Because of our colonial legacy, we have learned to depend on other countries
outside Africa for *technical assistance* with virtually everything.  We even
depend on the West to run our economies for us.  The same concept applies to
our soccer.

The whole idea of having European and foreign coaches in Africa started with
the first African teams that played in the World Cup.  In 1974, Zaire, led by
a Yugoslav coach, had a terrible outing.  They were humiliated by Yugoslavia
in a forgettable game in which they lost by nine goals.  This defeat did
nothing to enhance Europe's view of the African game in the eyes of soccer
pundits.  Zaire subsequently lost by smaller margins to Brazil and another
team.  However, considering that their coach was a Yugoslav and that they
suffered their heaviest defeat at the hands of the Slavs, it was wondered
whether the coach had a conflict of interest.  This raised a very important
question as to where his allegiances lay, with Yugoslavia or Zaire?

After 1974, there seemed to be a proliferation of the number of foreign
coaches in the African game. The Germans and the Yugoslavs recognizing that
the technical know-how was missing in the African game, provided us with
coaches as a form of technical assistance.  Some of them like, Otto Gloria
and Peter Shittinger, were quite successful.  But there were also indigenous
coaches from the continent that were equally successful.  However, most of
the African teams that played in the WC were led by foreigners and the much
improved performances of Tunisia, Algeria and Cameroon in the 1978 and 1982
WCs helped to enhance the credibility of the foreign coach.

The downside to this reverence of foreign coaches was that it led to what I
call the foreign mercenary coach.  These coaches are usually second tier
coaches in their respective countries who, recognizing the need for so-called
miracle workers for our national teams, have decided to exploit this for
major financial gains.  The likes of Philip Troussers, Jo Bonfrere, Henri
Michel, Guy Le Roux and Clemens Westerhoff, are successful coaches that
command major dollars in the African market.  Jo Bonfrere is presently
Nigeria's coach and earns 30,000 dollars a month, more than most African
presidents.  The other coaches command the same type of salaries since they
are considered miracle workers that can perform wonders in a short amount of
time.

I have a major problem with the modern day 'hire for big money coach." First,
we simply cannot afford to pay these coaches this type of money.  The
Nigerian FA has a problem paying its national team players less pay millions
of Naira to a foreign coach.  The same thing applies to the likes of Cameroon.

Secondly, there has been no conclusive evidence to prove that foreign coaches
are better than African ones. South Africa has an indigenous coach in Trot
Molt. And he has been quite successful.  Also, a few African coaches have one
the Nation's cup.  Yeo Martial of Cote D'Ivoire and Mohammed Gohari of Egypt
being the most recent to achieve this feat.  Vincent Onana also helped
Cameroon qualify for the past World Cup, but after their qualification, he
was rewarded by getting disposed of in favor of Guy Le Roux, who was
considered more suitably qualified for the task of leading Cameroon to the
big dance.  If their comparative records are examined, I am sure that our
local coaches are equally as good as these over paid foreigners.

Thirdly, this dependence on foreign coaches does not enhance the credibility
or self worth of our local coaches.  The indigenous African coach simply does
not get enough respect or support from their respective Football Associations
or players. This is definitely detrimental to our soccer and will not serve
expose our capable foreign coaches to a higher level of soccer. A fundamental
change in attitude is needed to help our local coaches.

The pros and cons of foreign coaches in our soccer have to be closely
scrutinized.  Some of the questions that need to be asked are? Whether they
are worth the money?  Are they that much better than African coaches?  Does
it serve to better the African game in the future?

In my opinion we would be better served by local coaches.  African football
does not need miracle workers but an organized football structure.  This
would eliminate the need for over paid foreign coaches. The money that we
save could be used to develop the facilities that will be crucial to the
improvement of our soccer.  I have noticed that the big gap between our
soccer and that of the top European and South American teams is due to a lack
of proper planning and the facilities necessary to develop the youth into
technically sound and healthy players.  We need to put major emphasis on
developing our footbaal infrastructure, and not by hiring the foreign coach.

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