If you follow African football, you would that West Africa has dominated the sports for a number of centuries.
The BBC Piers Edwards asked important question last week: Why has West Africa dominated African soccer for decades?
This is what he wrote in his introduction:
“The BBC shortlist for the 2010 African Footballer of the Year has underlined West Africa’s dominance of such awards – because around three-quarters of winners of both the BBC and Confederation of African Football (CAF) accolades hail from the region.
Great names stand out: Jay-Jay Okocha and Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria), Abedi Pele and Michael Essien (Ghana), Ivorian Didier Drogba, and Roger Milla and Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) to name but a few.
Liberia’s George Weah, meanwhile, is the only African to be crowned FIFA World Player of the Year.
Weah also won the BBC award in 1995 and this year, another West African will join him – with Drogba and Eto’o joined on the shortlist by Yaya Toure, Asamoah Gyan and Andre ‘Dede’ Ayew.
And it’s not just a matter of a few talented individuals – look at the results and you will also see that West Africa’s footballing pre-eminence is unquestionable:
Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana are Africa’s only ever World Cup quarter-finalists; Nigeria and Cameroon are the continent’s sole winners of Olympic gold, while Nigeria and Ghana share six FIFA world titles at U17 and U20 level”
I would like us to debate question here on TalkAfrique. Please use the space below to provide why you think West Africa has such dominance in African soccer.
Is it possible that it’s just a perception that the West is good but it’s not really true?
I think even the title is not fair… who won the last 3 African cups? the Egyptian players… who beated Italy and close match with Brazil? the Egyptian players…who just beated australia 3/0? the Egyptian players…who scored 10 goals in his first appearance English premiere league? Egyptian Amr Zaki….who is the talented player of burrusia dortumand? egyptian M.Zidan… Mido,Muhammadi, Abutreika and Ahmed Hassan are in the list too…I also admire north africa players like chamakh…Samuel Eto is my favorite…We should vote for the talented players in the least creative atmosphere and so playing in Europe is not a privilege over local players
The West African have the dietary advantages. The high dose of carbohydrate in the equatorial staple – Fufu – definitely, is responsible for the stealthy look of people from this region
I disagree. even title is not fair… who won the last 3 African cups? the Egyptian players… who beated Italy and close match with Brazil? the Egyptian players…who just beated australia 3/0? the Egyptian players…who scored 10 goals in his first appearance English premiere league? Egyptian Amr Zaki….who is the talented player of burrusia dortumand? egyptian M.Zidan… Mido,Muhammadi, Abutreika and Ahmed Hassan are in the list too…I also admire north africa players like chamakh…Samuel Eto is my favorite…We should vote for the talented players in the least creative atmosphere and so playing in Europe is not a privilege over local players..
I think perhaps becuase sports is the only problem in west africa, they tend to do focus on it and do well. We in south africa ( i mean countries in Southern africa) play other world sports like golf, tennis, and cricket. I don’t see the west do any of these