:Humble observations about GWG.

1. No situational awareness in the box.
2. No deadball specialists.
3. Lacking on-and off movement off the ball. Watch Argentina.
4. One dimensional style of play – spraying passes, stroking the ball around and coming mostly through the middle and players for the most part wait for the ball to come to them. No outbursts from midfield into final third like the Super Eagles of 1994.
5. No aerial style of play to execute into the mix like European style of play. Yet, most of our players play in European leagues.
6. Poor marking by defenders, who retreat and do not deal with set pieces effectively.
7. No good free-kick takers. No good wall set up for such set pieces.
8. Lack of creative and committed players who can turn a game on a dime. Okocha, Muda Lawal.
9. No good headers – Thompson Usiyen.
10. No crossers – Finnidi.
11. Slow, lethargic and indecisive style of play.
12. Terrible ball control skills – You don’t see our players trapping aerial balls with their knees, ankles, and chest in continuous motion so as to assist or create scoring opportunities.
13. Our players are mostly tired by the 70th minute. This may be due to heavy carb diet or lack of top-flight football with their respective clubs.

14. Lack of total 94 minutes total concentration. Watch ARG vs. NIG 2014.

15. Our footballers are not as passionate as some of the world’s best footballers; soccer is a means to climbing the economic ladder and eventually living the good life. Hence, our best football only exists at junior level when these guys are green and hungry.
70% of your good observations can be fixed if the team camps together for a month, like teams do before a major tournament.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by joplass »

Complaining about African teams not doing well at the world stage while democracy, jobs, education, law and orders, roads, sewage and so on don't exist. All these things go hand in hand.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by Kneedeep »

joplass wrote:Complaining about African teams not doing well at the world stage while democracy, jobs, education, law and orders, roads, sewage and so on don't exist. All these things go hand in hand.

Good point, but India has all these problems(except democracy) and can send a probe to Mars. We do not have to wait until our societies are perfect before we are able to target excellence in areas we choose.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by joao »

Kneedeep wrote:
joplass wrote:Complaining about African teams not doing well at the world stage while democracy, jobs, education, law and orders, roads, sewage and so on don't exist. All these things go hand in hand.
Good point, but India has all these problems(except democracy) and can send a probe to Mars. We do not have to wait until our societies are perfect before we are able to target excellence in areas we choose.
India is a democracy. In fact the largest democracy in the world.

Your point about India having similar problem like Nigeria and still being able
to move ahead technologically is quite on point. We should not wait till we can
build a car before advancing in medicine and computer knowledge, or improving
social justice.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by Olayemi14 »

:thumb:
There is more than one way to skin a cat but this is probably the easy one. Uruguay (especially)/Chile use the U20 tournament as the last "orientation camp" before their young players start moving across the globe. Some other countries have relied on other countries to develop their players and still get results i.e. I think, Belgium.
YUJAM wrote:Local football infrastructures are developed. We cannot expect the Oyinbo to develop our players

The systems used by NTs are developed much earlier, when these guys are in academies. Players like Sanchez and Vidal are developed much earlier in their careers. By the time they play for the big sides they have all the tools they need to become great b
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by deanotito »

It depends on what you mean by "African Football". I would rather segment it into powers....Cam, Nig, Gha, Egy, Alg, Sen are essentially what I consider African Football on the World stage. So if you're comparing African powers to similarly chosen European & South American powers, I disagree with Yujam's point....simply because African Teams dominate the age-grade sphere. If what Yujam is saying was correct, we wouldn't dominate that sphere.

The stuff of National Football however is built in professional clubs, and as the fortunes of our players in professional clubs go, so the fortunes of the national team would go. If Africa can push for/support more rules that level the playing field in professional clubs, the better we would be. Would be nice if we could bargain with UEFA to relax the restrictions on foreign players etc. in exchange for world cup votes etc.

African players have quite a few barriers in the professional game - Proximity, Racism & Age Cheating, being chief. We're getting rid of the effects of age cheating with bone scans, but racism has some lingering effects. Proximity is another issue....A dutch sensation is going to have an easier time playing for Ajax than a Nigerian sensation. That would be hard to overcome, but it is what it is.

I believe African powers can compete with the best in the world. Cam did it in 90...Nigeria could have done it in 94 and 98. Senegal in 2002 was robbed. We just have to make sure we can pipe our players into the best clubs.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by camex »

deanotito wrote:It depends on what you mean by "African Football". I would rather segment it into powers....Cam, Nig, Gha, Egy, Alg, Sen are essentially what I consider African Football on the World stage. So if you're comparing African powers to similarly chosen European & South American powers, I disagree with Yujam's point....simply because African Teams dominate the age-grade sphere. If what Yujam is saying was correct, we wouldn't dominate that sphere.

