African soccer tacticians have identified bonus row as one major factor that stopped the Super Eagles from flying past France in the second round of the Brazil 2014 World Cup.
The coaches, who met in Cairo from September 30 to October 1 to x-ray Africa’s performance at the mundial also identified poor administration as one other factor that is militat- ing against the perfor- mance of African teams at the big stage.
A communiqué released after the coaches confer- ence stated in part: “The money issue affected players’ concentration. If we want to move forward we have to professionalise everything around the teams.”
The coaches stressed that those running the game in the continent must come up with a well planned youth development program me, as the national team is not a place to train players on the basics of the game.
“The national team is not the place where you can teach the basics of technique and tactics; it has to come before,” the coaches noted.
It would be recalled that the Super Eagles lost to France in the second round of Brazil 2014 by 0-2, while Algeria bowed to eventual champions, Germany at the same stage in extra time after play- ing out a goalless draw in regulation time.
The coaches were full of praises for Algeria, even as the Technical Director of the North African coun- try, Taoufil Korichi gave an insight into why his country did well in Brazil. “We have been successful because we have profes- sionalized the structure around the team,” Korichi said, adding: “We look at every detail. The admin- istration, the organization and the technical aspects go hand in hand.”

BRAZIL 2014: Eagles lost to bonus row – African coaches