Tag: Pace

Equatorial Guinea has shown that Africa has what it takes to host big soccer competitions at short notice, with the remarkable manner the matches of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations have been played without hitches.

The few hitches so far have resulted from the pressure on the pitches in two centres, no thanks to the hurried manner in which the facilities were completed. Consequently, two matches will be played today and tomorrow. Indeed, today at Bata, hosts Equatorial Guinea will seek to grab a quarter-finals ticket by beating Tunisia. The game had been slated for Ebebiyin but was moved to Bata. And Sunday’s quarter-finals between group c winners and Group D runners-up would be played in Malabo instead of Mongomo.

Interestingly, the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF), in a statement on Tuesday, said: “The two matches (in Ebebiyin and Mongono) have been adversely affected by the combination of wear and tear from six games played or to be played in each of them and the unstable weather conditions seen lately.”

Good talk CAF.  This is a departure from the buck-passing of the past. CAF knows that the hosts saved it the embarrassment of postponing the event, had they opted out of hosting it like Nigeria and two other countries did.  Until the competition began, some Europe-based African players launched subtle protest about the possibilities of hosting the event in Malabo and its cities because of the fear of the dreaded Ebola disease. Most of them asked CAF to postpone the competition. Others demanded another country should host the event at a later date.

But CAF stuck to its guns. The event has turned out to be a thriller and easily the most competitive Africa Cup of Nations, with the closeness in the qualification race. A couple of games will be decided by the toss of the coin, one of the technicalities used to determine eventual winners of competitions when all the known indices fail to produce a winner.

The results have been very close, even as pundits have marvelled at the pace of the matches. These purists point at the fighting spirit of the players, their passion as well as their determination and dedication. Countries with big ego players have been taught the lessons of their lives as they have been made to dig deep to secure draw results in games where they were tipped as favourites.

The classic between Cote d’ Ivoire and Cameroon must have told the Ivoirens that they need to rebuild their team if they hope to make any impact in the game. Players, such as African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure, can no longer produce the form that we see him exhibit with Manchester City while playing for his country. No disrespect to Yaya, who tries to give his best during matches for Ivory Coast. But there is a limit to what a tired body can give.

The Cameroonians may be out of the competition but they have a new team that can reproduce the golden era of the country’ football, if the new boys are kept together and exposed to quality matches. What this trend shows is that there are a lot of players in the continent. The problem with local coaches across Africa is the difficulty in picking these rookies at the grassroots in preference for the established stars. Our local coaches have refused to update their knowledge to complement the players’ skills, especially those of them who are in Europe.

Little wonder we are talking of Equatorial Guinea, Congo Dr and Congo Brazzaville Little wonder we are talking of Equatorial Guinea, Congo Dr and Congo Brazzaville qualifying for the quarter-finals. What this also shows is that the game is growing in Africa, more so when some established countries, such as Senegal, are at the African soccer showpiece without some of their celebrated stars, most of whom were dropped because of their attitude, loss of form or being bad influence on the budding youths in their squads.

Besides, most of the countries that qualified for the quarter-finals were coached by foreigners – a fact that lends credence to the claims that African coaches need to undergo refresher courses to learn the tricks of the game. It also shows that African players have grown in their trade, making it absolutely impossible for our domestic coaches to impact the kind of knowledge that they are exposed to in their European clubs.

The dearth of players at the grassroots is also traced to the fact that African coaches don’t take the time to teach the young boys and girls the basics of the game. The result is that most of the new lads that we have seen in Equatorial Guinea have pace, strength and the will to give their best but no skill to excite the fans. This lack of skills – except for a few of the players – has accounted for the low score results of matches.

I’m not surprised by the glut of foreign coaches among the African countries. The trend is in sync with global best practices where if you don’t have the men to do the job, then seek quality tacticians until such a time when your nationals can compete favourably with these better exposed foreigners.

It must be noted that most of the countries with foreign coaches have had them take charge for the first time in this competition. What it means is that these countries could get better, especially those countries that have qualified for the quarter-finals, making the race for the five tickets allocated to Africa for the 2018 World Cup in Russia one to follow with keen interest.

It is difficult to state categorically the best African team in this tournament. But countries like Algeria and Cote d’ Ivoire have built on the gains of their participation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They either changed the coaches or dropped bad influence players or both to rejuvenate the sides that we are watching. They may be slow to find their rhythm during the three games they have played. But you could see a bright future. The Ivoirens would be happier for it watching their coach change Yaya Toure in the closing stages of the game against Cameroon, yet the Ivoriens still won. Such an action would have been tagged a taboo in the past.

On paper, Algeria looks like the odds-on-favourite to replace Nigeria as the next Africa Cup of Nations winners. Both they have to beat Cote d’ Ivoire, easily the game of the four quarter-final matches. If the Algerians win the trophy, their template will serve as the model for confused countries like Nigeria to copy. The Algerians have rebuilt their team from a fallen dynasty of spent stars which they held on to. It dawned on the Algerians that something radical had to be done with their senior national team when they were beaten by hitherto rookie football nations in Africa.

But is anyone missing the “big-for-nothing” Super Eagles in Malabo? Who will miss players who specialise in protesting against everything without thinking of the odium such acts pour this country? Who will miss players who cause their nationals heartaches enroute winning matches? Who will miss the Eagles whose coaches are all-knowing and impervious to change? Who will miss the team where coaches sell wrist watches to players at exorbitant rates? Who will miss players who love to mix the serious business of playing soccer with attending discos?

In Malabo, we have not heard of cases where football federation chiefs and the players or coaches are quarrelling? We have not been told of instances where players are talking on telephone with their country’s presidents before and after games? We have not read stories where players and coaches bar their countries’reporters from reporting their activities the way ours do?

No stories of players jumping the hotel’s fence to boogie at night clubs. No football federation chief is keeping vigil to prevent players from sneaking into other rooms to visit girlfriends like our Eagles did at the Tunisia 2004 Africa Cup of Nations. There are no threats of players and coaches seeking audience with the FA chiefs, sports ministers and highly placed government officials to know how much they would be paid for matches not yet played. No scenes where coaches blatantly wear sports apparels in conflict with the country’s attires at training sessions and pre-match and post-match conferences. Not at all. Oh! How we miss our dear Super Eagles.

Everything emanating from Malabo and the smaller cities where the matches are being played bothers on football. Government officials are not flying into Malabo in droves to support their national teams.

Have we learnt a lesson from missing out on the Africa Cup of Nations? No. We have spent the last three months toying with the simple task of sacking the team’s coaches. A lull exists that may continue until a clearer picture emerges on the political scene. By October when the 2018 World Cup qualifiers begin, we will still be rebuilding when the last eight nations at the quarter-finals stage at this year’s edition of AFCON would have found their range, scoring goals with aplomb.

These quarter-finalists will spend the next six months correcting the flaws they have noticed through international friendly games while Nigeria will be struggling with who should coach the Eagles or not.

If Nigeria is to participate in the crucial soccer competitions for 2018, beginning with the Africa Cup of Nations, then the government must allow the NFF pick a coach it can control. This is the key to success as a ship cannot have two captains.