The stuff of National Football however is built in professional clubs, and as the fortunes of our players in professional clubs go, so the fortunes of the national team would go. If Africa can push for/support more rules that level the playing field in professional clubs, the better we would be. Would be nice if we could bargain with UEFA to relax the restrictions on foreign players etc. in exchange for world cup votes etc.

African players have quite a few barriers in the professional game - Proximity, Racism & Age Cheating, being chief. We're getting rid of the effects of age cheating with bone scans, but racism has some lingering effects. Proximity is another issue....A dutch sensation is going to have an easier time playing for Ajax than a Nigerian sensation. That would be hard to overcome, but it is what it is.

I believe African powers can compete with the best in the world. Cam did it in 90...Nigeria could have done it in 94 and 98. Senegal in 2002 was robbed. We just have to make sure we can pipe our players into the best clubs.
There are some points that you seem to have understated. There is a lot of age cheating in african youth teams. This tends to inflate the success at the youth level while losing talents that could have blossomed later at the senior level.

About the young dutch getting a lot of press, football today is a business. Teams buy players that will lead to higher sales of Tshirts. So an average talented dutch in average will never get the same financial offer as an average talented african.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by deanotito »

camex wrote:
deanotito wrote:It depends on what you mean by "African Football". I would rather segment it into powers....Cam, Nig, Gha, Egy, Alg, Sen are essentially what I consider African Football on the World stage. So if you're comparing African powers to similarly chosen European & South American powers, I disagree with Yujam's point....simply because African Teams dominate the age-grade sphere. If what Yujam is saying was correct, we wouldn't dominate that sphere.

The stuff of National Football however is built in professional clubs, and as the fortunes of our players in professional clubs go, so the fortunes of the national team would go. If Africa can push for/support more rules that level the playing field in professional clubs, the better we would be. Would be nice if we could bargain with UEFA to relax the restrictions on foreign players etc. in exchange for world cup votes etc.

African players have quite a few barriers in the professional game - Proximity, Racism & Age Cheating, being chief. We're getting rid of the effects of age cheating with bone scans, but racism has some lingering effects. Proximity is another issue....A dutch sensation is going to have an easier time playing for Ajax than a Nigerian sensation. That would be hard to overcome, but it is what it is.

I believe African powers can compete with the best in the world. Cam did it in 90...Nigeria could have done it in 94 and 98. Senegal in 2002 was robbed. We just have to make sure we can pipe our players into the best clubs.
There are some points that you seem to have understated. There is a lot of age cheating in african youth teams. This tends to inflate the success at the youth level while losing talents that could have blossomed later at the senior level.

About the young dutch getting a lot of press, football today is a business. Teams buy players that will lead to higher sales of Tshirts. So an average talented dutch in average will never get the same financial offer as an average talented african.

On age cheating, historically, I would agree with you. But Bone Scans have helped to make the environment more sane...and I haven't noticed a drop off in African domination.

On the dutch analogy...I would partly agree with you. Brazil has generally overcome that issue, but we will always have this exposure issue unless we have transcendent stars. But this is why I say African football has to promote the kind of rules that make such 'discrimination' hard to achieve.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by Kabalega »

The key is to do what Iceland and Uganda are doing. Germany, have been doing for years.
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

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Kabalega wrote:The key is to do what Iceland and Uganda are doing. Germany, have been doing for years.
which Uganda? :rotf:
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by Kabalega »

Tobi17 wrote:
Kabalega wrote:The key is to do what Iceland and Uganda are doing. Germany, have been doing for years.
which Uganda? :rotf:
The one that beat Nigeria home and away when Nigeria had decent players. :taunt: :taunt:
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

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deanotito wrote:It depends on what you mean by "African Football". I would rather segment it into powers....Cam, Nig, Gha, Egy, Alg, Sen are essentially what I consider African Football on the World stage. So if you're comparing African powers to similarly chosen European & South American powers, I disagree with Yujam's point....simply because African Teams dominate the age-grade sphere. If what Yujam is saying was correct, we wouldn't dominate that sphere.

The stuff of National Football however is built in professional clubs, and as the fortunes of our players in professional clubs go, so the fortunes of the national team would go. If Africa can push for/support more rules that level the playing field in professional clubs, the better we would be. Would be nice if we could bargain with UEFA to relax the restrictions on foreign players etc. in exchange for world cup votes etc.

African players have quite a few barriers in the professional game - Proximity, Racism & Age Cheating, being chief. We're getting rid of the effects of age cheating with bone scans, but racism has some lingering effects. Proximity is another issue....A dutch sensation is going to have an easier time playing for Ajax than a Nigerian sensation. That would be hard to overcome, but it is what it is.

