March 29, 2024, 02:26:16 AM

Author Topic: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches  (Read 2909 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Bitter

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 9689
    • View Profile
Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« on: June 22, 2010, 11:56:42 AM »
Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/sports/soccer/22coaches.html

CAPE TOWN — This is supposed to be Africa’s World Cup, but Africa’s teams, many on the verge of elimination, are still not entirely Africa’s teams.

Not with Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swede who spawned a thousand tabloid headlines in England, coaching Ivory Coast despite not speaking French or any of the country’s indigenous languages.

Not with Lars Lagerback, another late recruit from Sweden, coaching Nigeria. Not with the French former star Paul Le Guen coaching Cameroon, and not with Carlos Alberto Parreira, the classy Brazilian, back in charge of South Africa.

Foreign coaches have been a fixture in African soccer since the beginning at the World Cup. In 1934, when Egypt became the first African nation to participate in the tournament, James McRae of Scotland was the manager. It took 36 years for another African team to participate, and when Morocco managed it, in 1970, the coach was Blagoje Vidinic of Yugoslavia.

But this is a deeply symbolic year and occasion, one that was supposed to underscore the possibilities of Africa and its present-day qualities. How inconvenient, then, that of the six African teams in the tournament, only Algeria is coached by one of its own: the 64-year-old Rabah Saadane.

“For my country, it’s symbolic, because Mr. Saadane is the man who qualified us for the World Cup,” said Madjid Bougherra, an Algerian defender. “It’s been 24 years since we qualified, and Mr. Saadane was the coach then, too. He is very respected in Algeria, and I think it gives a good image, the right image for Algeria to have an Algerian coach.”

For the other five African teams, it looks very much like a missed opportunity, and the situation, although more nuanced than it first appears and hardly new, remains a wellspring of continental angst.

“Let me put it this way,” Simaata Simaata, general secretary of the Zambia Football Coaches Association, told the BBC this year, “it’s like saying David Livingstone discovered the Victoria Falls. No, David Livingstone was the first European to see the Victoria Falls. There were already local people who knew where the mighty wonder of the world existed, and they were the local scouts who knew the terrain. That’s the way we view the contribution of foreign coaches.”

Back in 1975, Tanzania, bent on national self-reliance, barred foreign coaches, but that policy has long since been revoked, with Jan Paulsen of Denmark the latest to take over in Dar es Salaam next month.

Meanwhile, foreigners continue to make an impolite habit of parachuting in. Lagerback was hired in late February to coach Nigeria, well after the Super Eagles had qualified for the World Cup finals under Shaibu Amodu, a Nigerian. Lagerback, as the coach of the Swedish national team, had already failed in his first attempt to qualify with the Swedes.

Eriksson was hired even later. Back on the market after failing to convince as Mexico’s coach last year, Eriksson signed with Ivory Coast in late March after the team fired the Bosnian-born Frenchman Vahid Halilhodzic, who had smoothly negotiated qualifying but not this year’s African Cup of Nations, where Ivory Coast lost in the quarterfinals.

Eriksson is accustomed to operating outside his culture. He made his name as a club coach in Portugal and Italy, then became the first foreigner to coach England.

But he, like Lagerback, had never coached an African side. Nor had Le Guen.

So why the enduring fascination with the foreign soccer mind?

Hiring foreigners is, of course, not just an African trend. The Middle East is full of coaching outsiders, and at this World Cup, England is being coached by an Italian (Fabio Capello), Switzerland by a German (Ottmar Hitzfeld) and Chile by an Argentine (Marcelo Bielsa).

But the colonial legacy in Africa stirs up more powerful emotions when foreigners, particularly Europeans, take charge.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the colonial history of Africa, the sort of idea that you need white supervision for black achievement, and there’s the desire of Africans to reverse that,” said Peter Alegi, a professor at Michigan State who has written extensively on African soccer and is in South Africa on a Fulbright grant this year. “And so whenever there’s a white man in charge, it’s bound to create animosity, but I think one also has to think of the fact that there has been very little coaching development in Africa and sometimes the football associations select a European based on their record.”

Bougherra, the Algerian defender, said he thought the trend would shift soon. “A lot of great African players are starting to retire,” he said. “Some of them will become coaches.”

For now, more stability would be helpful. In the last decade, there have been 10 changes at the top in Cameroon, and South Africa has made 20 since being readmitted to international soccer in 1992.

“Look at the result when you bring in a coach from the outside, as many teams have, and it’s their local coaches who qualified the team,” said Zoheir Djelloul, Algeria’s assistant. “The performance on the field is often negative.”

