The Diary Of African Football

The Diary Of African Football

The feats of African footballers are among the most positive images that Africa has to offer to the world in this era of globalization. But football has also been an important asset in African history since the beginning of the colonial era.

Icons Of African Football

Icons Of African Football

The presence of Africans in the transfer market of football players in the European richest clubs has become a very common fact. African Football has listed 647 African players in first league European clubs.

Cameroonian Music Scene

Cameroonian Music Scene

Cameroon is located in Central Africa, in the Gulf of Guinea. It has several large cities including Yaounde, the country s political capital and Douala, the economic capital. Its cultural and ethnic diversity (over 240 ethnic groups, with 240 different languages) made Cameroon a nest of talent, not only in sports but also in music.

Cameroon Economic Situation

Cameroon's Economic Situation

Cameroonian people experience great frustration with their economic and social difficulties. With an unemployment rate that continues to grow, a private sector that is almost non-existent and some states that try somehow to limit the damage by recruiting fresh graduates in the public sector, in short there are very few offers for a huge number of job seekers.

Entrepreneurship in Africa (Problems / Solutions)

Entrepreneurship in Africa (Problems / Solutions)

As you know, set up a business in Africa, large or small, is sometimes a long and difficult road to walk into. It takes knowledge, resources, tools, and ideally a mentor or a sponsor to support you and give you that helping hand to progress into this administrative and financial jungle.

Why Be An Entrepreneur In Africa

Why Be An Entrepreneur In Africa

Africa is not going well, its entire economy is at risk, plus, Africa appears to be abandoned by the international community who s looking at Africa dying. It is time for us Africans to fight against this scourge.

How To Start A Successful Business In Africa

How To Start A Successful Business In Africa

Africa offers vast potential markets, and significant natural and human resources for business. In this article, I will highlight some fundamental principles and best practices for business creation in Africa.

Why Marketing Is So Important For Your Business

Why Marketing Is So Important For Your Business

In this article, I am going to walk you through the basics of marketing that all entrepreneurs and business owners should master to hopefully reach the goals and growth needed for their business.

Investing In Africa's Emerging Market

Investing In Africa's Emerging Market

Now that energy prices and commodity prices are up all over the world, Africa is becoming a strategic location for all parts of the world. With the demographic explosion of middle class, with lots of resources and commodities that are attractive to the world, with lots of investment commitment in the infrastructure sector, we believe that these opportunities can translate to investment opportunities and that Africa will rise and contribute to the rest of the world.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Icons Of African Football

 During the 1930s and led by totalitarian regimes, the function of sport and international competition have fundamentally changed. Physical activities are then used to serve the national cause. In Cameroon, despite the surrounding poverty, football wakes patriotic accents. Some examples illustrating the interest of football in the African countries like Cameroon: It was during the African Cup of Nations held in Ghana in January 2008, a meeting was convened by the Prime Minister to prohibit the disconnection of electricity during this cup. The first lady sent a charter of food to the national team.

The international reputation of African Football
Now, athletes run, row and struggle to assert the strength and power of their people. The presence of Africans in the transfer market of football players in the European richest clubs has become a very common fact. African Football has listed 647 African players (selected or selectable by an African country) in first league European clubs (in one of the 52 UEFA member countries). Nigerians are the most represented in L1 in Europe with 105 players, followed by Cameroon (84), the Ivorian and Senegalese (58) and Ghanaians (52). The country that hosts the most African footballers is France (with 130 players), followed by Belgium (80), England (37), Turkey (35) and the Netherlands (31) . The two European clubs where we found most African nationals are Beveren in Belgium (with 14 players, 13 Ivorians) tie with RC Lens. Among the 11 European clubs from L1 with most Africans in their team, six are French, three Belgians, one Russian and Turkish.

