<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Topline<a href="https://policies.google.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"></a></h2>



FIFA on Thursday announced the 16 North American venues that will host games in the 2026 men&#8217;s World Cup, including 11 in the U.S., three in Mexico and two in Canada&#8211;here are the cities where the action in the world&#8217;s biggest sporting event will take place.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



FIFA grouped the host cities by region, with Los Angeles, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay area city of Santa Clara holding U.S.-based matches in the West region, while Vancouver in Canada and Guadalajara in Mexico will also serve as host cities.



The Central region consists of venues in Houston, Dallas, Kansas City and Atlanta, as well as Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico.



In the East, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey—just outside New York City—will host, along with venues in Philadelphia, Boston, Miami and Toronto.



Five U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/06/15/which-us-cities-will-host-the-2026-world-cup-fifa-to-announce-10-winners-thursday/?sh=595d0f1e3a07">cities named as finalists</a>&nbsp;were not selected to host games: Baltimore, Cincinnati, Denver, Nashville and Orlando didn’t make the cut, while Edmonton in Canada was also not picked.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-we-don-t-know">WHAT WE DON&#8217;T KNOW</h2>



The sites for specific matches, including the opening game and the final, will be announced at a later date.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



$90 million-$480 million. That&#8217;s how much host cities can expect to receive in windfall gains from World Cup-related economic activity,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2018/02/hosting-the-2026-fifa-world-cup-could-create-more-than-5-billion-in-economic-activity-for-north-amer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to U.S. Soccer.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



The 2026 World Cup will be the first tournament ever hosted by three countries, and will feature significant format changes from other recent World Cups. The number of teams competing in the tournament will jump from 32—where it has stood since 1998—to 48, and the opening stage will shift from eight groups of four teams to sixteen groups of three. As with prior World Cups, the top two teams from each group will advance, but they will move into a knockout stage starting with a round of 32 in 2026, instead of a round of 16. The U.S. has hosted the World Cup on one occasion before, in 1994, while Mexico has hosted twice, 1986 and 1970. Canada has never hosted a men&#8217;s World Cup.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



The 2022 World Cup takes place in Qatar from November 21-December 18. The U.S. plays its first game on opening day against Wales, followed by matchups&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/04/01/us-to-face-england-and-iran-in-return-to-soccer-world-cup/?sh=5aee2f84572e">against England and Iran</a>&nbsp;to close out the group stage.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2022/06/15/which-us-cities-will-host-the-2026-world-cup-fifa-to-announce-10-winners-thursday/?sh=595d0f1e3a07">Which U.S. Cities Will Host The 2026 World Cup? FIFA To Announce 10 Winners Thursday.</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2022/04/01/us-to-face-england-and-iran-in-return-to-soccer-world-cup/?sh=5aee2f84572e">U.S. To Face England And Iran In Return To Soccer World Cup</a> (Forbes)



By Nicholas Reimann, Forbes Staff

FIFA World Cup 2026 Host City Announcement

These 11 U.S. Cities Will Host 2026 World Cup Games

After their epic win beating England at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan on November 2, the Springboks returned home to South Africa, undertaking a nation-wide tour, in an open-top bus, holding high the Webb Ellis Cup. In this image, in the township of Soweto, they pass the iconic Vilakazi Street with throngs of screaming, cheering residents and Springbok fans lining the street. The sport united the racially-divided country. For the third time in history, the South African national rugby team was crowned world champions.



Image by Motlabana Monnakgotla

Boks 298

The Springboks And The Cup Of Good Hope

By the time the next World Cup rolls around, Nigeria captain John Mikel Obi will be 34.
Considering coach Gernot Rohr’s deliberate moves to lower the average age of the Super Eagles (Nigeria’s national football team), it’s doubtful if the silky midfielder will still be suiting up in green-white-green by then.
It would appear that Russia 2018 will mark one final top-level hurrah in Mikel’s illustrious career, one that has seen him win everything in European club football and represent his country at all levels and in every major competition.
Like many former Super Eagles’ captains before him ahead of a major championship, Mikel, who now plays in the Chinese Super League with Tianjin Teda, is coy about his post World Cup plans.
“I don’t know what I will do after the World Cup,” he tells FORBES AFRICA.
“I think we have to focus on doing well first and making the country proud.”
Despite all he has achieved, there is still some debate as to whether the former teenage prodigy has fulfilled his potential, but Russia presents him with an opportunity to forge a legacy and grow his legend further.
It’s a sign of how highly he was thought of when he first burst on the scene that this is even a debate after he has racked up an impressive collection of trophies, including multiple Premier League titles with Chelsea, the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and the Africa Cup of Nations titles.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/cover-story/2018/05/02/big-money-big-dreams-africas-chances-at-the-world-cup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Big Money, Big Dreams: Africa’s Chances At The World Cup</a>
At Mikel’s first international game, an African Under-17 World Cup qualifier against South Africa in Kaduna, visiting coach Serame Letsoaka said of the emerging starlet:
“Your number 10 is a special player, he has the potential to be a great player.”
Letsoaka was not alone. By the time the country returned from an ultimately unsuccessful 
FIFA Under-17 World Cup Finals in 2003, Mikel was already marked down for greatness in Nigeria.
Less than two years later, that attention went global when he became the subject of a three-way transfer controversy involving Chelsea, Manchester United and Norwegian club Lyn Oslo.
By the time the dust settled, Mikel ended up at Chelsea, where many Nigerians still believe his creative juices were squeezed and stifled by manager José Mourinho.
For Mikel himself, the argument is moot and he seems satisfied with his achievements, though leading Nigeria past the quarter-finals of the World Cup would perhaps even be the highlight.
“I think I have been lucky. I have had a good career, played for one of the best football clubs in the world, with some great players and won a lot of titles. I think that is a great honor for me.”
And he has gone from budding starlet to senior player in a captaincy role that always comes with great expectation and responsibility.
It is something that he has taken on and he knows that leadership on and off the pitch will be as important as anything else in Russia.
“I remember when I came into the national team as a young player, a lot of the older players helped me. Now, we have a young team, time has gone so fast and I have to help these guys too.”
Promoted from the Under-20 squad after helping Nigeria to a silver medal and winning the Silver Ball behind Lionel Messi at the FIFA World Youth Championship in 2005, Mikel was named in Nigeria’s squad for the 2006 Africa Cup of Nations and announced himself with a goal and assist after coming on as a substitute.
Already heightened expectations went into overdrive. With midfield legend Austin Okocha (Nigerian former professional footballer) on his last legs, Mikel was immediately installed as the next Jay-Jay.
Mikel, with a more direct, technical skill-set, is the direct opposite of Okocha’s more flair-oriented toolbox, which not only made that characterization unfair, but also spawned that unending debate about (un)fulfilled potential.
And it is. Since being named captain two years ago, Mikel has shown a level of leadership and drive that few believed he had.
Those qualities, both on and off the pitch, contributed in large parts to Nigeria’s uncharacteristically drama-free World Cup qualification campaign.
On the pitch, and unshackled with the freedom to roam handed to him by Rohr, Mikel drove the team forward almost by sheer force of will, with his goals against Algeria and then Cameroon major turning points in Nigeria’s qualification run.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/11/29/grounded-super-eagle-wants-fly-next-world-cup/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Grounded Super Eagle Who Wants To Fly To The Next World Cup</a>
Off the pitch, Mikel’s quiet diplomatic approach with officialdom to resolve team issues contrasted with the confrontational methods of the past and helped forge harmony within the squad.
“He is our captain and he is very important for us,” Rohr never tires of saying at every opportunity, clearly delighted to be working with a personality he feels is similar to his own.
Such is the respect Mikel commands within the squad that he is almost like a centrifugal force whenever he is present. And even when he is not, his aura still hovers around the team.
In two recent friendlies against Poland and Serbia in March, there seemed to be a general consensus that the team lacked cohesion without the captain.
In his absence, the Super Eagles struggled to maintain any semblance of fluidity or create opportunities.
Which may be why he almost feels a heavy responsibility to guide this young side, who will have one of the lowest squad average ages, to a good tournament.
But it hasn’t just been words. He has done it already, dipping into his own pocket to pay the team costs as they prepared for the Olympic Games in 2016.
Not many expect Nigeria to go beyond their best previous World Cup outing of the Round of 16. But if there is one thing that Mikel’s career has shown, it is that collecting trophies have become second nature.
His first World Cup tournament ended in a first-round exit, albeit by a drawing of lots. What odds that his last, where Nigeria faced Argentina, Iceland and Croatia, would finish at the other end of the spectrum?
&#8211; By Colin Udoh

