Africa Cup of Nations giant killers force Zimbabwe to introspect

Langton Nyakwenda

IN an article published on Thursday titled “How Mauritania used FIFA Goal Project funds to become giant killers”, The Guardian newspaper of Nigeria extensively chronicles the massive football transformation in that country.

Despite being one of the underdogs at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, Mauritania shocked many football followers across the continent when they eliminated two-time champions Algeria from the competition last week. After going down to Burkina Faso and Angola in their opening matches in Group D, Mauritania claimed a historic 1-0 win over Algeria that also secured them a place in the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams.

That victory was Mauritania’s first-ever at the AFCON finals. They also booked a knockout berth for the first time in their history.

“A country largely covered by desert, Mauritania lies northwest of Africa with a population of about four million people.

“For 18 years, between 1995-2003, Mauritania never won a single football match. And in 2010, the country withdrew from the AFCON qualifiers enroute to Angola 2010 due to financial crisis,” wrote The Guardian.

In 2011, Mauritania were ranked 207th by FIFA and were one of the poorest football countries in the world.

However, their fortunes started to change for the better following the election of Ahmed Yahya as FA president.

“Determined to succeed, the FA boss, Yahya, set up Mauritania youth teams and got the country’s biggest company, Telcom, to sponsor their league. He also fixed players’ salaries to ensure they stayed focused on football alone.”

Yahya’s most notable contribution to the evolution of football in Mauritania was using a 10-million euro FIFA Goal Projects fund for its intended purpose.

He renovated the country’s national stadium, built an ultra-modern FA headquarters and also established a training complex with hotel rooms, where he housed the country’s Under-15 team and started a youth development programme, “which opened the floodgates of success for the country”.

After visiting the facilities in November 2023, the President of Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, told African Business: “In Mauritania, we had the foresight to use the (FIFA) Forward fund wisely because we had a vision.”

In one of his tours in Africa, FIFA president Gianni Infantino hailed Mauritania as one of the few African countries with proper accountability of the FIFA funds.

In 2019, Mauritania qualified for their first AFCON in Egypt and also repeated the same feat two years later with a squad comprising some of the youth players developed from 2015.

Giant killers

Mauritania are not the only country causing shock waves at the ongoing 34th AFCON finals, which will certainly be remembered for the giant-killing acts by nations that were previously regarded as minnows.

Equatorial Guinea, who are ranked 18th on the continent, walloped hosts and Africa’s eighth-best team Cote d’Ivoire 4-0 in a Group A match. They also held Nigeria and beat Guinea Bissau to top the group.

Angola, who are rated 28th on the continent, also topped Group D, which included 2019 AFCON champions Algeria, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. Namibia similarly booked a first-ever knockout place since their debut in 1998, as they qualified as one of the third-best teams from Group E, ahead of fading North African giants Tunisia.

Cape Verde, who are one of the smallest nations on the continent, with a population of just under 600 000, have also reached the last 16. They have done it using foreign-based players. In fact, their squad has players who were born in six different countries, including France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Ireland.

“Cape Verde has a huge diaspora,” defender Roberto Lopes, who was born and raised in Dublin, told The Athletic just before the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

Lopes played for Ireland Under-18 before committing to Cape Verde. Angola also have a strong diaspora influence in their squad as some of their players were born and raised in Portugal.

Introspection

The shocks at AFCON have touched off animated discussions on the state of the local game. Despite producing star players over the years, including Bruce Grobbelaar, Moses Chunga, Peter Ndlovu, Knowledge Musona, Khama Billiat, Norman Mapeza, Joel Shambo and Stanley Ndunduma (both late), Marvelous Nakamba and Marshall Munetsi, Zimbabwe have never progressed beyond the group stage at the AFCON finals.

Without a cohesive youth development system, Zimbabwe are lagging behind in terms of production and nurturing football stars.

Allegations of misuse of FIFA grants are rampant in a country, where successive ZIFA leaders have often been found wanting.

Football enthusiast and Mighty Warriors benefactor Lewis Muzhara is hoping the “right” people will be elected.

He believes local football can only realise its goals if development funds from FIFA are not abused.

“For a long time, we have had issues of mismanagement of FIFA funds in Zimbabwe and this has cost us big time.

“We need football leaders who serve football and not personal interests. FIFA Forward funds should reach the intended destination,” Muzhara said.

“Football has no shortcuts; we need to go back to the grassroots and develop from there, just like what the likes of Mauritania have done.

“But here in Zimbabwe, we tend to jump the gun and cut corners.

“If FIFA avail equipment, that equipment should reach the intended recipients. We don’t need greedy people in leadership positions and, in that vein, I think there should be an integrity check on those aspiring for posts in football administration.”

Harare province junior league organising secretary Rueben Dauti feels Zimbabwe has abandoned its junior football system.

“If you look at the composition of the squads that qualified for the last two AFCON finals, most of the players came through the developmental setup.

“But nowadays there is no longer support for junior football, yet people want results. We can’t build a house without a foundation.”

Dauti believes an astute ZIFA technical director could be the panacea for Zimbabwe’s football problems.

“If you look at countries like Mauritania and Namibia, they have invested a lot in junior development, but in Zimbabwe, we have not.

“We have some junior teams in Harare who are funded by individuals, yet we have big clubs in the Premier Soccer League who do not have a sound junior development system.”

He wants Zimbabwe to adopt an eight-year plan that targets the 2034 World Cup.

“There should be a database of the Under-14s of this year. We arrange training camps for them and keep track.

“We should then have football centres with proper facilities, including hostels, in all the 10 provinces where these players can camp regularly as they develop.

“In eight years’ time, they will be 22 and ready to play for the Warriors,” added Dauti.

There are a number of Zimbabwean footballers who were born and raised in the United Kingdom and other European and American bases, whom the country can also build the future of the national team on.