The Best African Players

Cameroon: Samuel Eto'o Fils


Samuel Eto'o Fils (born 10 March 1981) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Internazionale. He is also the current captain of the Cameroon national team. Eto'o trained at Kadji Sports Academy. He also holds a Spanish passport to enable him not to count among the "foreign players" in the European Union.
Eto'o scored over 100 goals in five seasons with FC Barcelona, and is also the record holder in number of appearances by an African player in La Liga. In 2010, he became the first player to win two European Continental Trebles following his back-to-back achievements with Barcelona and Internazionale.
He is the second player to have ever scored in two separate UEFA Champions League finals and the fourth player, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa and Gerard Piqué, to have won the UEFA Champions League two years in a row with different teams. He is the most decorated African player of all time having won the African Player of the Year award a record four times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2010.

At European level: it has gone through several clubs where he had several trophies:

  •     RCD Mallorca
    • Winner of the Spanish Cup (1): 2003
  •     FC Barcelona
    • Winner of the Champions League (2): 2006 and 2009
    • Champion of Spain (3): 2005, 2006 and 2009
    • Winner of the Spanish Cup (1): 2009
    • Winner of the Spanish Supercup (2): 2005 and 2006
    • Runner-up World Cup 2006 soccer clubs
  •     Inter Milan 
    • Winner of World Cup football club 2010 (1)
    • Winner of the Champions League 2010 (1)
    • Italian champions (1): 2010
    • Winner of the Italian Cup (1): 2010, 2011
    • Winner of the Italian Supercup (1): 2010
    • Finalist in the European Supercup in 2010
At National level:

  • African Cup of Nations: Two times Champion: in 2000.2002
  • Confederations Cup: A time champion: in 2003
  • African Cup of Nations: A Finalist: 2008
  • 2000 Summer Olympics: Gold Medal: 2000

 Cote d'Ivoire: Didier Drogba


Didier Yves Drogba Tébil (born March 11, 1978 in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire) is an Ivorian footballer who plays as a forward and center currently operates in Chelsea, a club of English Premier League. Drogba moved to Chelsea for a record $ 24 million euro has helped the club win its first Premier League title. Drogba has become known as one of the largest in the world in 2006 as a striker. He won the league title with Chelsea and is the new captain of the national team for the first time. The heats of the 2006 World Cup he scored the spirits calling his team for this great competition. He was appointed in 2006 as the African Footballer of the Year.
The following season he finished top scorer in the Premier League 2006-07 with 20 goals. With his club Chelsea, has won several trophies that give it an international reputation:
  •     FA Premiership: 2005, 2006, 2010
  •     FA Cup: 2007, 2009, 2010
  •     FA Community Shield: 2005, 2009
  •     League Cup: 2005, 2007

Ghana: Michael Essien


Kojo Michael Essien (born December 3, 1982 in Accra, Ghana) is a Ghanaian footballer who currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League. He plays the position of defensive midfielder and is a centerpiece of the national football team of Ghana. But he spreads throughout the central axis of the field in Chelsea because of its versatility. Michael Essien is the most expensive African footballer of all time. Before arriving in England he played in the French league where he also showed his immense talent.
The trophies he had to win by then are:
Lyon Ligue 1: Two-time champion: in 2004 and 2005. These are the most recent trophies won playing with Chelsea
  •     Premier League: 2006, 2010
  •     FA Cup: 2007, 2009, 2010
  •     League Cup: 2007
  •     FA Community Shield: 2009

 Conclusion

  In conclusion, we can say that African football is progressing steadily. Inherently, the Africans as the Brazilians are superior to Europeans in football. They just lack proper organization, infrastructure and adequate youth coaching. But there is a growing number of Africans in the major European clubs. “They had and still have a greater desire to succeed because they did not have the comfort of Europeans football structures. Their motivation is higher, "said Robert Nouzaret, the coach of Guinea. An opinion shared by Joseph Blatter, the FIFA president, and Issa Hayatou, the president of CAF, which insists on the upgrade of African football "Much remains to be done, especially in the management side, in the training of managers, in the upgrade of infrastructure and the improvement of player’s conditions in other to curb their exodus to Europe."