Cameroon will not reach the second round. The Nigerians have been so unimpressive that they have become known as the Super Turkeys at home. It is perhaps no coincidence that the foreign coach with the best results here so far for Africa is Milovan Rajevac, a Serb who coaches Ghana and has been in place for nearly two years.

With ever more Africans making a living playing for European clubs, the idea of playing for a European coach at home is hardly a stretch. And African players, who have worked so hard against such long odds to get out of Africa, may have more innate respect for a foreign coach’s expertise.

But there is also something subtler at work as Philippe Troussier, the French coach nicknamed “le Sorcier Blanc,” or the White Witch Doctor, explained in Ian Hawkey’s book on the history of African soccer, “Feet of the Chameleon.”

“The foreign coach can be presented as a neutral man, who doesn’t have a favorite tribe or region,” Troussier said.

Not all the neutrals are Europeans. Brazilians, whose trademark style of play corresponds well with African inclinations, have also been a regular presence. Otto Glória coached Nigeria in the 1980s, and José Faria led Morocco at the 1986 World Cup, where it became the first African nation to reach the second round. Now South Africa, on the biggest occasion in its soccer history, has called on the well-traveled Parreira, who won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil, failed to repeat the trick in 2006 and will, barring something truly extraordinary, fail to win it this year, too.

Parreira has hard-earned expertise and had South Africans believing in him and his team after its opening draw with Mexico. But it still seems well past time that Africa, a continent that produces so many great players, starts producing — and rewarding — more great coaches.

A pity it could not do that in time for its own World Cup.
Bitter is a supercalifragilistic tic-tac-pro

Offline jai john

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 3394
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2010, 05:18:19 PM »
England want to stage ah next Wc ..they go have ah english coach for by then ? how come dat eh news ?

Offline jai john

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 3394
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2010, 05:20:55 PM »
how come when something happen in africa it have psychological explanation ..but when it happen in Europe it eh have none ? look ahn Italian team won de European cup and had to bring on an italian before de game ended to save face ! not even de coach was italian !

AirMan

  • Guest
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2010, 05:39:25 PM »
England want to stage ah next Wc ..they go have ah english coach for by then ? how come dat eh news ?

Well said

Offline 100% Barataria

  • aka Nachilus
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5014
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2010, 05:42:34 PM »
how come when something happen in africa it have psychological explanation ..but when it happen in Europe it eh have none ? look ahn Italian team won de European cup and had to bring on an italian before de game ended to save face ! not even de coach was italian !

Sense
Education is our passport for the future for the future belongs to those who prepare for it today

Offline Midknight

  • Midknight
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5733
  • President of the Reality Check Commitee
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2010, 07:01:22 PM »
how come when something happen in africa it have psychological explanation ..but when it happen in Europe it eh have none ? look ahn Italian team won de European cup and had to bring on an italian before de game ended to save face ! not even de coach was italian !

You being harsh. Is not like it didn't mention the European teams with foreign coaches. The article has its merits. What I want to know is why African teams persist hiring so many shite European coaches!
Go Black if you want Jack to Track Back! I support all Soca Warriors - Red, White and Blacklisted.

D baddest SW compilation ever

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2010, 07:20:51 PM »
how come when something happen in africa it have psychological explanation ..but when it happen in Europe it eh have none ? look ahn Italian team won de European cup and had to bring on an italian before de game ended to save face ! not even de coach was italian !

You being harsh. Is not like it didn't mention the European teams with foreign coaches. The article has its merits. What I want to know is why African teams persist hiring so many shite European coaches!

  You are right, because throughout the coverage I even heard it being mentioned by at least one of the analysts about one of the African teams (can't remember which one) not playing in their natural formation......aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, I think it was Nigeria, lagerback playing Odomwingie out of his natural position (and we see how ineffective he has been) and it has been the talking point in quite a few private discussions that maybe these european coaches aren't quite the best thing for African teams, regardless of whether or not these same players play in europe. No one that is interested in seeing African football make the progress it needs to make, cares about any european team's appointment of their coaches.  Africans need to do what's best for them and if the coach has to be a foreigner, he has to be the right fit for the team in a myriad of ways.  Ghana is the last hope with what is now the best chance of any of the African teams going into the knockout stage (the numbers just don't seem to be able to work for Ivory Coast) and while their coach is a foreigner, he isn't a last-minute appointee, so at least there is continuity with this team.   


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline Jah Gol

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 8493
  • Ronaldinho is the best player of our era
    • View Profile
    • The Ministry of Noise
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2010, 07:28:24 PM »
Which coach was going to help Yakubu today ?

