GHANA 2008 IS THE BEST EVER (G/S) PAGE 5

Story: Zakaria Alhassan, Tamale

THE technical helmsman of the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia, Roger Lemerre, has described the ongoing 26th Africa Cup of Nations as the most competitive and exhilarating, since the history of the tournament in 1957.
As predicted by most football pundits and technical experts, the tournament had so far proved to be tough and dicey to predict the eventual winner.
The former coach of the French National team, who was speaking to the Graphic sports, in an interview after the Teranga Lions of Senegal training session at the Tamale Senior High School, said three countries had a brighter chance of lifting the trophy.
“I think Ghana, Egypt and Cote d’Ivoire are the best teams in the competition and stand a chance of winning the cup,” he said.
While singling out those three countries as the favourites, Lemerre, who led the French national team to clinch the 2000 European Championships and the 2001 FIFA Confederations CUP, cautioned those three countries to be wary of countries like Guinea, Nigeria and Angola because they had a great potential to cause upsets.
Lemerre, who was speaking through an interpreter, predicted that the Ghana CAN 2008 tournament would discover a lot of young talents who would propel the continents football into growth and development.
“You can see that the competition has so far proved to belong to the new generation of football Stars who would take over from the old players. Most of the old players like Rigobert Song, Geremi Njitap and Nwankwu Kanu are now at their prime,” the Carthage Eagles coach explained.
He stressed the need for the old players to bid their time by hanging their boots after the tournament and make way for the new players to expose their talents.
“African coaches have to improve their technical knowledge so that they would be able to tap and nurture the young players into stardom,” he said.
Lemerre indicated that there was a marked improvement in the standard of football in Africa and that was attested to by the quality of skills and goals scored by the individual players in the ongoing tournament.
He, however, commended African coaches for striving to improve upon the game in the continent and urge them not to rest in their oars but continue to upgrade their technical knowledge so that they could impart it on their players.
As to whether the contemporary African football could be compared with that of Europe, he pointed out that European football was miles ahead of African football.
“The quality of pitches and logistics enjoyed by European coaches and footballers makes it difficult for Africa to catch Europe now. Unless something is done by African football governments to improve the facilities here, the gap would be maintained or widened,” the Carthage Eagles coach said.
Lemerre implored the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and its members to co-ordinate effectively with their European counterparts so that African coaches would tap some expertise from their European counterparts to improve upon the game in the continent.