I believe African powers can compete with the best in the world. Cam did it in 90...Nigeria could have done it in 94 and 98. Senegal in 2002 was robbed. We just have to make sure we can pipe our players into the best clubs.
Very disappointing. Why should the dutch league feel obliged to pay an African player the same as their own players. It's not their problem. We should be asking for equality but demanding our own football provides good enough lifestyles for our players. Its same in economics we like moaning about not getting jobs abroad. Shouldn't we be building our own economic structures. I would bet that a nigerian team of players playing in Nigeria earning just a third of what your foreign mercenaries (not just nigeria but Ghana, civ etc) with a good coach would do just as well as the players abroad with little or football chemistry. We need to put out African teams with an identifiable football identity and philosophy. I mean most African teams just play. You don't know what they are going to do next. Spain keep passing, France pass but with athleticism, England just thump it forward a d hope for the best. Germany are mechanical and direct, Portugal are a mix. But what exactly is the African philosophy apart from being strong and fast at running? I don't see it
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by Bell »

WHAT MATCH WERE YOU ALL WATCHING?


Some of the observations I've read here are true but I wasn't as disappointed at the end of the match as some of you seem to be. Yes, the first half was very disappointing but it appeared to me to be the result of a deliberate decision by Cameroon, right or wrong (wrong in my humble opinion). In the first half they allowed Chile possession without picking them up until they were deep in the Cameroon half. Also, they seemed to be employing a zone defense which allowed Chileans to go thru generally unmolested.

This all changed in the second half as Cameroon started picking up the Chileans high. And they started attacking with speed and skill. They were unlucky not have registered some goals for their effort. For Chile to score two goals in the second half at least is in part due to the bounce of the ball. On another day, I can see Cameroon winning this match with their second half strategy.

To say the Chileans became tired in the second half is to use an excuse which I heard the annoying commentators use. (The commentators who spend their life watching soccer in the Americas do not seem to know that soccer is played in other parts of the world). How could the Chileans who are probably starters in their clubs get tired while the benchwarming Cameroonians were just getting warmed up. Or was it the strategy of Cameroon to allow themselves to run ragged in the first half and then pounce on them in the second? If so it almost worked. Keep in mind that with nothing significant as stake Cameroon could simply have been experimenting.

As to whether Cameroon is the best Africa could produce, keep in mind that they were playing against the best from S. America.

All this is not to say some of the deficiencies observed about African soccer aren't valid but that should not be allowed to rubbish an acceptable performance by Cameroon.

Can African soccer be made better? Most definitely. In the past, I've advanced two solid plans that could improve professional soccer in Africa, keeping the players at home while giving the Euro leagues a run for their money in viewership and entertainment but those complaining now hardly commented on them. Hand wringing and identifying problems without proposing solutions (other than the not-out-of-the-box academy) is no way to get results.
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deanotito
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Re: African teams will lag behind until..

Post by deanotito »

Samora Machel wrote:
deanotito wrote:It depends on what you mean by "African Football". I would rather segment it into powers....Cam, Nig, Gha, Egy, Alg, Sen are essentially what I consider African Football on the World stage. So if you're comparing African powers to similarly chosen European & South American powers, I disagree with Yujam's point....simply because African Teams dominate the age-grade sphere. If what Yujam is saying was correct, we wouldn't dominate that sphere.

The stuff of National Football however is built in professional clubs, and as the fortunes of our players in professional clubs go, so the fortunes of the national team would go. If Africa can push for/support more rules that level the playing field in professional clubs, the better we would be. Would be nice if we could bargain with UEFA to relax the restrictions on foreign players etc. in exchange for world cup votes etc.

African players have quite a few barriers in the professional game - Proximity, Racism & Age Cheating, being chief. We're getting rid of the effects of age cheating with bone scans, but racism has some lingering effects. Proximity is another issue....A dutch sensation is going to have an easier time playing for Ajax than a Nigerian sensation. That would be hard to overcome, but it is what it is.

I believe African powers can compete with the best in the world. Cam did it in 90...Nigeria could have done it in 94 and 98. Senegal in 2002 was robbed. We just have to make sure we can pipe our players into the best clubs.
Very disappointing. Why should the dutch league feel obliged to pay an African player the same as their own players. It's not their problem. We should be asking for equality but demanding our own football provides good enough lifestyles for our players. Its same in economics we like moaning about not getting jobs abroad. Shouldn't we be building our own economic structures. I would bet that a nigerian team of players playing in Nigeria earning just a third of what your foreign mercenaries (not just nigeria but Ghana, civ etc) with a good coach would do just as well as the players abroad with little or football chemistry. We need to put out African teams with an identifiable football identity and philosophy. I mean most African teams just play. You don't know what they are going to do next. Spain keep passing, France pass but with athleticism, England just thump it forward a d hope for the best. Germany are mechanical and direct, Portugal are a mix. But what exactly is the African philosophy apart from being strong and fast at running? I don't see it
This is a Utopian opinion. In order to pay African players in Africa wages on par with what you get abroad, you have to develop the African economies - outside of football - to a point that they can compete with Europe. That's essentially outside of the powers of football, and would take a long time. So its not really pertinent to what I was arguing.
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