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2010, 07:46:36 PM »
Which coach was going to help Yakubu today ?

  The issue of foreign (european) coaches overseeing African teams is about tactics and administration.  That miss today eh have no place in the discussion. Yakubu executed the proper fundamentals on that miss.....he simply executed them a little too properly to his left. 
« Last Edit: June 22, 2010, 07:48:15 PM by Mango Chow! »


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline Bakes

  • Promethean...
  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 21980
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2010, 07:52:05 PM »
The focus should be on the best candidates... not where they're from.  The fact remains however that the better clubs, better facilities, better academies, better programs in global football are to be found in Europe.  With such a rich infrastructure it is only natural that even the "shitty" European coaches will have advantages over many coaches from developing countries where the resources, regimen and facilities aren't as developed.

Of course there will always be exceptions to the norm.

Offline Jah Gol

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 8493
  • Ronaldinho is the best player of our era
    • View Profile
    • The Ministry of Noise
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2010, 08:11:49 PM »
Which coach was going to help Yakubu today ?

  The issue of foreign (european) coaches overseeing African teams is about tactics and administration.  That miss today eh have no place in the discussion. Yakubu executed the proper fundamentals on that miss.....he simply executed them a little too properly to his left. 
I made the statement because I think the issue which the African teams at this tournament was not tactical or strategic. It was technical and mental. Look at a team like Ghana for instance who worked hard to defeat Serbia, created numerous chances only to score via a penalty. Ghana had more than 20 shots against Australia and very few were on target. One shot from Gyan who ignored 2 teammates in the box was save for Yakubu's attempt today, the worst shot of the tournament - an attempt from 35 yards close right wing blazed into the stands (and that stadium had a running track).

The tale of missed chances included all the African teams. Cameroon I though was unlucky not to get something against Denmark. They conceded a goal on the break but the left back's 'defending' was shocking to say the least. Remember Uche's missed sitter against Argentina. Or missed chances against Greece. I think these events are game changers as we know all too well. The side that capitalizes will gain the advantage in the match. This world cup was lace with situations that African teams did not exploit either due to panic or lack or just plain a lack of quality.

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #11 on: June 22, 2010, 08:12:28 PM »
Of all the FIFA Youth tournaments (U-17 and U-20 WC) where African teams finished in the top four, 2 out of 24 of those teams had foreign coaches. All the rest were local (except Ivory Coast in Canada '87 that has no coach listed).  The foundation and possibly the formula for success is there.    


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #12 on: June 22, 2010, 08:18:01 PM »
Which coach was going to help Yakubu today ?

  The issue of foreign (european) coaches overseeing African teams is about tactics and administration.  That miss today eh have no place in the discussion. Yakubu executed the proper fundamentals on that miss.....he simply executed them a little too properly to his left. 
I made the statement because I think the issue which the African teams at this tournament was not tactical or strategic. It was technical and mental. Look at a team like Ghana for instance who worked hard to defeat Serbia, created numerous chances only to score via a penalty. Ghana had more than 20 shots against Australia and very few were on target. One shot from Gyan who ignored 2 teammates in the box was save for Yakubu's attempt today, the worst shot of the tournament - an attempt from 35 yards close right wing blazed into the stands (and that stadium had a running track).

The tale of missed chances included all the African teams. Cameroon I though was unlucky not to get something against Denmark. They conceded a goal on the break but the left back's 'defending' was shocking to say the least. Remember Uche's missed sitter against Argentina. Or missed chances against Greece. I think these events are game changers as we know all too well. The side that capitalizes will gain the advantage in the match. This world cup was lace with situations that African teams did not exploit either due to panic or lack or just plain a lack of quality.


  You only looking at one tournament, Bredda.  Technical ability is not necessarily the bane of African Football's existence as a whole......Africans love to shoot from anywhere, that ain't no secret.  It's defensive discipline and overall organization and tactics is what kills them.  If Yakubu woulda try to score that goal today with the inside of his left foot yuh mighta be able to argue against his technique, though, but he didn't.     

...as a matter of fact, Africans seem to want to shoot less as they get older.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2010, 04:14:26 AM by Mango Chow! »


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline Bourbon

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5209
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #13 on: June 22, 2010, 09:18:38 PM »
Of all the FIFA Youth tournaments (U-17 and U-20 WC) where African teams finished in the top four, 2 out of 24 of those teams had foreign coaches. All the rest were local (except Ivory Coast in Canada '87 that has no coach listed).  The foundation and possibly the formula for success is there.    


