Regular readers of this blog will have noticed a football leitmotiv creeping into proceedings in recent weeks, and by now the reason behind this will be obvious to all but the most soccer-phobic of surfers: the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (‘CAN 2012’), a co-production of oil-soaked Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, was being played out in a rarely-noticed corner of the continent, with tonight’s final – an epic between Côte d’Ivoire and Zambia, with the latter edging the contest 8-7 on penalties following 120 goalless minutes – a stunning and largely unanticipated culmination.
But as Zambia captain Christopher Katongo lifted the distinctive gold, multi-sphere trophy into the Libreville sky, his country’s first ever Africa Cup of Nations triumph prompted more questions than answers. In particular, the following points merit particular contemplation:
1. Is Hervé Renard Underrated? This may seem a perplexing question to posit given the favourable column inches that are now likely to flow the way of the former AS Cherbourg, USM Alger and Angola coach, but we at Mediolana think this to be true for at least two reasons. Firstly, during the tournament just past, Zambia’s progress was often explained away as a product of their rapid forward line; alternatively, the team spirit engendered by the squad’s desire to pay tribute to the victims of the 1993 air crash which wiped out almost all of the then Zambian national team – and which took place around half a kilometre from the Gabonese coast – was regularly cited as the cause of their success. Little attention was paid to Renard’s masterful and courageous tactics: constant pressing, adventurous dribbling and a commitment to mounting serious and sustained counterattacks yielded the ultimate reward.
Secondly, few seemed to recall that Renard nearly achieved a very similar result at the previous edition of the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola: having topped a first round group containing continental powerhouses Cameroon and Tunisia, Zambia comfortably merited a draw with Nigeria in a tight Lubango quarter-final, eventually being eliminated 5-4 on penalty kicks. Playing bright, enterprising football, Zambia were one of the tournament’s quiet revelations, and it was clear that the presence of the coach who looks as though he has strayed from a Paris catwalk had much to do with their success.
2. Is the Depth of African Football Recognised? With Pelé‘s prediction of an African name on the FIFA World Cup before the end of the twentieth century long proven false and a string of disappointing performances by African teams at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 editions of that competition, it has become fashionable to decry the continent’s footballing prowess as just another African narrative of failure. Yet Zambia’s triumph at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations illustrates what many of us had felt for a long time: the depth of Africa’s football is something that is barely recognised in Europe, where only a handful of African teams enjoy much exposure. This is a real paradox, because these days it is common even for historically weak or middling African national sides to be able to call upon a clutch of players plying their trade overseas; as the excellent British Eurosport commentator Wayne Boyce alluded to on more than one occasion, the absence of teams such as Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria and Cameroon from the CAN 2012 finals shows that overall footballing standards within Africa are much higher than many may realise.
3. Is the Depth of World Football Recognised? Before the beginning of the tournament, Côte d’Ivoire were understandably perceived by a huge proportion of football fans favourites to engrave their name on the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time since 1992: boasting a star-studded squad featuring players from the household names of Chelsea (Salomon Kalou, Didier Drogba), Manchester City (Yaya Touré, Kolo Touré) and Arsenal (Gervinho), it was a no-brainer that Les Éléphants would beat all-comers drawn from a ‘weak’ field of opponents.
Yet the final of CAN 2012 has shown that a team vaunting players drawn from clubs such as Henan Construction (Christopher Katongo), TP Mazembe (Hijani Himoonde, Stophira Sunzu, Rainford Kalaba) and FC Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast (Chisamba Lungu) can be more than competitive at continental level. With West-East and North-South capital flight likely to accelerate in the coming years and competitions such as the Russian Premier League and the Chinese Super League awash with cash, the idea that the so-called ‘big five’, largely debt-defined European leagues represent the alpha and omega of football has rarely looked so implausible.
Mediolana 