African Sports Monthly February 2014 Issue | Page 35

"A lot of people [in Africa] still have that mentality that the European knows more,". - Thomas Mlambo

African soccer stars have hit the international soccer stage with a big bang in recent years.

In the fact decade alone the continent has exported many star players to Europe that have graduated to the coaching ranks.

In a soccer-mad continent many soccer enthusiasts have been expecting that within the same period the coaching roles especially that of their national teams will be awash with local talent as well.

The continent might be boasting of storming and conquering high profile leagues across the globe; however, little has been done on the coaching side of the business, as foreign coaches, mostly from Europe still dominate the sidelines of African national teams.

This according to some pundits and football experts is due to an inferiority complex among African soccer administrators who believe European expatriate coaches are only the ones that have all it takes to do successful job.

"A lot of people [in Africa] still have that mentality that the European knows more," said Thomas Mlambo a South Africa-based Television presenter and soccer analyst who works for South African based Supersports TV network, in a news report published on wsj.com.

Furthermore, local coaches are usually not given a fair chance to succeed, deprived of resources and given little room to maneuver when they are hired to coach their national teams.

Most soccer authorities on the continent expect instant results when they appoint a local coach.

"African coaches - when (federations) employ them, (the federations) want them to win the World Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations and every game. Meanwhile, if you give a white person the same job, you tell

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