FBL-OLY-2016-RIO-HON-NGR

Nigeria’s John Mikel Obi Counts Himself Lucky

It should have been the greatest day of his young life, instead it could have seen his last kick in international football and it hurts.
Nigeria was losing 2-0 at home to South Africa, with 33 minutes left, on November 19, 2014, in the Africa Cup of Nations at the Akwa Ibom Stadium. Off the bench came a young Sone Aluko, bristling with pace. In less than half an hour, he scored two goals; the second, deep into injury time, a rasping long range scorcher into the bottom corner.
Aluko was enjoying the best of times; he was a regular for his English Premier League club, Hull City, in the season it took its first crack at European football. Within six months of that performance Hull City went down, following a 0-0 draw against Manchester United; with them went Aluko’s World Cup hopes for Russia 2018.
The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) wants all its internationals to play top-flight football. Overnight Aluko found himself in wilderness.
There was hope, in 2016, as Hull City went back up to the Premier League, but Aluko, a key player in the promotion drive, was released by the club days after sealing promotion. He moved, on a free transfer, to London club Fulham. Despite a dashing season on the wing for Fulham, in which he scored goals and racked up 10 assists, the club fell at the play-offs and remain rooted in England’s second tier – the Championship.
A move to Reading, also mired in the Championship, means, Aluko stays chained to the second tier. He believes many Nigerians want him in the squad and feels the coach and the Nigeria Football Federation should reconsider.
“They need to review that rule – you can play if you are in the top league in Greece or Belgium but if you play in the Championship, a better quality league, you can’t play. It doesn’t make any sense,” says Aluko, across the table of a London restaurant.
“If I get promoted with Reading it could make me an outside bet, but people in Nigeria are saying I should be in the squad. I have not ruled it out, I could go, and they could make an exception for me. I want to go to the World Cup, everyone does. It is all a player dreams about.”
Think again, says Amaju Pinnick the President of the NFF.
“The NFF is not responsible for making the selection of who joins the team. That is the decision of the coach. I know the story of Sone but unfortunately we have just qualified and we want to focus on the good news moving forward, so the coach will not be available for comment,” he says.
“It is the coach that selects, not the federation, even though they have some sway in the decision but ultimately it is the call of the coach. But, yes, Sunday Oliseh who was the previous coach said he likes to pick players from the top division and I think most coaches in Nigeria want players who are playing at the highest level and the very best in the world rather than those playing in the lower divisions. Most European coaches like Gernot Rohr will not admit it but I think that is the case. An additional criterion, which Rohr has also added which you can see by his selection, is that he is trying to lower the average age of the players to 23 years, except for the likes of John Mikel Obi, Leon Balogun and the goalkeeper… So on these two key criteria, Aluko unfortunately falls outside. He is not in the top division and he also happens to be 28 years. I would pick him in a heartbeat, but unfortunately I am not the coach,” says Colin Udoh, a sports journalist in Nigeria.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/10/11/winner-defied-death-fights-holy-grail/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Winner Who Defied Death Fights For The Holy Grail</a>
Outrageous fortune has left this attacking winger facing every gifted athlete’s nightmare – the prospect of being a nearly man.
Aluko was born to Nigerian emigres Daniel and Sileola Aluko in Hounslow, near London. His father went back to Lagos after a year where he became a senator and ended up a director at energy company Chevron. His mother stuck it out in England, where she qualified as a nurse, before launching her own health services company near where the family eventually settled in Kings Norton, in Birmingham.
It appeared that everything the young Aluko touched – be it tennis ball or a football – turned to gold. At the age of eight he was scoring goals for fun for Kings Heath Concorde in the Birmingham South League. This drew scouts from Birmingham City who signed him up on the spot. By the time he was 11 he also had ambitions to be tennis pro as he played for Warwickshire along with future Wimbledon star Dan Evans.  He seemed an all-rounder born to shine.
But professional football proved a struggle for Aluko, for all his courage, control and pace, because of a string of setbacks and bizarre ill luck.
Aluko was living his dream as a bright young 16-year-old warming up on the touchline, in the colors of Birmingham City, before 37,000 fans at Arsenal’s Highbury home. He was about to go on as a substitute, against Kolo Touré, Cesc Fabregas and Robert Pirès, to become one of the youngest players in Premier League history.
“I was still warming up when Kenny Cunningham got sent off, so I never came on,” he says with a smile.
Aluko had to wait until he was 18 to make his debut for Birmingham City’s first team, in a 2-1 win over Hereford United; a week later he went on a loan to Aberdeen that proved a purple patch. Three happy years, a taste of European football and 100 first team games.
“I had my first flat in Aberdeen and heard the fans sing my name for the first time,” he says. He also made it into the England under -19 team alongside some talented players: Andy Carroll, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott. He had a spell at Glasgow Rangers, in Scotland, before finally making it into the Premier League with Hull City.
Again, cruel fate took a hand. Seven games into the Premier League he was jogging across the pitch in a warm-up, before a game against Sunderland, when his Achilles snapped. He was stuck on the treatment bed and in the gym until January.
“It was a frustrating first year,” he says.
By then, on the international front, he had long made the switch from England to the land of his African ancestors.
“We grew up on Nigerian food and in my house the music was always Michael Jackson and Fela Kuti,”says Aluko.
“It was like a build-up, newspaper articles asking would I play for Nigeria. They contacted me through an official at the NFF and he asked me if I would be interested. Then I spoke to my family about it; then I thought about Jay-Jay Okocha and [Nwankwo] Kanu in the World Cup in 1998. That generation was the golden generation; my dream as a kid was to play for the Super Eagles. When I was at Hull, I almost took the number 44 jersey because [Okocha] wore it, but I decided at the last minute to plough my own furrow.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/08/08/day-football-crossed-business/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: The Day Football Crossed To Business </a>
The winger never looked back and was always cheered by supporters wherever the Super Eagles played.
“Everywhere, from Malawi to Congo-Brazzaville, there were always 500 Nigerians at the airport to greet us, even at one o’clock in the morning!” says Aluko.
<div id="attachment_34552" style="width: 511px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34552" class=" wp-image-34552" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Sonny-Aluko-Ambassadors-Cup-e1511944310894-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="501" height="332" />Sonny Aluko takes a selfie with the players at the Ambassador&#8217;s Cup, which he sponsors. (Photo supplied)</div>
The latter country also gave Aluko a taste of the ugly side of African football.
“After 85 minutes we scored our second goal to go 2-0 up. The crowd started throwing stones onto the pitch, the linesman ran across the pitch, police came in with tear gas that left our eyes and nose running. We played the last five minutes in an empty stadium.”
Aluko survived that day and is putting money into grassroots football in Africa. For the last three years he has sponsored the Ambassador’s Cup, in Nigeria, contested by under-16 sides. He hopes the Nigerian coach and the NFF will be equally magnanimous.

