South African football is anti-football

Had Messi been born here, we may not have seen him anywhere near the top leagues, never mind winning any player award.

He is too short. He is too small. He dribbles too much. He is too fancy. He plays street football. He needs some gym work. This is showboating. There is too much short passing. Are these statements familiar? This is where the rot develops, don’t you think?

Had Messi been born here, we may not have seen him anywhere near the top leagues, never mind winning any player award. Would Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Xavi, Iniesta, Suarez, Neymar, Aguero, Silva, and many others have played professional football had they been born here? They all seem to fit the above criteria for exclusion, which is generally used and accepted in our country and yet these are the biggest names in world football today.

We are so enslaved with gross physical attributes that we have almost forgotten about the football brain - the playing intelligence. It is more likely in our country to find players who are physically imposing getting better opportunities in our game than those who show football intelligence.

Regrettably, we still struggle against our African counterparts on the same physical aspect. Where is the solution? Do you need more fire when the house is burning to stop it from burning further down? Do you need more water when the house is leaking to stop the leaks? When people scream, do you need to shout louder to get them to keep quiet?

Has anyone recognized the fact that the reigning world champions, Spain, won the World Cup here in our country last year with one of the shortest teams? I will not be surprised if this was the shortest team ever to win a FIFA World Cup.

Who are the reigning FIFA world champions in women football? Are they tall? Are they big? They are Japanese! DO you remember who they played against in the Final? USA of all teams! Can you compare them physically and come to a logical conclusion about the role of physical attributes in today’s football?

This confirms the role of football intelligence over gross physical attributes.

Have we not noticed the changes in The Laws of the Game in favour of skilful, dynamic and creative play and players? So where do we get this notion of big, strong, tall, etc?

But that is unfortunately not where the rot starts and ends in our football…

Ever heard of a nation that trains teachers for secondary schools and universities, but does not train primary school teachers at all?

I know there are secondary schools that do not pay attention to all the grades (8 to 11), but put all their effort in Grade 12 to be seen as achieving good results. Maybe it works for the school, but not for the learners (and definitely not for the country) who are expected to absorb all the information in less than 10 months of their last year at school.

In the long run, the country will not have highly skilled citizens, but people with good Matric results. Ask our Senior National Team players who represented us in the FIFA World Cup in 2010.

That is our football. We do not have any continuous program for Youth Football and yet we are even boasting about offering a professional level/license. Sounds good, doesn’t it? It is world class. “Thanks” to the Academy in Zimbabwe, there is young talent in our Pro League. This is the Fingerprint Stage- where Football Identity is established - The Youth Stage.

Now that the coaches can coach players at a professional level, where would the same players have been prepared for that high level? Who is responsible for their development at young age? Where are their coaches? For the senior team coach to get information about the young player, who does he speak to? Do these youth coaches have the necessary qualification (their Level 3)? Are we not guilty of putting the cart before the horse?

This is similar to the rushed rules about having the quota system based on age for different Leagues (Regional, Provincial and National First Division). It looks good on paper, but in practice it is disaster. Where are these players prepared for the intensive competition that they are expected to engage in? Who is responsible for their development? Who trained those coaches who are supposed to prepare the players?

What type of training methodology are these young players exposed to for them to continue developing beyond their youth stage? Why do we pretend to be surprised when our Youth National Teams cannot perform at International Competitions? Over time (which has arrived), why do we expect our Senior National Team to improve with this kind of scenario at Youth Level?

We expect our Youth National Team Coaches and Players to perform miracles. The current examples of both our Under-20 in the COSAFA Championship and the Under-23 in the African Olympic Qualifiers are living testimony to this illusion.

A big thank you to the Ivory Coast Academy, our U-23 team gained the much needed experience in Possession Football on Sunday 27 November 2001, in Morocco.

As for the Under-23, the Egyptians beat us the very same day when our Senior National Team drew with them. We did not lose that match on Saturday. It was lost in the planning stage. Their decision to finish the AFCON Qualifiers with their Under-23 team was always going to bear fruit. This is what they planned for and this is what they are getting. As I said before, even at senior level, they are already ahead of us at least for the next two World Cup cycles.

We can no longer rely on the ‘incidental’ success that came at some point before. That is not the reliable way for any nation to progress. We need to have our own plan and stick to it.

Our Football is indeed Anti-Football.

Many of us are guilty, but will deny this fact. Very few of us are not.

By Zipho Dlangalala 

Email: Zipho@maximalfootball.com

Original story: http://goo.gl/XPeYc

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