The Fifa technical Study Group (TSG) comprised of among others our own Jomo Sono, Zambia’s Kalusha Bwalya and Frenchman Gerard Houllier.

The group covered all the matches and filed reports on wide-ranging issues during the tournament, including offering their unique and exclusive views in informative columns, picking out and commenting on the highlights of the day’s games. The TSG has been present at every FIFA competition for the last 40 years.

The group’s thoughts on Africa concluded that the timing of some of the appointments was Africa’s downfall. Five of the six African teams were knocked out in the group stage with only Ghana reached the quarter-final stage.

“Five of the six African teams had foreign coaches, most of whom were either brought on board at short notice or only for the World Cup finals. The coaches’ chances of success were limited by the fact that they often did not fully identify with the African culture, mentality and lifestyle or knew too little about these factors,” the report notes.

In fact, Nigeria hired Lars Lagerback at the end of March, barely three months before the start of the tournament in June.

Furthermore, the report claims that the staging of the Africa Cup of Nations during the same year as the World Cup probably had a negative effect on the Africans.

“Another issue is the staging of the Africa Cup of Nations in the same year as the World Cup. The difficulty resides in keeping players motivated and fit for two such major competitions. Two tournaments of this stature within six months of each other imposes an extreme mental burden on the players, particularly due to the great pressure to perform to which the players are also exposed their clubs,” the report argues.

The report further claims South Africa lacks faith in youth as opposed to their counterparts, Ghana and that could have been one of the differences between the two teams.

“Ghana’s ongoing youth and development work was clearly in evidence, with five members of the team that won the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in 2009 making their squad, two of whom were regulars, with another player starting three matches.

"The fact that youth football is viewed differently in South Africa than in Ghana was demonstrated by the fact that none of the players used by South Africa at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt were selected for the senior squad,” it says.

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Last 3 Comments: (View All)

Gbenga:2010-09-04 20:19

My people let us move further and let Kaita bee, beside, this has happend to Zidan of France before.

Solomon:2010-09-04 20:46

Moletsaphala,you must be a non-intellectual person.The report was for the whole african team,but just bcos of your low thinking faculty,the only comment that you can make is about our great country Nigeria.Pls next time think b4 you write anytin.Thank you and may God renew your sense of reasoning.

Udeme:2010-09-05 08:09

@He that has no name, here are the facts. I got this from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1909220.stm

Other websites include http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/444213

Baby rape

The majority of the victims are 12 years old or younger. Many of the perpetrators are themselves children.



"Baby Tshepang" was just 9 months old when she was brutally raped in the Northern Cape town of Louisvale in the early hours of 27 October, 2001.

Baby rape is not a new phenomenon in South African society, but it is becoming more common.

One possible reason, say Aids activists, is the myth, widespread in southern Africa, that sex with a child or baby will rid a man of HIV or Aids.