The Grounded Super Eagle Who Wants To Fly To The Next World Cup

There was a time when the phrases ‘throw like a girl’ or ‘run like a girl’ were considered insults. These days, they’re not; especially not if you are a member of the South African women’s cricket team.
They are the only African side to have qualified for the Women’s World Cup, which is being played in England now. Their presence is a result of steady progression which has peaked over the last three years thanks to increased corporate backing and a more structured cricket program and could show the rest of the continent how rich the rewards of investing in women’s sport can be.
Four years ago, the South African women&#8217;s game was managed in much the same way as an amateur competition, where the main reward for involvement was enjoyment. Things started to change in early 2013. Financial institution Momentum had just bought the naming rights to the men&#8217;s one-day international squad and the domestic one-day cup and expressed an interest in extending their sponsorship to the women, a property that was not up for sale at the time.
“When we became involved in cricket sponsorship, it was with the intention of getting our brand out here but we also wanted to leave a legacy which showcased our values; things like diversity and gender equality,” says Danie van den Burgh, head of Momentum to FORBES WOMAN AFRICA.
“We saw an opportunity in women’s cricket and asked Cricket SA but they told us it was not something they were considering getting a sponsor for because they hadn’t had anyone interested. We wanted to get involved so we made them an offer and from there it just snowballed.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/06/20/forbes-africa-cover-revealed-owner-new-t20-global-league-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes Africa cover revealed as owner of new T20 Global League team</a>
Momentum’s money made an immediate impact. Cricket SA could employ a full-time women’s coach, Hilton Moreeng, and awarded six players professional contracts. A year later that number was increased to 14, which meant that a full squad was being paid for their efforts. The effects on the field were immense.
In October 2014, the South African women’s team made their first trip to Sri Lanka – and crucial because that country would also host the World Cup qualifiers three years later – and won. Then, they traveled to India and the United Arab Emirates, notoriously difficult places for teams to tour, and won series against both India and Pakistan. Although the South African women could not repeat those feats at home in the full series against the powerhouses of England and West Indies, they made gains by beating both sides in a single match for the first time. Victories over Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe followed to confirm South Africa’s presence as one of the better sides in the women&#8217;s game and prepare them for what Moreeng hopes will be a successful World Cup.
<blockquote>“We are very excited and proud, especially when we look at where we came from and the amount of work we put in. From Momentum coming on board, to players becoming professional, the number of series we played, and the opportunities to play cricket against top teams in the world and test our skills,” he says.</blockquote>
“This team have been playing together for the last three years so the growth and the maturity of the squad is very good. Performances around the world have been very good. They are a team that travels well and can win away from home.”
England is a challenging destination for touring teams because of conditions. The ball swings early on but South Africa’s women have the resources to deal with that. The top-ranked bowler in the world, Marizanne Kapp, is in their squad, along with four other players who participated in a T20 tournament in the United Kingdom last year.
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Captain Dane van Niekerk, batsman Lizelle Lee and fast bowler Shabnim Ismail, all played for English teams in the Kia Super League – a monetized event similar to the Indian Premier League – last year. Accompanying them to the World Cup are youngsters like Laura Wolvaardt, an 18-year-old who already has a century to her name, and Raisibe Ntozakhe, an offspinner who made her debut in the series directly producing the World Cup and began playing cricket as a six-year-old with boys.
The balance of experience and youth and their common drive is what Van Niekerk hopes will set them apart. “We’ve got a purpose as a team and that’s to win a World Cup. It’s been a long and grueling process to get to this but we all bought into it,” she says.
Moreover, the team have plenty of people they want to impress, not least because they will receive an unprecedented level of coverage. All South Africa’s matches at the Women’s World Cup will be televised on pay channel SuperSport, a massive upsurge considering that the first time they ever appeared on a live broadcast was in 2014.
<blockquote>“It’s awesome to be able to share this with the country. It’s really special for our families because we can’t always get them to other countries so for them to be able to watch one of the biggest tournaments of our careers is really touching,” says Van Niekerk.</blockquote>
South Africa’s increased efforts in promoting the women’s game are a reflection of a changing global trend. At the macro-level, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has realized women’s sport deserves more attention and is providing it. Prize money for the Women&#8217;s World Cup has increased ten-fold from $200,000 in 2013 to $2 million this year.
“This is the first step towards greater parity and recognition. The change will not happen overnight but the women’s game is crucial to the global growth of cricket,” says ICC CEO Dave Richardson.
For Cricket SA’s general manager Corrie van Zyl, a massive monetary incentive like that could help convince more women to take up the game and to realize there’s great pride to be taken in throwing and running like a girl.
“It shows them that cricket can become a career,” he says. Touche! &#8211; Written by Firdose Moonda

