It is very interesting to note that there are few people who understands soccer but want to give an expert opinion. We are always reffering to the years gone by like 1996, 1998 e.tc. The fact of the matter is, the game keeps on changing and advancing. And the nations that are not moving with the changes get left behind. Western african teams have done well in that regard.
Teams like Ivory coast, Nigeria, Cameroun, Ghana etc all have big stars playing in the most competitive leagues in the world. and when i say playing i mean literally. And all this does not happen overnight. Just three years back or so S.A could beat ivory Coast , Ghana etc with ease.
Now lets ask ourselves "what is it that they afre doing differently compared to us. Lets take ivory coast for example, most of their players were developed at Asec mimosa, then exported to some less competitive countries in Europe. They get used to the systems, philosophies and the modern way of playing soccer, then they move to the big teams in the most competitive leagues. And by that time they are well developed and mature in their approach of the game. They dont just wake up and find themselves in the big teams and being part of the starting line up. ITS A PROCESS.
The S.A COACH does not have the luxury of selecting from a pool of Well groomed and developed players playing for top teams. And he has to produce a winning team in a very short space of time. And what does he do, he improvises by taking young inexperienced palyers to a big stage. Where they get to play against seasoned campaigners. Needless to say some of thos youngster are going to choke and be over whelmed by the stage.But the fact is we dont have time, they have to be rushed and hopefull they learn and learn very fast.
