Sports
2010 W/Cup: Whither Africa’s Soccer?
The ongoing World Cup football tournament in South Africa entered its crucial stage on June 27 when 16 nations qualified into the second round of the global soccer competition.
The thrills and excitements of the world’s foremost soccer tourney have been remarkable, although the performances of five out of the six African nations that started the 32-nation championship have been dismal, resulting in their early exit.
Only the “Black Stars” of Ghana qualified into the round of 16 and carried the banner to the last seconds of the quarter final clash with Uruguay.
Expectedly, the crash of Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and South Africa has dominated discussions and analyses by soccer pundits on radio and TV talk shows in Pretoria, South Africa.
Many of them — former soccer stars who played for their countries at different points in time — are quite unhappy about the fate of African teams at the championships.
Lucas Radebe, a former captain of the South African national team, “Bafana Bafana’’, could not hide his feelings about the poor performance of African teams at the World Cup competition.
According to him, the dismal showing reveals that African countries have not prepared well for the championship.
“It’s indeed a sad commentary for the continent that only Ghana could make it to the next group stage.
“May be, we should start re-thinking our strategy for future tournaments through early preparations,’’ he says.
Abedi “Pele’’ Ayew, a former captain of the “Black Stars’’, Ghana’s national team, says that most African teams lacked tactical discipline.
“The teams lack the ability to finish in front of open nets. The players created so many chances to score but wasted them eventually.
“It is a different thing for the South American and European teams who made good use of their own chances,” he says.
Abedi suggests that handlers of the African teams should improve on their tactical approach to the game, to make them excel in the future.
Former Super Eagles captain, Austin “Jay-Jay’’ Okocha, shares the sentiments of Radebe and Pele regarding the shortcomings of the African teams.
To him, early preparations and harnessing the potential of the abundant young talents constitute one way of ensuring that African teams excel in international tournaments like the World Cup.
“We need to prepare early for this kind of tournament. We also need to hunt for young talents on the continent and groom them in good time to mature for this kind of engagement,’’ Okocha says.
Another problem area identified by these analysts is soccer maladministration which, they say, has negatively affected the development of the game of football in Africa.
Mr Oliver Madiba, a resident of Durban in Kwazulu-Natal Province of South Africa, laments that football administrators in Africa do not initiate and operate follow-up programmes to develop the game.
“Football administrators lack continuity in their planning. In the period of ten years, for instance, some countries have had ten managers or coaches who handled their national teams.
“Also, you find a situation where youth programmes are not followed up and talents discovered from such programmes are sometimes left to roam around, seriously wasted,’’ he says.
Ike Anyene, Chairman of the Nigerian Union in Gauteng Province in South Africa, re-echoes Madiba’s sentiments.
He says that Nigeria, in particular, lacks the spirit of continuity in football administration.
“Can you imagine that a new manager was recruited to handle the national team just three months to the World Cup? Were we then expecting him to perform wonders?’’ he asks.
“Certainly, it is not possible to expect much from him,’’ he asserts.
Anyene also regrets that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has not been able to effectively mobilise the abundant soccer talents that had been discovered in the past and groom them for future championships.
“I am aware that members of the national Under-17 team that represented the country in the last FIFA U-17 World Cup tournament, which was hosted by Nigeria, remain largely unutilised.
“I urge the NFF to keep these boys together for the next CAF and FIFA U-20 tournaments and possibly use them for the 2014 World Cup that is scheduled to hold in Brazil.
“It looks like an uphill task but any purposeful football federation can do it and I bet you, they will get good results from the strategy,’’ Anyene says.
Another Nigerian, Osadebe Ibegbu, who is Chairman of the Nigerian Union in Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, says that the poor outing of the Super Eagles calls for sober reflections, with a view to ensuring better planning in the future.
“Indeed, the entire Nigerian community in Durban was not happy that the team could not win its last match against Korea, to qualify to the round of 16.
“It is now up to the NFF to re-plan their strategy for all future international engagements and the time to do it is now,’’ Ibegbu says.
Radebe, the ex-skipper of “Bafana Bafana’’, wants the issue of coaches and technical managers for Africa’s national teams to be decisively addressed
While some support the deployment of indigenous coaches, others express preference for foreign ones, who they think are technically superior and better exposed.
A female analyst, Christiana Buthulezi from Bloemfontein in the
Free State Province, says that she prefers indigenous coaches who could communicate with their players in languages that their opponents would not understand.
Other analysts, however, say that there are brighter prospects for African teams in future championships, if they learn to put their acts together through early preparations.
They also underscore the wisdom in grooming young talents for the national teams of countries.
They point at the Ghanaian example of harnessing young talents as an illustration, stressing that the young footballers collectively saw Ghana through to the second round of the ongoing World Cup tournament.