On A Good Wicket Now

The 2016 European Championship is set to light up the northern hemisphere summer as the continent’s best battle for what is the second biggest prize in world football.
A new, expanded format will see the number of teams compete in France raised from 16 to 24, providing more football for the watching world and more opportunities for players with African roots to shine.
It is a great irony that at the highest level of European football, many teams will rely heavily on players of African descent for success.
Some were born in Africa, while others have ties to the continent through their immigrant parents, but have decided to wear the colors of the country in which they were raised.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4956" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_357656396-urbanbuzz-Shutterstock.com_-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" />
Many were cast into European life when their families fled violence, poverty and famine, and have little or no feeling towards a continent that they have not lived in. But this is not the case for all.
The reality for many players is that the chances of being successful in a World Cup are greater with a European nation, and the financial rewards far outweigh those of competing for an African team.
It has not been an easy decision for many players and some have faced prejudice for it in the land of their birth.
Such has been the success of players of African descent in France that in 2011 reports emerged that a quota of no more than 30% black players would be allowed in academies feeding into the national team. This caused outrage, and was denied by the French Football Federation, but shows the influence of the African player on the European game.
France’s strong ties to West and North Africa make it an obvious leader in this arena, but players of African descent are popping up in the national teams of Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Sweden.
Veteran French defender Patrice Evra will likely have his international swansong at the Championships on home soil, despite being born in Dakar to a Senegalese father and Cape Verdean mother. He reveals how his decision to play for France, where he spent much of his formative years, made him a target back in Senegal.
“I grew up amid a Senegalese culture at home,” he told reporters. “But we became westernized very quickly and when I had to choose between playing for Senegal or France my father told me to follow my heart.”
“I opted for France, as that was where I had grown up, but I then came in for lots of abuse in Senegal. I was called a monkey who grovels before the white man and labelled a money-obsessed traitor to the nation. But my parents helped me get through it.”
His national teammate, goalkeeper Steve Mandanda, was born in Kinshasa but turned his back on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to play for France.
That, ironically, allowed his brother Parfait, who was born in France and is also a goalkeeper, to play international football for the DRC.
Stade Rennes winger Paul-Georges Ntep is part of the latest generation, seen as a rising star of French football but was born in Cameroon. He moved to Paris at the age of eight to live with an aunt and turned down numerous overtures from the Indomitable Lions to play for them before he was awarded his first French cap last year.
Another player also chased for a long time was Leicester City midfielder N’Golo Kanté, who was born in Paris to Malian parents. He admits he chose France purely for the opportunity to play in the European Championships.
“It’s a chance to play the Euro in France,” he said. “Regarding Mali, for a while, it’s true they contacted me. It was not necessarily an easy choice to make. But I chose the France team.”
It is likely that as much as 60% of France’s squad at Euro 2016 will be made up of players either born in, or with parents from, Africa.
Belgium, who are perhaps the most open of all European nations to immigrants, have seen their national team briefly perched on top of the FIFA World Rankings this year with a meteoric rise on the back of, it’s fair to say, their players of African descent.
Star striker Romelu Lukaku was born in Belgium where his father Roger, a Zaire international, was playing. His brother Jordan also plays for Belgium.
Lukaku’s major rival for a starting place in the Belgium line-up is Christian Benteke, who was born in Kinshasa but whose family fled to Belgium during the reign of Mobutu Sese Seko.
The same can be said for the parents of Vincent Kompany, who, injury-willing, will be leading Belgium at the finals, while Divock Origi, like Benteke a forward at Liverpool, was born in Belgium where his father Mike, a Kenyan international, was playing for KV Oostende.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4955" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/shutterstock_34525438-Jaggat-Rashidi-Shutterstock.com_-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />
Origi had seriously considered a future with Kenya even as his star was on the rise in Europe, but in the end a mixture of factors drove him towards playing for Belgium.
“I remember at that time there was some stand-off between the league and federation. He read about that stuff and it really put him off,” his father Mike told journalists.
“But obviously there were other issues, like playing at the Euros or World Cup for a big national team in Europe.”
“Nevertheless, Divock is a Kenyan with a Belgium passport. He speaks fluent Kiswahili, comes to Kenya often and enjoys Kenyan food the most.”
Tottenham Hotspur youngster Dele Alli, the toast of English football, has a Nigerian father Kenny, who claims his son is actually a prince in the Yoruba tribe that makes up about 20% of the country’s population.
Another young English star, Ross Barkley of Everton, has a Nigerian grandfather and was courted by that country before pinning his colours to the England mast.
Experienced Swiss international Johan Djourou, born in the Ivory Coast, says he feels lucky to have “escaped” playing for an African nation, even if he feels strong roots in the land of his birth.
“When you are in Africa there are a lot more difficulties and I was lucky enough to escape that. Other players like [Ivory Coast internationals] Emmanuel Eboué and Kolo Touré have made it through there but when you are European you have more options.”
Not all players born in Europe have opted to represent countries from that continent though. The likes of Borussia Dortmund star Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Yannick Bolasie (DRC) and the toast of European football, Leicester City playmaker Riyad Mahrez (Algeria), have all chosen to represent the land of their parents despite being born outside of those countries.

