adminFORMER Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Willard Katsande has shared his views on why he thinks African football is always lagging behind.
When Morocco reached the semi-finals of the 2022 Fifa World Cup, they became the first African team to get to that level of the quadrennial global football showcase.
Three other CAF sides in Qatar – Tunisia, Cameroon and Ghana – failed to reach the knockouts while Senegal’s campaign ended in the Round of 16.
Katsande feels Morocco have become a model national team worth emulating by other African sides.
The former Zimbabwe captain explained how the Atlas Lions have set themselves apart from other African teams.
He, however, took a swipe at the rest of the African sides for not doing enough research in football and failing to “think out of the box”.
“What is most interesting about Morocco is that their coach only joined them in August.” said Katsande in his column on ThisIsFootball.
“Now look at how they are performing in just five months. You can see they are developing in a good way and going in the right direction. Why can’t we adapt like them? You know why? It is because we don’t read books. Let’s read books, let’s dig deep and think outside the box.
“Let’s dig deep and find out what we can do better. We, as African teams, must do better. We must let the old days go and focus on what is happening in modern football. Why is it difficult for us to understand modern football? Do we take so long to understand and read what is really needed to compete with the European teams? By the time we understand, those countries would have already moved to another level.
“You can just see how Morocco are playing. They understand what is needed in this kind of tournament. Look at how they presented themselves from the start of the tournament. They went there with a game plan because they knew what those big teams would bring. As African teams, we should not go toe to toe with them (Europeans) because we know our standards are poor. Morocco were obviously well-prepared for the tournament.”
Morocco set the bar high, which could prove difficult to be scaled by CAF teams in future World Cup tournaments.
Going into the just-ended tournament in Qatar, most teams’ goal was to become the first African side to reach the semi-finals.
Getting into the last four will not be something new starting in 2026, so progressing to the final would become the new insurmountable target.
As African teams now review the continent’s outing in Qatar, they will also be preparing for the resumption of the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in March next year. – Goal.com
Online Reporter