urstill1 wrote:
Too much money in Europe's professional football has spoilt them. CIV had the best chance to record upsets because on both appearances, they were in groups of death.
True about CIV. They also had the bad luck of having their best player break his hand only weeks before the world cup.
I think Europe has advanced in the last 10 years or so in football because they have turned the process of scouting for young players and developing them into a science. Europeans spare no money when it comes to youth development from the facilities to staff like doctors, physios, psychologists etc. If you look at the wikipedia profile of European players, you will note that they started playing for top clubs as early as age 11. For example players like Iniesta and Fabregas and Messi were at Barcelona by age 11.
Africa has remained static in this regard and also African teams are trying too much to play like European teams instead of playing to their strengths. As I said earlier, you cant beat Europeans at their own game.
The Naija team recently won the U17 WC. I do not know if their stated ages are real but most opposing coaches said that Naija won because they were too fast. In fact if you go back to the Olympics of 1996 you will note that Naija won for the same reason beating Brazil and Argentina. Granted they faked their ages but beating those two teams is no joke.
Remember In the 1990s, Pele predicted that an African team would win the world cup before the end of the millenium. At the time he made that prediction it seemed that African teams were improving dramatically.
I believe that if African teams play to their strengths, they will at least get better results this time around.
Here is an article about how Germany changed their football structures starting in 2000
http://www.theguardian.c...ermany-bust-boom-talent