Born Here  playing there

The end of a World Cup also signals the start of a new cycle for football associations around the globe, who tend to do their planning in four-year blocks.
It usually heralds a time of change for many sides, both on the playing field as some veteran stars choose to hang up their boots having had one last shot at glory, and in the dugout.
Some exits are inevitable &#8211; there was simply no way that Luiz Felipe Scolari could stay on as Brazil coach after the manner in which the host nation ended their tournament &#8211; while others may come as more of a surprise.
Football associations want to give themselves as long as possible to plan for the next World Cup, first for the qualifiers and then hopefully the finals, so it is sensible to make changes immediately after a tournament.
But, it is not only the men in suits that make the decisions. Sometimes the coach decides to step down, either because he feels he has taken the side as far as he can, or is after a different challenge having achieved the pinnacle of leading a side at the World Cup.
It also depends at which point the squad is in its development. A team can have many aging stars and the current coach, maybe more used to working with experienced players, might not be the best person to rejuvenate it.
At the other end of the scale, you have a side like England. The country’s first round exit in Brazil would normally be considered a disaster for the proud footballing nation who expects to be vying for ultimate footballing glory.
But, the current England team is very young and is building towards the 2018 tournament in Russia. With this in mind, the coach, Roy Hodgson, has been allowed to continue his work despite their embarrassing early flight home.
The English FA believe, despite the insipid performances in Brazil, that Hodgson is the best person to help nurture and develop this team into what they hope will be a force in Russia and perhaps Qatar in 2022 as well.
Football associations do sometimes bow to public pressure. When a coach has lost the faith of the fans, they will act.
But they should also understand that football teams are often a work in progress and a coach should be given the opportunity to finish what he has started, unless results are so bad that it is clear he is taking the team along the wrong path.
There are many factors to consider and they involve the players at his disposal, such as how the coach interacts with his players, do they respond to him and do his ideas suit the players in his squad.
National associations don’t sack coaches because they didn’t win the World Cup, I think they do it because they feel something is not working within the team.
Football can be cruel and a team’s failure to win can sometimes be out of the coach’s hands. This happened to Louis van Gaal when Netherlands were ousted on penalties in the semifinals.
He was always destined to leave his post after this tournament; that was already decided by the Dutch FA last year. I doubt there is anybody who blames Van Gaal for the team’s failure to lift the trophy.
So as things change around the world, in Africa it is no different. It is remarkable how swiftly the landscape changes in just a matter of weeks. Of the five African teams that participated at the World Cup, two already have new coaches.
Christian Gourcuff had been waiting in the wings at Algeria, even before Brazil. It was obvious that Vahid Halilhodzic wanted out and would not be persuaded to stay on.
Not even a presidential appeal for him to stay could sway Halilhodzic, who rapidly progressed from being the object of media scorn to a national hero by taking Algeria past the first round for the first time, and ensuring a honorable World Cup exit as they took eventual champions Germany to extra time.
Gourcuff’s appointment will further strengthen French ties with the Algerians.
Herve Renard, another Frenchman and a man I know well, is the new coach of Ivory Coast. He was swiftly chosen from a five-man shortlist after the Ivorian Football Federation had made the unusual step of publicly calling for candidates to replace Sabri Lamouchi.
Lamouchi’s tenure with the Ivorian team was always going to be in doubt after the World Cup, even if they had not been so unlucky and gone on to play in the second round. His relationship with influential players like Didier Drogba was fractured.
Renard was the coach of Zambia when they edged the Ivorians to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations title in Gabon, a tournament in which the Mighty Elephants did not concede a single goal and yet did not pick up the trophy. There lies the problem for any coach. You can have the best plans, but you still rely on the players to execute.
While I am delighted for Renard, his appointment did come at a cost to Zambia. The country’s coach, Patrice Beaumelle, who was Renard’s assistant when he was in charge of Chipolopolo, left to join his old boss in West Africa. It is disappointing, but it offers an opportunity for someone else to step in and make their mark.
In the month since the World Cup final, there have also been coaching changes for Gabon, Niger, South Africa, Kenya and Togo.
Despite their very disappointing showing in Brazil, Cameroon have stuck with German coach Volker Finke, although he has been under fire in the country. He is insisting he sees out his contract, which still has nine months to run.
It means there will be little time for the new men in charge to prepare, as the qualification matches for the 2015 African Cup of Nations begin on September 5.
When you are a coach, the pressure never lets up.

The Sacking Cycle

<ol>
<li>
<h3>Is enough attention being given to women’s football?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
It is increasingly getting attention and a lot of great work by players and stakeholders of women’s soccer has contributed to this, but it is still nowhere near the popularity of men’s soccer. Hopefully, the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 will get attention following this year’s FIFA World Cup Brazil, where there have been some interesting developments and unexpected results.
<ol start="2">
<li>
<h3>If you were to write an autobiography, what would you call it?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
I might call it My Life, My Time – This Is My One Shot. There’s a play on soccer words there. One of the passions born from the academic side of me has been to write, but I honestly believe we are here to live our lives with every moment and every opportunity presented to us to be great. There’s greatness in each and every one of us, and you just have to find your passion, because that’s the key that will unlock your greatness. You have one life that you’re living right now; you owe it to yourself and find that passion to unlock who you can be.
<ol start="3">
<li>
<h3>What is more interesting – team talks or business meetings?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
There is always a game plan and passion in both, and both can be equally interesting. However, team talks are more entertaining, especially with people who have been in your life for so long you consider them family.
<ol start="4">
<li>
<h3>Ever met a guy intimidated by your soccer skills?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
Maybe one [who was] intimidated by my fearless defending skills, because I couldn’t care whether you are male or female. I am there to do my job and to the best of my ability. However, maybe that should be answered by some of the guys’ teams that we’ve played against – including my husband’s team. I have seen girls give guys ‘eShibobos’ (where they push a ball through the opposition’s legs) and delivered great shots to the back of the net. There’s a lesson in life for both men and women – never underestimate your opponent.
<ol start="5">
<li>
<h3>Have you ever had a female coach?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
Not in soccer. Men are dominant in this area. There are a few rising stars in South Africa doing great work coaching our future generation of female footballers, such as Banyana Banyana captain and central defender Janine Van Wyk.
<ol start="6">
<li>
<h3>Would you wear pink soccer boots?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
I have never owned a pair, but a lot of players do wear them and I’m indifferent about the color of my boots. I am more about practicality over style – I need boots to get the job done in the comfort that I need. I tend to go with boots that match my kit though.
<ol start="7">
<li>
<h3>What are you more comfortable in – your corporate attire or soccer kit?</h3>
</li>
</ol>
My soccer kit. It comes with great accessories – my teammates and coach as well as the support of my husband and great friends and family.

