Subtitle....why African teams don't to well at the world cup (and it isn't because of racisim).

Once again, Nigeria gets kicked out of the world cup. Truth be told...I was expecting this from the word go...the team we had was not just good enough, and our last two friendly matches gave enough room for concern. I was expecting Argentina to beat us 2-1....and I was not dissapointed. Indeed the surprise is that Argentina did not thrash us heavily....seems like the fighting in the dressing room is real..

So, why?

In 1990....as a little kid, I watched as Cameroon, led by the legend Roger Milla...who was 39 years old at the time, but played like someone ten years younger, reached the quarter final of the World Cup. Everyone thought it was a new dawn for African football..

How has Cameroon done since then? Three first round exits.

In 2002...Senegal was the next new kid on the block. How have they done since then....No qualification till 2018.(and now they are our last hope).

In 2010, Ghana reached the quarter final...and it was a new dawn..Since then, Ghana went out in round 1 4 years later, and this cup...they are nowhere near the trophy.

Nigeria....our best finish has been round 2 in 1994, 1998, and 2014 (Okay).

So, why

1.In most African countries, we don't have a visible youth sturcture in place. Our football boides do not have a policy as to how we should train the next generation of footballers. Instead, we just hope that they will learn the skills they need on the street...and then get polished up in Europe or Asia., and come and win for us.

2.We had a golden opportunity in the U17 and U21 tourneys....only to mess it up by sending overaged players, who flattered to decieve...and then flopped at senior level...with disastrous consequences.

3.We have no structure in place to train our coaches, especially youth coaches. (That remids me, watch TV footage of an African coach of a league side in an African country speaking, and then watch his European counterpart. Who sounds more intelligent? And the thing is...the European has the same brain as we do...only the brain has been honed in training, training and more training).

4.Domestic football in Africa is in a shambles. Like now...when was the last time a Cameroonian, Nigerian, Senegalese, Ghanaian, even Moroccan, and Egyptian club won a title at continental or even global level?
In Nigeria, most clubs are owned by state governments...which chrnonically underfund them, leading to poorly turned out players.

5.What is our purpose for playing football in Nigeria...is it to play a better game, or just to win? I think we know the answer.

I conclude with the story of Belgium.

In 1990, when Cameroon was in the quarters, Belgium was out by the first round.In 2002...the Belgian FA started reforming its football...by changing the way the young/youth/kids played.....with emphasis on improving passing skills....and byalso changing the way they trained their youth coaches.

The result...Belgium is now a world class side.

(And for those saying Nigeria failed because we are a dividied nation....Belgium is also as divided as Nigeria between French speaking and Dutch speaking Belgians. They also had no government for over 500 days ....with a caretaker government run by an Italian immigrant in place, because the vote was split between French and Dutch separatist parties)

I think it is high time we changed the way we trained our youth and our coaches...and stopped focusing on winning, and started focusing on being better at football (my brother made the comment that Nigeria plays the same way they did when we both were kids in the late 80's/early 90's).....in short imporved our structures.

Instead of pretending everything is ok.

Same goes for other African countries. We cannot live on past glories.