The message resonating among women’s football administrators in South Africa has been the same — women’s football is badly neglected throughout the continent, it lacks proper structures, there is not enough financial backing and many federations regard it more as a stepchild than anything else.
As eight of the continent’s best women’s teams battled it out for the two tickets that will take them to the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Germany next year, the plaintiff cry from Equatorial Guinea’s captain, Genevova Ayonmang, about the total neglect of women’s football in her country really tugged at the heart strings. But the plight of the game played by the fairer sex is legendary.
Be it Fran Hilton-Smith, the South African women’s football team manager; Florence Okoe of Ghana; Mali coach Moustapha Traore; Boniface Charles Mkwasa, the coach of Tanzania; or the coach of the Nigerian Super Falcons, Uche Eucharia, the cry is the same — women’s football is not taken seriously in Africa.
‘How are we expected to put up decent performances at the Germany World Cup if we qualify when there is simply no proper structure in place?” asked Eucharia. ‘We start our preparation only a few weeks before the start of the World Cup, while other teams have been preparing for months.”
Eucharia feels African teams will forever be at a disadvantage in relation to their European and South American opponents because, ‘in Africa, we do not invest enough in women’s football and that is a fact and reality. Resources are rather channelled towards the senior men’s team in every country.”
Potential
Yet all is not doom and gloom, according to Serame Letsoaka, South Africa’s technical director, who heads a team of coaches who are compiling a technical report about the eight teams competing in South Africa.
‘I did not watch the 2008 Women’s Championship in Equatorial Guinea and saw only a few games that featured South Africa,” Letsoaka said. ‘But from what I have seen at this seventh edition of the tournament, I have been greatly impressed.”
Letsoaka offered his technical analysis of the teams and picked out the Super Falcons as the most tactically sound team in the tournament, while South Africa were technically superior but lacked the physical strength of the other teams, which could prevent Augustine Makalakalane’s girls from achieving greatness.
‘South Africa is packed with exceptionally talented girls,” said Letsoaka, ‘but they will have to avoid physical contact with stronger girls to succeed — and football is a contact game.
‘They started the tournament very slow but have since picked up the tempo and against Mali were in a class of their own.”
Pushing hard
In his opinion the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon are driven by sheer determination and they have a never-say-die spirit, which pushed them until the final whistle. They pushed even when they were 2-0 down against Equatorial Guinea and, with a bit of luck, could have even won the match, which ended 2-2.
‘Cameroon’s Yoh Carine Mbu and Ngo Marylse Ndoumbouk are, for me, the heart and soul of their team,” said Letsoaka. ‘They are very special players — the kind any coach would be proud to have in his team.
‘In addition, I liked their ability to build patiently from the back while moving the ball purposefully forward.”
Equatorial Guinea use physical strength to their advantage. ‘They use speed, aggression and are very robust in their approach to the game and, to be quite frank, it has worked for them. They are an honest, hard-working team, which has paid dividends for them.
‘I could not help but single out their captain Genevova Ayonmang. She is a box-to-box player with lots of stamina. She covers a lot of ground and is blessed with the ability to urge her troops on, even when they seem to drop their heads. She is a true leader.”
Letsoaka described Ghana as a solid, physical side which displayed a strong mental side to their game. He described them as quick on and off the ball and their positional sense was superb as they combined brute strength and natural skills, depending on the situation they encountered on the field.
‘And, next to South Africa, they played the most beautiful football,” said Letsoaka.
‘I thought they would qualify, but sadly conceded soft goals against Equatorial Guinea and that was it for the Black Queens. Yet I quite enjoyed watching them and believe they were a very competent side.”
“Dangerous Nigeria”
Nigeria — well Nigeria has a strong, well-balanced side and are dangerous any way you look at them. They are a threat to any team, with some excellent players capable of poaching a goal even when least expected, largely because of their confidence, which seems to border on arrogance.
‘They have a solid spine from goalkeeper Precious Dede, whose experience at the highest level shines through,” said Letsoaka. ‘The defence is so comfortable on the ball that they usually start movements from the back and their inter-play makes the transitional play to the midfield quite effortless.
‘And which team cannot dominate any competition when they have a goal machine like Perpetua Nkocha? She is a demon and, despite being one of the oldest players in the team, she is in excellent shape and makes very deadly runs into the box. In addition, she can dribble, pass and is equally good both with her head and feet.”
The support of the spectators has been excellent and the passion almost similar to what the people of Equatorial Guinea displayed in Malabo two years ago.
And Letsoaka is convinced that, with more companies identifying with women’s football, the game in Africa is on the verge of a huge take-off.
‘In South Africa we need to concentrate on catching the girls in school and focus on tertiary institutions where they seem to have adequate facilities. Only then can the game grow and blossom.
‘We are fortunate to have companies like Sasol sponsoring women’s football, but we need more.”
No matter what happens, the last two left standing will represent Africa well at the Fifa Women’s World Cup in Germany. But, according to Letsoaka, they need to spend more time in the gym — some appeared to have slowed down to a stroll by the end of each game, a clear sign of lack of physical training.