FIFA World Cup 2010: Oh, how the mighty African Footballers Fall
By Lawrence Taylor Nordee
Special and exclusive commentary for USAfricaonline.com and CLASSmagazine, Houston.
African countries produce some of the most skillful footballers in the world. These players enter very competitive professional leagues in the world, especially Europe. They make tens of millions of Dollars, Deutch Machs, and Euros … fill in the currency – because they are that good. Yet every four years when the World Cup (the most prestigious sporting competition known to man) rolls around regardless of the continent where it is hosted, no African team seems to have the capacity to break though to the semi-finals talk of the Championship (final) match much less hoist the Cup as winners of the FIFA World Cup.
This sorrowful state of football (a game also known as soccer to Americans) in Africa has been on full display this year when the Cup is finally being staged on the soil of our mother land, all in spite our home field advantage and the advent of the vuvuzella horn as part of World Cup experience.
We have even set a new low to the point that, for the first time in the history of the World Cup, the host country, South Africa in this case, could not even break through from Group Play to the next stage or Round of 16. African soccer stars cannot be proud of their World Cup history and certainly not in this one.
Trying to analyze this outcome does not require a Ph.D. in Sports Psychology but a simple understanding of purpose. When assembled together as a team, to represent their respective motherland – to play in the World Cup – Continental African soccer stars lose their purpose and play footsy. Individually, our soccer stars see the World Cup as an opportunity for the scouts of various prestigious club sides especially from European Leagues like the Italian Serie A, German Bundis Liga and the English Premier League – to name a few, to see their skills and be recruited to play in those leagues. African teams overpay their foreign coaches who don’t last long with the teams while squabbling over money for the players.
While teams from other continents like South America, Europe, North America and even Asia arrive at World Cup games with a purpose to score enough goals win games and points and advance to the next stage, African teams seem to play these games during the group stage as if they are glad “we made it to the World Cup let us show you that we are the best dribblers and rather than focus on scoring goals and gaining points.” Our players have a penchant for not playing as a team and would much prefer to demonstrate their tremendous individual skills or would rather take bad shots, even miss a play completely, than make an obvious pass that could result in a goal.
Team Portugal provided a blue print in a 7 – Nil Blow out of North Korea (second only to the 9-0 embarrassment that Zaire suffered at the hands of Yugoslavia in 1974), that African counties, if they care to take notice, can copy for future Cup competition – no matter where it is staged. The Portuguese put their collective skills together and scored the three goals they needed. Knowing they had the cushion and in order not to humiliate the North Koreans too badly, they started to demonstrate their obvious dribbling skills and then the Koreans in desperate need to at least score a goal and avoid a shot out broke down defensively and the goals started coming easier and easier even without the Portuguese trying such that their star player, Christiano Ronaldo – who had been without an international goal for 2 years, had this embarrassing chuckle as if to say “it can’t be this easy” in netting goal No. 6 for his team.
Contrast that with what the teams from African countries did in their games. Specific examination of what Team Nigeria did in Group play is appropriate here.
The Green Eagles probably held the Argentines in awe so a 1-0 loss to the Argentines in World Cup is understandable even palatable due to Cup history. However, in Game 2 against Greece, Nigeria scores first and rather than add to the tally as the superior team, The Eagles went into celebration forgetting that the game is scheduled for 90 minutes. Lack of awareness of the moment and purpose then led Midfielder, Sani Kaita, to commit a buffoon of a foul out of bounds no less, to get a Red Card and the Green Eagles playing only 10 against the full strength 11 Greeks. Result, 2-1 Greece wins first ever World Cup game and the 3 points that Nigeria needed to advance.
In Game 3, Nigeria scores first again, but lack of awareness, left the Eagles vulnerable with a weak 1-0 lead against a tenacious South Korean Team with inferior soccer talent who promptly took advantage and a 2-1 lead. Yes, Nigeria had numerous opportunities to score more goals and at least salvage a win in Group play but they did not execute even when the Korean net was wide open.