FWA-2014-Aug-Sep-096-Nicole-de-Matos-001

7 Questions With…

South Africa’s national rugby team are the pace-setters of the game on the continent. They are physically imposing, tactically uncompromising and all-round fearsome. And that is only the men.
The Springboks have taken home two World Cups and advanced out of the group stage at every World Cup they have participated in. Their female counterparts have not been quite as successful in trophy terms but in October, will turn out at their third consecutive World Cup. They will be the only African team in attendance and are serious about representing the continent better than ever before.
In 2006, the Springbok women did not win any of their five matches and finished 12th. Four years later, despite suffering hefty defeats to New Zealand and Australia, they beat Wales twice to end in ninth position. This time, they are targeting the quarterfinals.
“I believe we have the resources to achieve this,” says Mandisa Williams, the captain of the women’s team.
Since the last time the squad competed at a global event, the way their sport is run has changed for the better. In January, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) contracted 15 female players for the first time in its history. The contracts run from five to 12 months. In February, they appointed former Springbok prop Lawrence Sephaka as coach and in March, they unveiled an extensive plan to prepare the team for the World Cup.
South Africa named a strong 26-woman squad for the World Cup which included seven players who turned out at the 2010 tournament and four who played both then and in 2006. In preparation for this month’s competition, they held a training in camp in Pretoria in June and traveled to London and France for warm-up matches. All those measures have been put in place to make sure they are as ready as they can be.
“A lot of effort has been put into our preparation for this World Cup. We have had help from world-class coaches such as former Springbok flyhalf Louis Koen, former French prop Pieter de Villiers, highly-rated defence coach Jacques Nienaber and forward specialist Chean Roux, who have been working closely with us to improve our skills and technique,” says Williams.
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The specialist coaching is an attempt to bridge the gap between South Africa and the rest, especially European and Australasian sides who have had a head start in developing women’s rugby.
“They have a regular international window in which they compete with other sides and some of those countries introduce women’s rugby as early as school level,” says coach Sephaka.
If the same could happen in South Africa, Williams believes the women’s game would grow even more. “South Africa needs to adopt structures where we have school and club leagues and where female teachers or coaches are empowered and monitored regularly because in the future we will need women to coach women,” says Williams.
While South Africa are at the point where they can examine their grassroots structures, other African countries can barely support a national team. “Unfortunately most other African countries are still far behind in terms of their women’s rugby teams, which is a huge crisis,” says Williams.
Uganda and Kenya are the other two sides that were in contention for the World Cup but neither came close to qualifying. Uganda beat Kenya to reach a playoff with South Africa and it was then that the stark differences between them and the Springboks emerged. While South Africa readied for the match with a tour to Colorado, in which they played women’s university teams, the Ugandan women had to prepare by competing against men’s club teams in their own country.
Red Pepper newspaper reported that Uganda’s training suffered because of lack of finances. “Uganda Rugby Union is broke and cannot afford to pay for other teams to come to Uganda for build up matches, neither can they finance the teams’ preparations to Europe,” wrote Stephen Muneza in an article in July 2013.
The match took place in September, and South Africa won 63-3 but Williams believed the margin was harsh on Uganda.
“Uganda has really improved as a team in the last five years. They have players willing to put their bodies on the line during matches and they have a fantastic fighting spirit. Uganda can easily destruct opponents’ style of play,” says Williams.
Uganda’s women’s rugby, like women’s sporting codes throughout the continent, faces more than just monetary challenges but also ones that stem from lack of publicity
and awareness.
“Female sporting codes across the board face the same challenges. We do not receive a lot of recognition and support and we do not play matches as regularly as we would like to. Women’s rugby events are also not televized often, so it makes it tough to attract more women to participate in the sport,” says Williams.
However, incentives to play rugby are growing. Not only is the World Cup a regular feature but in 2016, women’s rugby will be played at the Olympic Games. Africa would love to have some of its teams represented there.

Elite Womens Springboks Sevens team media open day

Springbok Women  Step It Up For Big Game

The rain hammered down on Maputo, as if in protest, the night the Sacred Monster died. It squalled in from the dark and rough waters of the Indian Ocean, on gusts of wind, as Mozambique mourned. It should have been gentle rain, like tears in the night, but Mario Coluna would have appreciated this mighty show of natural force over the land of his birth; after all, it was natural power and uncanny force, born in Africa, that drove the Sacred Monster to a hallowed place in world football.
Coluna could hold any football crowd in the palm of his hand; outwit any opposition in his head and launch rockets with his boots. His explosive acceleration and body strength often overpowered the world’s finest players.
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On this night, February 25, after a heart attack, Coluna lay in peace at a Maputo hospital close to the streets where he learnt the game with his father’s socks tied into a ball. He was 78, 44 years since he stopped playing, and remains one of the most determined and skilful Africans ever to lace up a pair of football boots. In this age of hyperbole, peopled by overpaid and overrated players; Coluna was a man who wore modestly the word great. His country gave him a state funeral on February 28 and declared it a public holiday.
“It is not easy to say goodbye to someone whose life was among the greatest,” Luis Filipe Viera, the president of Benfica, told the club’s official website.
“Someone whose life path is unique and whose legacy will endure far beyond him. It is said that we are born equal. Untrue! Coluna was born different, for the better, much better.”
The Portuguese journalists called him the Sacred Monster—O Monstro Sagrado—because he was both terrifying and beautiful with the ball at his feet. He helped Benfica win 10 league titles and the European Cup twice; scoring in the victories over Barcelona in 1961 and Real Madrid the following year.
The win to retain the trophy, in Amsterdam in 1962, was as much an African triumph as a European one. In goal was Alberto da Costa Pereira, from Nacala in Mozambique, the captain Jose Aguas, born in Lobito, Angola, along with Coluna and Eusebio from Maputo. Players born and bred in Africa had a hand in all five goals as Benfica came back from 2-0 down to win 5-3.
On that May evening, as Coluna smashed in a goal from 25 yards to make it 4-3, hundreds of his countrymen were listening, also far from home. In the camps in the bush of southern Tanzania, hundreds of guerrilla fighters for FRELIMO—the newly formed liberation movement for Mozambique—crowded around the radio. One of them was founder member and future president Joaquim Chissano.
“We were divided. Some of us felt Coluna was bringing glory to our country, Mozambique. Others thought he was bringing glory to our colonizers, Portugal,” says Chissano at his Maputo home, the day after Coluna died.
“He was a true leader, he was always more concerned how the team was playing rather than how he was playing. When he retired, he brought his skills back to Mozambique to help build the game here. He was truly a great man.”
Coluna played for Benfica from 1954 to 1970 and when he retired Lev Yashin, Bobby Moore, the World Cup winning captain of England, Bobby Charlton, Uwe Seeler, George Best and Denis Law played at his testimonial in Lisbon.
Coluna was born in Maputo to a Mozambique mother and Portuguese father. His father was a goalkeeper and football fanatic, who died in the stands of a heart attack while watching the club he helped to found, now known as Desportivo de Maputo. Coluna’s precocious talent shone at Desportivo and Benfica scouts spotted him and flew him to Lisbon. He played 677 times, scoring 150 goals, for Benfica. In 1966, he captained one of the greatest sides ever to play for Portugal. They called them the Magricos—the magicians—and among them were four players from Mozambique: Coluna; Eusebio; Vicente and Hilario. This talented team should have been world champions, but suffered when the semi-final was switched, at the last minute, from Liverpool to London. The Portuguese emerged exhausted from an overnight train journey and lost 2-1 to England, the eventual winners.
I was in Maputo the night the great man died. It was almost five years to the day since I was privileged to be invited into his quiet Maputo home for an interview. He was looking frail then, but I was struck by the sure-footed confidence of an athlete. I was also struck by his gentlemanly demeanor and piercing blue eyes that would smile and then flash a steely glint; just to let you know that if you faced him on a football field you wouldn’t stand a chance.
Coluna told me he played football when men were men and referees were lenient. He rolled up his trouser leg to show me an ugly criss-cross scar—a painful souvenir of a crunching tackle in Rome in the 1960s that hastened the end of his career. The defender didn’t even get a caution.
Even though they drew the crowds, the players then were paid a pittance. Coluna, a handsome gentleman, who always wore a debonair pencil moustache, would these days have made a fortune from modeling clothes.
The top players of today earn more in a month than Coluna earned in his entire career. Coluna eked out his final years on a Benfica pension, but was never bitter.
“If players are making money for the football clubs, by getting fans through the turnstiles, why shouldn’t they get good money?” Coluna asked me on that hot February afternoon in Maputo.
Money was never the spur for Coluna. In 1975, when many of his talented generation, like Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, headed to New York for the riches of the new National American Soccer League, Coluna went home. He coached Text Chimoio, a club in a small town near the border with Zimbabwe, to the first football championship of an independent Mozambique. Years later, he ran a football academy, became the head of the country’s football association as well as an MP. At the age of 74, Coluna was campaigning for Portugal to prepare in Mozambique for the 2010 World Cup over the border in South Africa, arguing that the countries shared climate and language.
Portugal ignored Coluna’s pleas and sadly the football world, to an extent, ignored his legacy and talent. I think it is a crime that the name Coluna is often forgotten in world lit by a mere mention of the name Eusebio. Both players carried the banner for African football in Europe; only one returned.
Even sadder is that, in the space of a month, both African legends have gone. Television money and the globalized game mean we will see the like of their talent again, but few African geniuses will shine so brightly and labor so hard, for so little. When African footballers everywhere lace up their boots they should think of two names for inspiration: Coluna and Eusebio, two legends, who dared to dream, from Maputo, Mozambique.