In my view...at that youth level...physicality can still negate superior tactics and get you far. Why doesn't the success translate to senior level?

In the U-17 2001 world cup...Burkina Faso and Nigeria were semifinalists.

What happened afterward?

Zeppo i think posted an article here that I read. For some reason....African coaches are bypassed. Then again a lot not getting chances or opportunities to show what they can do. In addition the tribal insularity that exists results in a lot of favoritism..and a foreigner is seen as more neutral.


Problem is..you have has-beens like Sven..who cant even speak a word of the native tongue of the country they required to coach...coming in mere weeks beforehand. The coach before him was foreign too.....but at least he had familiarity with the squad.

Then players leaving earlier. Forced into a european mold. Might be good...or might be bad. Depends on your perspective.


This African coaching issue eh an easy one to solve. Is a sad one doh.
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus ;with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

Offline DeSoWa

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 3542
  • Life. Passion. FOOTBALL!
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #14 on: June 22, 2010, 10:25:46 PM »
Lack of continuity is the problem, changing 10 coaches in 12 yrs eh helping nobody. Some of them foreign coaches look like they just want to make some quick easy cash and then ride out, that's what I think most people is having a problem with.

Big Up!
Warrior Nation Member

Forward Thinking does not mean you cannot reflect on the Past!

Offline Mango Chow!

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5720
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #15 on: June 23, 2010, 04:11:13 AM »
Of all the FIFA Youth tournaments (U-17 and U-20 WC) where African teams finished in the top four, 2 out of 24 of those teams had foreign coaches. All the rest were local (except Ivory Coast in Canada '87 that has no coach listed).  The foundation and possibly the formula for success is there.    


In my view...at that youth level...physicality can still negate superior tactics and get you far. Why doesn't the success translate to senior level?

In the U-17 2001 world cup...Burkina Faso and Nigeria were semifinalists.

What happened afterward?

Zeppo i think posted an article here that I read. For some reason....African coaches are bypassed. Then again a lot not getting chances or opportunities to show what they can do. In addition the tribal insularity that exists results in a lot of favoritism..and a foreigner is seen as more neutral.


Problem is..you have has-beens like Sven..who cant even speak a word of the native tongue of the country they required to coach...coming in mere weeks beforehand. The coach before him was foreign too.....but at least he had familiarity with the squad.

Then players leaving earlier. Forced into a european mold. Might be good...or might be bad. Depends on your perspective.


This African coaching issue eh an easy one to solve. Is a sad one doh.



  I agree with everything you said here.  I was PISSED when (1) I see so many African teams were making late changes (but with South Africa you could possibly call C.A.P. an appointment of continuity, nor would I EVER have a problem with an African team appointing a Brazilian coach anyway , my supposed hypocrisy be damned! ;) ) and (2) that sven get called to coach Drogba and dem. sven is a damned club coach.
  I think the main differences between youth and senior levels are tactics, the sud-element of which has to be discipline, and I can only wonder how much of these African federations are always going through some administrative drama and how it affects the organization of the teams. . 


Lack of continuity is the problem, changing 10 coaches in 12 yrs eh helping nobody. Some of them foreign coaches look like they just want to make some quick easy cash and then ride out, that's what I think most people is having a problem with.

Big Up!


 could very well be true.


Not because a man ears long and he teet' long dat it make him a Jackass!

Offline Observer

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 5428
  • The best gift for a footballer is Intelligence ---
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #16 on: June 23, 2010, 03:29:24 PM »
Lack of continuity is the problem, changing 10 coaches in 12 yrs eh helping nobody. Some of them foreign coaches look like they just want to make some quick easy cash and then ride out, that's what I think most people is having a problem with.

Big Up!

Well I don't think its the coaches. The problem is the administration that constantly chopping and changing.
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead
                                              Thomas Paine

Offline Deeks

  • Hero Warrior
  • *****
  • Posts: 18631
    • View Profile
Re: Africa Hosts the Cup but Imports the Coaches
« Reply #17 on: June 23, 2010, 05:52:51 PM »
Lack of continuity is the problem, changing 10 coaches in 12 yrs eh helping nobody. Some of them foreign coaches look like they just want to make some quick easy cash and then ride out, that's what I think most people is having a problem with.

Big Up!

Well I don't think its the coaches. The problem is the administration that constantly chopping and changing.

Obsever,
                I agree it is the various FF who let down these African teams. With the exception of Ghana and Algeria, the others preparations were lacking in everything. Last minuit coaching changes drived me crazy.

 

1]; } ?>