Sports

2010 W/Cup: Whither Africa’s Soccer?

Published

16 years ago

July 6, 2010

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

Fury, Joshua Fight Sealed

Published

3 days ago

August 24, 2026

The Tide

Fury, (left) and Joshua

The proposed blockbuster fight between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua has been signed and will go ahead, according to Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn.

Fury had suggested on Friday that the long-awaited all-British showdown was unlikely to happen, but Hearn insisted the fight is contractually agreed.

“We’ve signed the contract, we’re waiting for a date,” Hearn told Tidesports source yesterday.

Hearn said neither fighter could simply withdraw from the agreement.

“The fight’s signed. No-one can pull out of the fight. You can’t just pull out of a contract,” he said.

The main issue still to be resolved is where the fight will take place.

The bout had been expected to happen in the United Kingdom in November, but Saudi organisers Sela are pushing for it to be staged in the United States.

Joshua and Fury have separate contracts with Sela, with New York’s Madison Square Garden reportedly among the preferred venues.

The fight is also expected to be broadcast on Netflix.

Hearn said the Joshua camp would prefer the fight to remain in Britain but could consider a move to the United States under the right terms.

“We know everybody and his dog involved in the fight wants to do the fight in America. We don’t,” Hearn said.

The promoter added that discussions with Sela were continuing, but stressed that there was no indication the fight itself was in danger of falling apart.

“We’ve told Sela and the team, ‘If you want to do it in America, these are the terms that we can move forward with. But we’d rather not please,’” he said.

Fury and Joshua have been expected to meet in one of the biggest fights in British boxing history, with the venue and date now the major outstanding details.

Sports

Arsenal Want Osimhen To Take Pay Cut

Published

3 days ago

August 24, 2026

The Tide

Arsenal want Galatasaray striker, Victor Osimhen, to accept a reduction in his wage demands as a condition for completing a move to the Emirates before the summer transfer window closes.

The Gunners remain hopeful of landing the Nigeria international, with manager Mikel Arteta keen to strengthen his attacking options after failing to convince Atletico Madrid to sell Julian Alvarez, who is said to prefer a move to Barcelona over a return to the Premier League.

According to sources, Arsenal have held direct talks over a deal for Osimhen but are unwilling to make an excessive contract offer, leaving any potential agreement dependent on the striker’s willingness to compromise on his salary.

The 27-year-old currently earns in excess of €20 million (£17.1m) annually at Galatasaray, a figure Arsenal are said to be unwilling to match. Negotiating a fee could prove another obstacle, with Galatasaray president, Dursun Ozbek, insisting the striker is not for sale, a stance underlined by the club’s rejection of a €130 million (£111m) offer from Saudi Pro League side, Al-Hilal, earlier this month.

Having missed out on Osimhen, Al-Hilal reportedly turned their attention to Aston Villa striker, Ollie Watkins, only for their latest £45 million approach to also be rejected, further highlighting the difficulty clubs are facing in prising top forwards away from their current sides this summer.

Despite the ongoing speculation over his future, Osimhen has enjoyed a strong start to the season in Turkey.

He scored twice and provided an assist in Galatasaray’s 4-0 away win over Erzurumspor on Friday, having also netted twice in a 2-2 draw with Corum FK. The forward is expected to continue leading the line for the Turkish champions as Arsenal await his decision on a possible switch to the Premier League.

Arsenal began their Premier League title defence with a convincing victory against newly promoted Coventry City at Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta ended the club’s 22-year wait for a league title last season – and with a faultless display against Frank Lampard’s Sky Blues in their opener, his team reminded the rest of the league why they are favourites to retain the crown.

First-half goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka put the reigning champions firmly in control, and captain Martin Odegaard added a third soon after the restart to seal a comfortable win on the opening day of the campaign.

Arsenal began their Premier League title defence with a convincing victory against newly promoted Coventry City at Emirates Stadium.

Sports

PH TO HOST NPBL PLAYOFFS

Published

3 days ago

August 24, 2026

The Tide

Port Harcourt has been confirmed as the host city for the 2026 Nigeria Premier Basketball League (NPBL) Playoffs for a fourth straight year, following a slight schedule adjustment by the League Management Committee of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).

Originally slated for Aug. 22–29, the Playoffs (Phase 3) will now run from 29 August to 6 September at the Basketball Stadium, 59 Niger Street, Port Harcourt Township, Rivers State.

In a communiqué issued on 21 August 2026 by NBBF Vice-President and League Chairman Babatunde Ogunade alongside Secretary-General Amina Amanchi, the federation commended the qualifying teams for their professionalism and performance thus far.

Per the updated schedule, participating teams are expected to arrive on 29 August for pre-tournament technical meetings, with competitive action running from 30 August through 5 September, while team departures take place a day later.

The eight-team, round-robin tournament features four qualifiers from the Atlantic Conference—Rivers Hoopers, Maktown Flyers, Hoops & Read, and Lagos Raptors—alongside Savannah Conference representatives Aso Sky Hawks, 313 Warriors, Gboko City Chiefs, and Kano Pillars.

The selection of Port Harcourt re-establishes Rivers State as a central venue for elite domestic basketball in Nigeria and once again brings the action closer to the teeming fans, following a successful staging of the playoffs and Final Four at the same venue last year.