Senegal’s AFCON victory any lessons?

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament ended last Sunday, with Senegal defeating Egypt in a dramatic shootout at the Olembe Stadium in Yaoundé, Cameroun.

Sunday’s final between two of the best national football teams on the continent was a fitting climax to the month-long celebration of high standard football which left a good impression about the state and the future of the African game.

The Teranga Lions of Senegal were deserving of the continent’s top prize in football, as the star-studded team played the best of football, showed unity of purpose and a determined effort to avoid the disappointments of 2002 and 2019 when the trophy eluded them after reaching the final in Mali and Egypt, respectively.

Connoisseurs of the game had seen the Senegal victory coming. In our preview of the tournament, the Daily Graphic rightly predicted Senegal among the favourites for the tournament, based on the team’s progression, the depth of quality in the squad and the clout of the head coach, Aliou Cisse.

That victory did not come by accident but was a product of a well-worked project to win the AFCON as part of an overall football development plan.

Senegalese had waited for this day and their victory, as was to be expected, was received with wild celebrations, with a public holiday declared in Senegal yesterday as President Macky Sall cut short a foreign tour to host the African champions.

The just-ended AFCON in Cameroun, as well as Senegal’s victory, provided some useful lessons and a reality check for us in Ghana.

It was a competition characterised by upsets, with some of the so-called minnows, such as The Comoros and The Gambia, showing that they had come of age, and that the gap between the 'big boys' of African football and emerging powers had, indeed, closed.

Who could have imagined title holders and pre-tournament favourites, Algeria, and four-time champions, Ghana, both exiting at the first hurdle as last in their respective groups?

Ghana can learn useful lessons from the way Senegal executed their maiden AFCON success. It was a reward for patience and stability, which ensured they kept their best talents and allowed the team to grow from strength to strength.

Even though they failed to win the ultimate in tournaments, they were very patient with their coach and kept him for eight years. No wonder, when it mattered most, they displayed amazing team spirit and unity of purpose, which propelled them to successive AFCON finals.

At a tournament where many teams, including Ghana, relied on expatriate coaches, Cisse made a strong case for Africans to believe in and support their own to grow, instead of the over-reliance on foreign technical brains.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA) is looking to appoint a fifth coach for the Black Stars for the period Cisse has been in charge rebuilding the Teranga Lions to win their first AFCON.

Next month the 45-year-old coach will attempt to lead Senegal to their second successive FIFA World Cup in Qatar later in the year, but he must brace up for another fierce clash with Egypt in a two-leg World Cup qualifying playoff.

For the GFA, there is the need to return to the basics and systems that previously worked and ensured sustained success for Ghana football –– a bottom-up approach which involved building teams through age-group sides (Black Starlets, Black Satellites and Black Meteors).

That structured development plan ensured dominance at juvenile and youth competitions and produced world-class players such as Stephen Appiah, Michael Essien, Sulley Muntari, Asamoah Gyan, Andre Ayew, among others, who took Ghana to three FIFA World Cup tournaments and two AFCON finals since 2010.

Senegal’s renaissance and Ghana’s worst ever AFCON performance in Cameroun provide a moment for reflection for Ghana’s football authorities and the government to find ways to rebuild our football into the future.