A Storm To Mourn  The Sacred Monster

Francois Pienaar holding aloft the William Webb Ellis trophy. Graeme Smith clutching the ICC Test mace. Cameron van der Burgh grinning proudly, gold medal between his teeth, after setting a new world record in the breaststroke.
These are some of South Africa’s most memorable sporting moments. They happen at world cups, at Olympic Games and when a team reaches the top of the world rankings. And South Africa’s national women’s hoc-key side want one of their own.
They compete in the Africa Nations Cup in Nairobi this month, a competition they have won for the past five years. This time, however, victory will be only the beginning of a far more important mission. The top two teams in the tournament will progress to next year’s World Cup in Holland – and it’s there that the South Africans want to make their mark.
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Previously, the team’s success in Africa has not translated into similar achievements on the global stage. South Africa’s best finish in a World Cup is seventh place, and that was 15 years ago. But the steady progress they have made recently holds the promise of a stronger showing this year.
“We’ve been at this process for three years. And now we’re looking for the results to show it,” says Sanani Mangisa, the team’s first choice goalkeeper.
Since 2010, the team have been under the tutorship of Giles Bonnet, a former player for the national men’s side and, with almost three decades’ experience, a renowned coach. When he took over, Bonnet vowed to turn South Africa into a top-six country, a challenge he acknowledged; the team were ranked 12th in the world at the time.
Mangisa describes Bonnet as the best coach she has worked with, because he has “brought a new level of skills to the unit, to make sure we are technically better”.
Bonnet’s secret weapons are camps in China, where he has established close relationships with the hockey elite. He has a deal to use facilities in the Lüshunkou District in the south, where a world class facility has recently been built at a cost of $19.3 million.
“It’s a place where we can really be tested and all areas of weakness are highlighted,” he explains.
After a training camp in June, the team played in a world hockey league tournament in London, which did not end well. South Africa finished seventh out of eight teams.
“We need to close the gap between ourselves and European teams,” Mangisa says.
Bonnet agrees, and points out that hockey is “big business” in Europe. “Each team has many specialist coaches and support staff to assist in creating the perfect environment.”
The geography allows for inter-national competition to take place frequently. Some South African players have tried to ply their trade overseas to gain experience. Pietie Coetzee, perhaps the country’s best-known hockey player, spent some time in the Netherlands in 2007.
But Mangisa says getting a contract in Europe is not easy, and language barriers make it a lonely experience. There is an upside, however: “The big advantage is the salaries. You can live off being a player there.” The same cannot be said for South Africa, where many members of the national team try to hold down jobs while they are in training.
“I think that’s why we see many players coming through while they’re still at university. I did a three-year degree over five years so I could concentrate on my hockey as well,” Mangisa explains.
She was still a student when she was chosen for the Olympic team in 2008. South Africa finished the tournament in 11th place. Four years later, she was part of the squad that went to London. That year South Africa went one better and finished in 10th spot.
But Mangisa would like to see them get within reach of a medal in Rio. She believes the maturity of the squad could help them punch above their weight.
“We’ve taken juniors with us on tours, even if they are just part of the squad and don’t play, so they can get a feel for the unit and how we work. The big feeder system is from the universities and we’ve seen now, the under-21 team has done very well,” she points out.
South Africa’s women’s under-21 side finished eighth in the junior World Cup. That bodes well for a strong Nations Cup, World Cup and then Olympics. The country’s women’s sides have consistently outperformed their male counterparts at the Olympics, even if it is by finishing one place higher, as they did in London last year.
Mangisa admits the women’s results do not have as much to do with girl power as they do with a packed schedule.
“It’s about the amount of international hoc-key we play compared to the men’s team. We go to a lot more tournaments in a year because we have the money to do that, through our sponsor.”
Where other corporates may view women’s sport as a commodity best kept at arm’s length, Investec saw an opportunity.
“It is a commercially uncluttered market. The quality of sport is high and sportswomen have enabled us to appeal to a wider audience and engage in benefits not typically offered by men’s sporting codes,” explains Investec’s Janet Larson.
The sponsorship agreement does not set specific performance targets, however, Investec says it is satisfied that the team have “met their expectations over the past three years”. Their contract comes up for renewal at the end of the year and Larsen has confirmed that Investec is “in discussions regarding future opportunities”.

