The ongoing FIFA Club World Cup competition being held in The United States of America has seen some brilliant performances from the underdog clubs– except the african representatives.
Let’s get right into it.
Africa had 4 slots in this year’s competition being occupied by Al Ahly–Egypt, Espérance de tunis–Tunisia, Mamelodi sundowns– South Africa and Wydad Casablanca from Morocco.
These clubs have been regarded as the best of the continent and rightly so. Yet despite respectable attacking efforts from Al Ahly and Mamelodi Sundowns, all four African representatives were eliminated at the group stage.
Al Ahly, being the most successful and most decorated amongst the bunch, earned their place by winning three of the last four CAF Champions League titles.
They scored four goals(including a hat-trick by Wessam Abou Ali against Fc Porto) but conceded four in that game and eventually exited the competition with a negative goal difference.
Mamelodi Sundowns also put in a balanced display, netting four and conceding four, which unfortunately wasn’t enough.
They did give us a memorable experience, when they almost pulled an impossible comeback against Borussia Dortmund.
On the other hand, Wydad and Esperance struggled defensively.
Wydad netted twice and conceded a whopping 8 goals through the three group stage games, while Esperance were shut out completely in two of their games, but managed a goal in their win against Los Angeles Fc.
The gulf in defensive resilience, particularly for Wydad and Esperance, proved decisive.
All this shows a stark contrast between African and South American football, especially the Brazilians, who cruised through with high-scoring wins and solid defensive displays.
The gap in quality and consistency becomes clear.
Would we have a better performance from our participants next time round?
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Story by Selorm Ahiamadi |univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by Pius Asack
