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Unsurprisingly, West Africa’s big five — Cote d’ Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria and Cameroon — dominate the African numbers, each contributing around 20 players. Mali has 10, South Africa four, and perennial trophy-hoisters Egypt just two. Ghanaian representation in the big leagues has more than doubled in just the last four years, but overall the numbers are pretty flat, bad news for anyone fretting about the “progress” of African football.
However, the problem with their map is that while it claims to show players by country of origin, in fact it shows them according to national affiliation, and this is why it feels like the numbers don’t quite do justice to African involvement as some players were born in Africa but play for European countries.
Talk of Mario Balotelli, born in Ghana but raised by foster parents in Italy and the Boateng brothers who, however, represent two countries.
Although they were both born in Germany, Kevin Prince of AC Milan, chose to play for Ghana, where his father comes from, while Jerome of Bayern Munich chose to play for Germany. Danny Wellbeck chose to represent England, but his parents are from Ghana and the question is, are these African players?
DR Congo is shown as contributing only a single player (former Blackburn captain Christopher Samba) to the top leagues, but a player like Vincent Kompany, the captain of Belgium and Manchester City, could easily have represented the DRC instead, as could Romelu Lukaku of Chelsea.
A more interesting map might look at how players representing European national teams have roots all over the world. It’s also worth remarking that prohibitive visa and work permit regulations make it extremely difficult for players from low Fifa-ranking countries to get work permits in European countries.
The studies have shown that countries like Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe are locked out of the scouting network for European clubs, which have few links with academies and clubs outside of the West African superpowers.
Apart from Peter Ndlovu and Bruce Grobbelaar who had exceptional talents, no other footballer made it to England straight from Zimbabwe, with Benjani Mwaruwari going to Europe via South Africa, just like Onesimor Bhasera. Other players in Europe are not in major leagues and are found in Cyprus, Belgium, Poland and lower leagues in France with only Knowledge Musona in Germany, although he has since been loaned to a First Division side to gain exposure and game time.
The majority of Zimbabwe professional footballers are found in neighbouring South Africa, and more are set to leave in the next few weeks before the kick off of the new league down South.
Even players who are over the heel like Takesure Chinyama, who came home from Poland supposedly to wind down his career at Dynamos, is still good enough to attract the attention of South African champions Orlando Pirates.
Media reports say he is set to earn a cool R100 000 a month once all the paperwork is done. The backbone of our national team is based in South Africa and when the South African national team fails to impress on the international stage, and the Warriors also blow hot and cold, you wonder if our players are developing in the Super Diski so as to compete at the same level with North and West Africans who have the bulk of their players in top European leagues.
Admittedly, we have some exceptional talent in South Africa, talk of Esrom Nyandoro.
He has shown that he is a complete player despite his years on the pitch and the promising Khama Billiat.
But the irony of it is that once our players sign for South African clubs, they get comfortable with the good salaries as teams in South Africa pay pretty well, in fact, their Premiership is in the top 10 of most paying leagues in the world.
The players do not seem to develop in terms of football and only Bhasera, Mwaruwari, Musona and Kenneth Nagoli moved from South Africa to Europe. The rest spent all their professional careers in the Super Diski and that perhaps explains why we come short when we face teams from the North and West Africa who have players based in France, Belgium and England.
While football in South Africa now competes with other European countries in terms of money and resources, the results posted by its national team point otherwise. The clubs there have good training facilities and players train and play under good conditions, far much better than what local boys have to endure, but the technique and standard of football cannot be compared with the leagues where countries that do well in continental competitions have the majority of their players based, with Zambia, the holders of the Afcon trophy, being an exception.
The Warriors are through to the next round of the qualifiers of the Afcon tournament to be played in South Africa next year, but things might take an awkward turn if we are drawn against teams from the North or West, judging by the quality of players that are found there and the kind of exposure they have compared to our stars in the Super Diski. Perhaps it’s time football authorities and players’ agents sought ways of penetrating the European market, for both football and financial gain.
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Online Reporter