But the future of African football is full of surprises, and I think in the coming years, Africa will move from a simple participant in the World Cup to a status of finalist or champion of the world cup.

The Diary Of African Football

The feats of African footballers are among the most positive images that Africa has to offer to the world in this era of globalization. But football has also been an important asset in African history since the beginning of the colonial era. Today, African football is a kind of mirror in which are reflected handicaps and potential of the continent: the huge material difficulties, states and country sometimes drift, but also a reservoir of exceptional football players. In this article, we try to present the African football in all its dimensions, nationwide, continent wide as well as worldwide. We will be talking about the different stages that African football has gone through to get to this level, despite the many scourges that undermine African countries.

Football is a great sport
More than a sport, football in Africa is a means or way of life for many people. At its inception, football was considered a game and not a sport. But from this ancient era to the present time, things have changed not only in the field, but especially in terms of popularity and financial investment involved in football today.

In Africa as in many other continents of the world, football quickly became a common language, without borders, where everyone can identify himself. It went from being a game to a sport, from a sport to a career and now it is a symbol of national identity and pride. Indeed, there has been a proliferation in the number of African players in European and U.S football clubs. This is undoubtedly due the high level physical and athletic condition, and the technical skills demonstrated by Africans in various international competitions in which they participate. In fact the level of African football has progressed to the point where many European football clubs consist of a majority of African players. But in the past, the situation was not like that.

 Less African footballers played abroad and most played in local clubs with shabby contracts and poor playing conditions. These circumstances enforced that few parents were able to agreed that their children dropout of school, to pursue a football career. Then raises the question about the motivations behind this awesome rise of African football, given the difficult living conditions in African countries. To answer this question, we will first talk about different development stages of African football, and then we will see, the benefits in the national and international level led by the success of African football.

The evolution of African Football

 African football since its official birth in the late 20th century, has consistently surprised observers by its emergence and continued development. One proof of African football’s fame is organizing the Football World Cup in an African country, namely South Africa, which has a wonderful team. But the road to reach this level has not been simple and much less easy. It took many years of hard work and determination to be able to have these accomplishments that are the pride of all Africans people.

Football is been played in Africa since several years. But it has not always been a success. The typical lifecycle of a footballer in general and African footballer in particular has three important steps. In infancy we played football for fun, especially for pleasure: this is just a game that we like. And then when we become adolescent, we start to realize the various career opportunities of this sport. Then we commit ourselves to this game, we train night and day, hoping that one day we can make a difference, stand out of many others and finally have a chance to evolve into a professional club. And finally there is the phase of consecration is where we see all of these efforts rewarded. We have reached one of our objectives and according to his abilities we can evolve into a professional club more or less famous. African National football has been much marked in the second stage because the local football clubs are poor and do not have all the financial and logistical advantages possessed by European clubs. Although Africa has many talented players, national football championships in Africa cannot be considered as high-level professional leagues. For the players it is considered as an interim step pending the consecration which is signing a professional contract with a European football club. Thus all the good African players play in the European high paid leagues, with a more permanent status. This is another reason why the most competent national teams are rarely made up of players from local leagues.

At the international level, African football has also been successful, even on many encounters against the giants of world football, with the power teams who have left their mark on the history of the World, such as Morocco, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal. The CAN (African Cup of Nation), this biennial event which is held under the auspices of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), is attracting an increasing attention worldwide, enabling the CAF to comfort its image. The sixteen teams participating animate the same ambition which is win the tournament and clinch the trophy, a dream cherished by both teams and players who aspire to be remembered for this "African World Cup".

Some players are rewarded for their efforts throughout the history of CAN, by brandishing the trophy, others, however, regarded as idols and role models in African football, and that made the happiness of some great European clubs, have left the scene without ever having been too fortunate to win the CAN.