African Football vs European Football

[Karim]

Well, there has been lot's of talk about African NTs being ever more capable of competing with the best ever since Senegal managed to reach the round of 8 in WC 2002, Cameroon and its strong showing in the Confederation's Cup in 2003, and with the increasing number of African talents in Europe and fastly becoming cornerstones of teams in Ligue 1, La Liga, Serie A and Premier League they have long been comparisons with elite European teams and not so prestigious teams in comparison with many African teams and NTs.

Cameroon and Senegal to me were the flag holders of the first true recognition of African talents with their strong international showings in elite international competitions, albeit Senegal is now a thing of the past. Now Drogba's CIV, Tunisia, Morocco, have emerged as prime candidates to be compete with the best and they have been constant representers of the continent in large internation competitions, indeed in 2006 there has ben a surge of "new" NTs who suddendly almost shifted the balance of powers int eh continent with small teams such as Togo and Angola featuring in the WC instead of Tunisia and Morocco respectively.

Now Egypt is coming into the mix, the tyrent of continental competitions MSA has now more than ever under pressure to feature in the WC for thei third time in 2010 and represent Africa in SA, but not before maintaining their title for a consecutive third time in Angola CAN 2010. We'll see what we will do in the 2009 Confederations Cup.


Have your say though, could African teams, clubs and/or NTs comepete with Europe's elite or second string NTs/ and teams and clubs?

 

[Suneet]

No discussion, its simple. When you compare the teams of each continent, there is a huge difference in the money that is invested. I'd love to see African countries do well, but they arent anywhere near Europe now.

 

[Ziyad]

I think u need to go further back for the moment African football really burst out to compete with the big boys.It was 1990 and Cameroon beat Maradona's Argentina. The same Argentina that beat a great Italian side infront of their fans,and a good Brazil team on the way.It wasnt the best Argentina and it wasnt a european team but still...

It was then when people realized that African football can actually burst on the scene and other teams should think twice when facing them..

In 94 Nigeria had the same impact as Cameroon and lately Senegal..and hopefully Egypt in the next WC.

The problem with African NT's however is despite the talent and physical built they lack discipline(&leader?!) on the pitch.When they do (Okocha 94) they tend to do extremely well.That is rapidly changing though,but it seems sometimes when the team reaches a certain stage the African players play to showcase their own talent to the world instead of sticking to the script that benefits the whole NT..

On the NT level Africa will be a powerhouse soon.The African teams however will not be able to compete with Europe becuase of the money factor at this time.A good African player is groomed to play in Europe.You will however have stronger teams in Africa eventually but they will be the usual suspects like the two you have in Egypt.

 

[Azzkikr]

There are plenty of good african players, but thats old news, its been like that for alot of years.

But the problem is that their national teams are very unorganized and their coaches are absolute shit. They never play to to their potential as a team.

I dont see that changing anytime soon, their players are scattered all over europe and then some in africa as well so there is a big difference in their players level of ability.

In terms of team organisation and tactical development they are years behind europe.

 

[tonyloo]

Ghana should be mentioned. They have a monster midfield with Muntari, Essien and Appiah.

Mali also has some world class players like Diarra, Keita and Kanoutè.

But the only African nation that could be a threat for 2010 is Ivory Coast. They have a generation with players like Drogba, Kalou the Touré brothers and Eboué, good players to build a team around. The best I've seen from an African team ever. With the addition of some players that played in the Olympics this year they really could be the African team that finally does something good at a World Cup.

 

[Karim]

Well, I guess its more of a misleading topic title, what I was saying is that with the increasing influence of African players in the game in Europe and many Africans becoming the most important components of their teams such as Essien, Drogba, Eto'o, Zaki, how far will we see the TOP, and only the TOP African teams be able to compete with elite and second tier NTs in Europe

 

[Karim]

Candidates for CAF African Player of the Year:
Amr Zaki (Wigan Athletic)
Mohamed Abu Trika (Al Ahly)
Drogba (Chelsea)
Essien (Chelsea)
Adebayor (Arsenal)

Candidates for Domestic African Player of the Year

Mohamed Abu Trika (Al Ahly)
Stephan Wargo (Enyimba)
Amado Flavio (Al Ahly)
Ahmed Hassan (Al Ahly)
Mboto (Mazimbe)

 

[Stefan]

On talent yes but not on temperament and performing when it matters. African teams fall flat each time when it matters at the wc. Some shown good performances in the group stages and then crumble when the pressure is on.

 

[lonewolf19]

Not talking about star players.

For me, it is

Europe > South America > Africa

 

[Karim]

Let's not focus on the general, of course Africa is behind, but I am talking about the teams that have the stars of Europe, CIV, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria and such NTs, can they be on the level of the second tier and big European teams?

 

[Stefan]

Let's not focus on the general, of course Africa is behind, but I am talking about the teams that have the stars of Europe, CIV, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria and such NTs, can they be on the level of the second tier and big European teams?

They have to prove it. Till they actually win a world cup and more than 1 team makes it out of the group stages they can't.

Sure they can compete they have the talent but talent means nothing if you don't show it on the big stage.

 

[Handoyo]

I disagree with you Stefan. Just like how we shouldn't solely judge a European team by their CL/UEFA Cup performances, we shouldn't judge African teams solely on their WC performance. It's tough, since that's the only (Apart from the Confed cup) competition they have with the European teams but it happens once every 4 years and there are so few matches that it's not enough for us to hand down a judgment.

 

[Stefan]

I disagree with you Stefan. Just like how we shouldn't solely judge a European team by their CL/UEFA Cup performances, we shouldn't judge African teams solely on their WC performance. It's tough, since that's the only (Apart from the Confed cup) competition they have with the European teams but it happens once every 4 years and there are so few matches that it's not enough for us to hand down a judgment.

I disagree slightly here. I don't say take one tournament like just wc 2006 but if the same results happens wc after wc then you can't argue. If italian teams failed each cl it would be the same but that isn't the case, one year epl teams are top next la liga and then serie a,ect. But with wc each time the african teams fail to deliver, not one delivers any decent tournament performance. And no getting out of the group stage isn't a good performance.

 

[lonewolf19]

On a personal level, I do think African stars can do as well as European ones. However, look at how each of them fail on international stage makes me feel that a lot of it is because of the manager.

With a better manager, they might be able to achieve more. Maybe still a little away from Euro second tier like Czech, Russia, Turkey

 

[snake]

African Football vs European Football?

You mean, Black Vs White...right?

 

[Karim]

You count me as a black guy?

 

[Ilkinio]

I was about to write it. With amount of whites in Northern Africa and amount of blacks playing now in Europe, whites vs. blacks is just wrong term.

 

[Ilkinio]

Double