Nine of the Black Stars graduated into squad from Ghana’s U-20 team, the analysts note.
Mboye writes for NAN
Mike Mbonye
Sports
African Games: Umoafia Claims Three Gold In Weightlifting
Weightlifter Edidiong Umoafia was the cynosure of all eyes at the 13th on-going African Games in Accra after he won three gold medals in weightlifting event to boost Team Nigeria’s medal haul.
He lifted a 135kg in snatch and 165kg in clean and jerk to record a total of 300kg which secured the three gold medals for team Nigeria.
His feat scaled Nigeria’s Weightlifting medal haul to eight after King Kalu (two bronze medal and Favour (two silver and a bronze medals) set the ball rolling on Sunday.
Meanwhile, President of Nigeria Judo Federation (NJF), Dr Olakunle Musa Oshodi, has expressed optimism about the chances of Team Nigeria judokas to win medals at the African Games.
He disclosed in Accra that Team Nigeria’s judokas are in good shape and ready to go for gold in both male and female categories.
“We are in Ghana to compete with the favourites but I must tell Nigerians that we are not only in Ghana to compete but to go for gold in all categories. Our coaches and judokas are ready, and I believe that they would make the country proud at the end of the Games,” he said.
Oshodi also explained that the spirit in camp was high and urged the judokas, coaches to remain focused throughout their fights.
“What I saw among our athletes and coaches show that they are fully ready to win medals for Nigeria. It was unfortunate that we did not win medals in the last African Games although I was not in charge then but this time around, we want to surpass out last performance by reaching the medal zone and win it,” he said.
Nigerian judokas would begin their quest for medals today at the Africa’s flagship multi sports event as
10 judokas are billed to represent the country in the various categories.
Sports
Nigeria Wins More Medals In Men’s Freestyle Wrestling
Though not as dominant as their women’s counterparts that made a clean sweep of the six available gold medal in wrestling on Sunday, Team Nigeria’s men wrestlers yesterday secured six more medals including three silvers and one bronze.
Ashton Mutuwa lost 12-0 superiority to Youssif Hemida of Egypt in the 125kg final to settle for silver medal while Simeon Enozumini also clinched silver medal after suffering defeat in the final to Egyptian Gamal Mohammed in the 57kg.Ditto for Izolo Stephen in the 65kg who got silver following 10-0 superiority loss to Mourad O. of Egypt.
In the 86kg Harrison Onovwiomogbohwo settled for bronze after a walkover against Egypt Ahmed Khaled while Braveman Oyeinkeperemo lost his 74kg bronze match to Mukendi A. of Congo.
It would be recalled that Team Nigeria’s women wrestlers produced incredible display by winning the available six gold in as many as events at the African Games.
Yesterday’s result means that Team Nigeria won six gold medal, three silver and two bronze in total through wrestling.
Sports
Igali Urges Fed Govt To Review Reward System For Athletes
The President, Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) President, Daniel Igali, has urged the Federal Government to review the reward system of other sports athletes and make it at par with footballers or even more.
He said the sportsmen and women representing Nigeria at the ongoing African Games in Ghana, have excelled in their various events consequently should be recognised just like the Super Eagles were adequately rewarded despite only finishing second at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Cote ‘d’Ivoire.
The former Olympic champions noted that other sports athletes deserved to be treated better as he called on the Federal Government to reward them fittingly once the African Games is over .
“Let’s treat everybody equally. We cannot treat super millionaires differently from our athletes,” Igali stated matter-of-factly in an interview with Brila FM. “We had footballers that went to the AFCON and won a silver medal and we gave them houses, plots of lands and national honours.
“Replicate the same favour to these athletes too. They didn’t win silver, they won gold medals,” he added.
Speaking after Team Nigeria women’s wrestlers won the six available gold medals on Sunday, Igali called on the sports ministry and well-meaning Nigerians to come to their aid as unavailability of funds may scuttle their desire to participate at this weekend African Championships and the Olympic Games Qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt.
“I want to appreciate the girls. They were fantastic. I hope they are able to replicate it at the Olympic qualifiers in Alexandria, Egypt,” he continued. “But as I am speaking to you, we don’t know if we are going to be there because we do not have funds yet. We are expected to leave on the 15th of March because we have to attend the African Championships which is the criterion to feature at the Olympics trials. ”
He added: “We are 12th times African Champions in the female wrestling. We lost that briefly three years ago when we only went with six women to the African Championships and Tunisia came with all theirs.
“We will like to go with a full team of our female wrestlers so that we can become 13th time African Champions and then give of the female wrestlers have the chance to qualify for the Olympics.
“We are to leave on the 15th March, the competition starts on the 17th March and the Olympic qualifiers is from the 23rd to the 26th in Alexandria, Egypt. “
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