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| The desert Warriors of Algeria |
The
senior national team of Algeria, the Desert Warriors, have earned plaudits from
their fellow Africans for their outstanding performance during the 2014 FIFA
World Cup in Brazil.
In what could be termed as an
African soccer’s peer review mechanism held in Cairo, Egypt by head coaches and
technical directors of Africa’s member associations, Algeria was praised by many participants at the
conference for the level of football they displayed in Brazil.
Reflecting on the technical aspects of Brazil 2014, there
was a general feeling among participants that African teams had played their
part in the overall success of the World Cup. For the very first time two
African representatives reached the second stage of the competition and the
general level of football produced was of high quality. Particularly satisfying
were the performances of Algeria, who lost narrowly, and in extra time, to
eventual champion Germany in the Round of 16. Nigeria fell at the same stage
thanks to two late France goals, while Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana both came very
close to reaching the second phase.
However, a statement by the Algerian technical director
in a FIFA newsletter has gone a long way to point out that it takes a lot of professionalism
to achieve what the Desert Warrors achieved in Brazil.
“We have been successful because we have professionalised
the structure around the team.
“We
look at every detail. The administration, the organisation and the technical
aspects go hand in hand.”
The above statements were attributed to Algeria's
technical director, Taoufik Korichi.
Bonus and other financial disputes
Head coaches and technical directors of Africa's member
associations, in a discussion during the
September 30 and October 1 Cairo Conference organised by FIFA and CAF to
review and learn from the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, highlighted the general
progress of the continent's football and the improvements that were needed for
an African team to win a FIFA World Cup™.
Analysing the example of world champion Germany, the top
African technicians agreed that, despite having talented players, their nations
still have a number of issues to address, particularly in organisation and
administration.
“If we
want to move forward we have to professionalise everything around the
team," said Volker Finke, who coached for nearly 20 years in the German
Bundesliga and is now national coach of Cameroon.
After a
disappointing 2014 World Cup, Cameroon are seeking a fresh start with a new
generation of young players and is currently leading its group in the 2015
AFCON qualifiers.
Both Finke
and Ghana’s representative stressed that disputes around the payment of bonuses
to players ahead of the competition had a negative impact in Brazil.
“The money
issue affected players' concentration," commented Francis Oti Akenteng,
technical director of Ghana.
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| Ghana's representative Francis Oti Akenteng (2nd from right) in a group picture with some participants |
Youth Development and other technical issues
Among other
issues that African football is facing, participants mentioned the lack of
youth development programmes.
“The
national team is not the place where you can teach the basics of technique and
tactics; it has to come before," said Ephraim Mashaba, head coach of South
Africa.
He pointed
as well to the difficulty of working appropriately within the international
match calendar, which only allows a few days ahead of and in between matches .
This limitation is felt particularly keenly in Africa, where travelling between
different countries can take several days.
Shawky
Gharib, head coach of Egypt, also underlined the difficulty of having to play
international matches during the national league season break, when players are
out of shape.
Senegal's
technical director, Mayacine Mar, was similarly upbeat. “We have progressed; we
are not far from our objective," he said. "But we need more stability
of coaches and technical staff to allow them to develop a project over at least
four years."
The
conference was also a very good opportunity to learn from the World Cup and
analyse the tactical evolution of the game. “Football has changed”, said Finke.
“In modern football everybody moves, every player has to give to the team and
be responsible. The system can change, but what needs to always be there is
pressing on the ball and playing collectively, move together”.
The two
day event was a unique platform for the elite technicians of the African
continent to exchange ideas and develop new strategies for the future. “We
should stop thinking about winning today but think of winning tomorrow. We need
to build very good foundations," was the view of Ghana's technical
director, Francis Oti Akenteng.
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| Participant at the Cairo Conference |
