By Chigozie Chukwuleta
The recurring issue of tales of woes for African teams at the FIFA World Cup has become a sore point in the annals of history. In this interview, former Ghana International and U-17 Gold medalist, Christian Saba pointed out possible reasons, way out and other issues
Excerpts…….
Q: Africa in the World Cup. Every four years, teams qualify and still come back with stories. What is wrong?
A: Our problem is discipline. The lack of discipline is killing us. If we get to a tournament, we don’t think about anything. We just think about money, how to take the winning bonuses, you know? That is our mentality. That’s why we cannot get there. But Europeans? They’re going to wake up and be determined they’re going to take the cup. What they do is that they program everything. They know that if they win the first match they get something and the second match they get something else. Match after match. So they don’t think about stuff like bonuses and allowance. But we Africans when we go to tournaments, we’re always thinking about money, never thinking about the cup. Just money.
Q: But do you think we should blame our administrators for that?
A: That’s it. That’s our problem. You know, we have to do things professionally like we’re going to the tournament with other countries of the world. Standard should be set and followed religiously. There should be an appearance fee, a winning bonus, bonus for qualifying stage,1st round, 2nd round, and qualifying to another zone. So if you loose, you don’t get an allowance. And if you come to a draw, you should have a stated fee. That’s how it should be. But we don’t do that. Instead win or don’t win, we still give reward.
Q: So I was thinking of Africa and our inability to do well with advancement. We go to U-17, we win. We go to U-20, we start struggling and Olympics nothing. What do you think is the reason ?
A: The problem is, if we play U-17, we’re supposed to go to U-20, then U-23. But here, when we play U-17, the team is dissolved and they group another set of boys for U-20. This is what we have. Then the U-17 guys who won the cup become useless just like my team. When we won the cup and came back,they selected some of us to U-20 but they said to me, you can play U-20 though they pushed me to U-23 because they said I was ahead of them. That was okay. Then after U-23 I went straight to the national team. Then my colleagues went to Malaysia but not all of them. They took some outside to mix them. They have to use that same U-17 to do that. But they did this and after Malaysia,only 3 players in my U-17 group succeeded for the first national team. We won the U-17 but only 3 guys made it to the first national team in Ghana. Why? People said we were the best U-17 and that they had to keep us but after? That’s the problem we have. We know we have a lot of guys and everyone have to play but you have to do things right and gradually. Then we’ll move forward. But always we’re going down. If we come from tournament today,from the airport you’re finished. And if you want to come back you have to pay money why?
Q: That’s another thing I wanted to talk about. This issue of paying money, is it real?
A: Yes. They’re doing business with our national teams. During my time, they called me, “we need you, are you ready?” Then I said yes I’m ready. But now you’ll have to call and say you want to come. And they say “oh yeah? If you’re coming bring this or that”. But if you reached to me, I know I have to come, I have to give my best. Do you see the difference? But as a player, if I call you and I bring what I have, if you put me in the game, I’ll do what I like because I payed for it. There’s no challenge. We’re destroying our football in Africa but I can tell you that we are the best. I’ll give you an example. Look at those teams in Europe if there’s no African on the team, they cannot move forward. During the African Cup time, did you see how the European team played? It was catastrophic . Each game was not good because there was no African player on the team. We’re doing the job for their people. They know. But our people here have destroyed everything. Sometimes it’s very bitter but you can’t say anything. It’s serious.
Q: Okay, let’s talk about your visit to Nigeria and what brought you. What is your impression about the Bayern Munich Youth Cup program?
A: This is my first time on the program with Victor. He just chose me to come to showcase, watch and bring out good talents in Africa. They took me when I was young. I mean Bayern Munich took me at 17 and brought the best out of me. So for this program, they said take a chance, go there and watch if you can bring something good. That’s the reason I joined and I can tell you it is a good project for football development at grassroot level.
Q: And what do you have to say, do you think the project is a win-win for Africa?
A: I think it’s a very big win. If a team like Bayern Munich gives this to you, it’s a very big opportunity. You have to grab it and use it well. If you use it well, you’ll go far. Teams like Bayern Munich don’t do things like this ever. It also goes a long way to tell of the integrity of the partnering organization, the VOE Foundation.
Q: From what you saw, do you think there’s hope for those players?
A: Of course. Of course. We have some of them who can make it, maybe the best five. Not all of them can make but they are next batches too. Like I said it’s a very good opportunity for Africa. If it works well, it can go to other countries like Mali and it’s growing because they believe in Africans that we can do it better. It’s also a way of helping to bring good things out.
Q: Do you think that with this program Nigeria may have a future Bayern legend?
A: It’s possible from what we’ve done now. Who knows? Only God knows, but it can be. It’s football. Anything happens in football. And by what I know and what I saw, these guys have the potential. They can succeed. A Lot of them can succeed.