Thanks to a Penalty Kick, The Eagles managed to tie South Korea 2-2 sending the Koreans to the Round of 16 and the Eagles with their clipped feathers now go back home with a Grand Total of 1 point and last place in Group play and the process to qualify for the next World Cup to begin in earnest in two years.
The collective demise of the Continental African Footballer in the FIFA 2010 World Cup from South Africa has not been limited to our players. A Malian referee has become the face of incompetent officiating by disallowing an American goal while calling the wrong foul. Its one thing that he missed the goal but to completely miss the obvious penalty kick that was due on the play led to FIFA sending him packing from World Cup 2010, South Africa.
So as the Desert Foxes of Algeria humbly go home (after losing to unheralded Slovenian powerhouse of 2 million people and others in it’s Group A), the Dominated Lions head back to their den with their tails between their hind legs by losing to power house Japan, the Clipped Eagles flop back without wings, the Ivorian Elephants stumble home and the Boys (Bafana Bafana of South Africa) become guests in their own house (after folding meekly on their pitch), only the shooting Black Stars of Ghana potentially have any hope of advancing out of Group play even though they had collapsed to 10-man Australia soccerroos in game 2. What should have been an African Cup essentially is now the South American party – with Uraguay, Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and their North American cousins in Stars and Stripes moving on to the Round of 16.
The obvious lesson here is, to borrow the words of Ghanaian Star – Pantsil, rather than “trying to impress individually, African teams should follow their coaches’ instructions” and focus on why they are at the World Cup.
African Soccer Stars have a responsibility to the Continental African football fans the world over to score goals, win games and generate enough points to advance to the next stage until they win the Cup. Ghana may yet surprise us in 2010 but collectively this is the mandate and mission for all African teams in future World Cup tournaments.
•Nordee, a financial service executive, is a special correspondent of USAfricaonline.com and CLASSmagazine, Houston.
Great article! Very refreshing, indeed. Thank you for writing it.
The "sorrowful state of football" on "full display" at these games is a reflexion and highly symptomatic of the sorrowful state of affairs in the Continent, and in each and every one of these countries. In this, as in most cases, the fruit has not fallen far from the tree.
Most Africans grow up without the same sense of belonging, and patriotism, characteristic of their counterparts in either Europe or Latin America. Or, even Asia, for that matter. The average African is self-made, in a country, and government that could really not care less about the personal well being of her citizens. One lesson the average African learns early in life is, when it comes to dealing with one's country, one is on one's own! It is a very sad state of affair.
Is it reasonable to expect an African Player to go out and "leave it all in the field", for the love of country? Absolutely! However, I understand perfectly well why a Player would not feel like it.
We assume that the principal motivation of the African Player, in going to The Games, is to represent his country. I do not think anything is farther from the truth. In fact, I would submit that his primordial reason, all things considered, is to market himself to potential agents, and teams, that might be interested in his services. A successful World Cup appearance, to an African Player, contrary to what most might think is one in which he gets calls and, possibly, contracts to play Overseas.; an event that would put him in a position to help himself and his numerous extended family members, better than any recognition from his country would.
With that in mind, the African comes to these Games, determine to be a hero, and shine..and stand out. One way of standing out is to score a goal, hence the erratic shots; or to dribble, albeit, unnecessarily, but the goal, no pun intended, is not to win, but to impress.
Yes, it is oxymoronic. A sane person would argue that winning games as a team is the best marketing strategy for the Players. Tell that to the one who is determined to be a hero!
It's interesting you mention the coaches. Oftentimes, these imported coaches have very little time with the Players that they don't even have enough practice time to build a cohesive team. This works well for the purpose of the Player. They go, not as a team, but as a collective of individual talents.
It would really be a pleasant sight, and something to write home about if African Soccer Stars would come out and "leave it all in the field" for country. However, I would be deluded if I pretended not to understand why any one of them would choose to place their allegiance, and sense of duty to their contractual teams, where their bread, and that of their family, is buttered.