The African game currently displayed on the South African
shores is exposing worrying trends of how much retarded the continental game
has been since the turn of the century. It could be how much faster the world developed
leaving Africa behind. Compare that with the 20 minutes display Arsenal played
against Chelsea in the second half. It was the Gunners’ best football in over
five years but it lasted 20 minutes.
Just before the beginning of the 2013 AFCON, South
Africa fired blanks and hope was that things would pick up on the opening match
of the tournament. They were sterile once more and to find the spot, maybe they
need a GPS.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s TP Mazembe were
at different level a few years back, reaching the Fifa Club World Cup final. In
a viral post I did about their adventure, I labelled them as the real deal.
African football was supposed to be on the rise but what happened? TP Mazembe seems to
have not filtered down or maybe swam upstream to the national team. They looked
at home when they played the world’s best in that final at the United Arab
Emirates.
The South African 2013 AFCON has so far produced a
stalemate between the hosts and the tournament ‘minnows’, Cerpe Verde. The next
match saw four goals as Ghana and DRC shared the spoils. Again, one needs to
look at the Manchester United versus Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 draw, basically when
the ball is passed and where it goes.
What has been a glaring truth is how much regressing
the game has been. For entertainment, maybe there was something to cheer in the
four goals scored in Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Stadium. Except for
playing by heart, DRC offered nothing at all, neither did the over-rated Ghana.
In the matches played so far, technically and
tactically, this has been a sorry site and with common these trends, there is a lot
to see. The standard of the game that is worrying extends to the psychological
aspect, besides the technical and tactical awareness. The Central African
nation depended much on counter-attacks, badly executed by wrong choices and losing
of momentum.
The biggest problem is the decision-making. Africa
is miles, thousands of miles away. When to and not to pass tops the list. Hanging
on the ball too long and less often, playing too early need addressing so
badly. There were moments where both teams were guilty of carrying the ball and
then slowing down until defenders made recovery runs and retrieved the ball.
The poor decision making can be due to a few
problems. The triggers that must come from supporting players are themselves
either wrong or badly timed. Even then, one would expect to get one aspect
right and then work on the other. Either way, the coaches are responsible for
recognising and rectifying these.
Where there is a reasonable quality level of
triggers and their timing, the passing quality and choices have been out. The extension
of the problem automatically becomes the ball reception. The positive first
touch is never a strong African attribute, but these teams have professional
players.
It must be understood that some factors contributing
to the technique is the quality of the above issues, but the decisions of the
receiver, regardless, have been pathetic. Namely, the choice of the part of the
foot to use among other things leaves a lot to be desired.
I will try to explain the point of a trigger. If one
has to make a pass, there has to be a reason why that pass is played. It could
be into space which teammates must create, to the feet of one who indicates or
is positioned to receive or to a running player, in which case the decision still
has to be made as to how close to feet the ball is played or how far into space
ahead of the running player.
Many times, these can be predictable and it is not
rocket science. Tactically aware players and teams have the understanding
that certain events will follow a pattern which must be trained upon. The
movements and timing become a little synchronised.
This is the big draw back in the African game. There
is no harmony or synchronisation of anything. At higher professional levels,
that is what coaches work on. African players plying their trades overseas know
and use these methods daily.
The Mali and Niger match was an improvement to the
first two matches but there is a lot of work to be done. The decision-making consistently
lacked but was a little better. It could have been a fluke that a few things seemed
right.
The match was obviously scrappy and no flow at all,
but the efforts to decide on time and execute well was visible. By half-time,
there was no shot on target. The two teams are tactically above what has been
witnessed so far and cancel each other effectively. It takes a genius touch and
approach to separate good organisation.
While Mali were superior in many ways, Niger had the
commitment to fight for each other and getting first to the ball. They fought
for the second balls and tried counter attacking. They were guilty of tough and
late tackling, again, a decision-making issue.
When and where to tackle and how may be the problem
African club coaches have to address, but a lot of these players come from big
leagues. It boils down to the national team coaches being unable to diagnose
and prescribe proper training sessions to deal with it.
If one asks me, these are the very issues national
team coaches must address, but remember who hires them; laymen. Many times,
Niger shot at goal desperately from distance when there were better options for
an extra pass or space to attack. The anxiety reflected on the abilities or
lack of, of the mentors.
Interesting enough, Mali withdrew into a cocoon
while Niger settled and began to pass the ball. The lack of rhythm of these
events shows that they just occurred by chance. Self-confidence and suddenly
found belief can catalyse the reactions, both mentally and physically.
Mali got on the score sheet at a time they
pressurised the naive Niger who were a little immature by depending on sporadic
raids. Seydou Keita had hit the posts twice but managed to tuck in a loose ball fluffed by the goalkeeper. It was the first three pointer match and fittingly so. That goal was a result of bad decision making by the goalkeeper. He could have punched that ball.
Niger's undoing was the less than enough utilisation of opportunities that befell
them. They really got a lot of things right, better than Ghana and DRC
combined, yet they have nothing to show for it. That is the sad state of
African football, but I will not crucify the continent’s game yet, given there
is much room for improvement.