SA hockey team up their game

He sweated on English pitches, he sweated on African pitches; he broke records and won a World Cup, but on the proudest day of his life he stood in the middle of St Mary’s Stadium, the home ground of English Premier League side Southampton. It was the moment he was made honorary president of the club that he made 815 league appearances for.
Five minutes later, Terry Paine watched from the comfort of his comfy corporate seat as Southampton goalkeeper, Arthur Boric, dropped the ball in the penalty area causing a mad scramble. A few seconds later, a fan sent an SMS: ‘Mr President, change the f&#8212;ing goalkeeper’.
“Oh my God, what have I gotten myself into now?” thought Paine.
It’s all part of the rich tapestry that is being president of Southampton. This season, Paine will make a 13,000km journey, leaving his home in Rivonia, Johannesburg, at the crack of dawn on his way to a football match. He lands at Heathrow airport, then a chauffeur drives him to his seat in the stands. On match days, it’s his job to win the hearts of businesspeople in the corporate boxes.
“The nice thing is I can say, listen I want to go to the Liverpool game, and they automatically get me into the boardroom there. This is an inner sanctum where there is no media or public. You’d be surprised at what you learn there. It’s the heart of business now, sport goes out the window… and it’s all about survival,” he says.
It’s a fitting final chapter to a story that began 57 years ago, just an hour’s drive from Southampton. The club spotted him dazzling on the wing for Winchester City and signed him. In 1956, at the age of 17, Paine made his debut in professional football. A distinguished career led him to the 1966 World Cup, where Paine played against Mexico. The ball hit him in the face in an era when there were no substitutes. He was pulled off, slapped around and then told to get on with it. All Paine remembers is waking up on the physio table, in the changing room, after playing the whole game with concussion. England won 2-0 and Paine can’t remember a minute of it.
It is almost an understatement to say it was a different world back then. The tournament directors decided to give the 11 English winners £22,000 in prize money. The players divided the money equally within the 22-man-squad. It proved a 43-year wait for Paine’s medal. In those days only those who played in the final got a medal. In 2009, then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, handed over the medal.
“Nowadays you would expect a World Cup side, with all the spin-offs and sponsors, to collect £3-4 million,” says Paine.
In his latter years, Paine played for Hereford United and Cheltenham Town notching up 937 matches as a professional.
Paine fought for an end to the minimum wage in football, even though it came a bit too late for him. Paine watches over players, who will earn more in one afternoon than he would have seen in a lifetime in a world away from agents, mobile phones and modeling contracts.
When Paine started playing professionally he was paid £17 pounds a week. It was a pretty penny he says, compared to his father, who earned £3.50.
“My match bonuses were incredible; £1 for a draw and two for a win,” he says.
It was in the 1960s that Paine along with former Fulham player and head of the Professional Football Association, Jimmy Hill, urged players to strike for money. The problem was whether you played for Manchester United or Hartlepool United you could earn a pittance and no more.
“I remember Tommy Trinder, a famous comedian and chairman of Fulham Football Club, saying ‘I am going to pay our English captain Johnny Haynes £100 a week if it was lifted’. Well the day it was lifted Haynes came to collect. We were the pathfinders to where they are today,” says Paine.
Paine believes footballers deserve every penny they get. The problem he has is when clubs spend 90% of their money on players when they should be thinking about club finances.
“I think the guys in the Bundesliga have got it right. They open their books at the beginning of the season and declare how much they can spend. If a club does well like Bayern, they can spend €25 million, if they do badly they can only spend €15,000,” he says.
Paine also sees the wealthy generation of footballers as having lost that dash of old-school flair.
“Take South America for example and Brazil they are never going to be the side they were with Pele, pure and simple, because all the players when they used to play in South America, had the flavor of the Samba. Now they go and play in Europe, a little bit of that goes out. In some ways the game hasn’t quite got flair. It’s a good thing we got the Messi’s and the Ronaldo’s of today. But I don’t think there is the individual flair coming out of the players, in our day there seemed to be so many,” he says.
Paine’s career was forged in England and seasoned in Africa. His first taste of Africa was with the Bobby Charlton XI team, in 1979, where he played alongside England’s retired internationals including England World Cup winning captain, Bobby Moore. Paine says he will never forget walking onto the pitch at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto and seeing 80,000 screaming fans, with another 80,000 trying to jump the fence from outside. In those days he was blown away by the passion of the fans on the streets. On a minor note, he will never forget the R9 breakfast buffet in the Alengani Hotel in Durban, paid for by his £1-a-day budget.
Paine was captivated by Africa. He left Hereford United to coach South African amateur players with Robertsham Football Club in Johannesburg. He also had stints with Bedfordview Country Club, Witbank Black Aces and Wits University.
“Some of these guys were the best players I have ever seen, even better than in European leagues, all they needed was a bit of organization and they were unbeatable,” says Paine.
This is where football in Africa falls short he says. He was disappointed by African football at the FIFA 2010 World Cup.
“They have so much talent within their ranks they just can’t seem to get it together. It comes to organization and planning for the future. Ghana, Zambia and sides like them do produce players. It has been disappointing that they haven’t kicked on to win a World Cup,” he says.
Football has taken on a more professional approach since Paine’s day. In the very same place where he grew up playing Sunday 22-a-side matches, at King George V’s fields, is the Southampton Junior Academy.
In Paine’s day you were lucky if you got an orange at half time. These days, the young stars of England have their mouths swabbed by experts to see whether they are sick. Their shirts are washed in non-allergic soap. From the age of eight, players run out on a manicured pitch fit for Wembley.
Paine is adamant over certain aspects of the game. He thinks Manchester United’s George Best was better, by far, than Eric Cantona. When it comes to Africa, the best are: George Weah; Abedi Pele; Kalusha Bwalya; Roger Milla; Gary Bailey and Yaya Toure.
When he is at home, he likes hacking at golf balls and flicking through his memories in photographs and books. Most of his memorabilia has been given away or sold, he says. This includes his World Cup medal, which went on auction in 2011, where it sold for £25,000.
Since he became president of Southampton, the fan mail has flowed in to Rivonia. Many ask for an autograph, which Paine is happy to sign, but gripes a little about the R460 ($46) cost of sending them back. If you are a president and a legend it’s just another day—but what about that goalkeeper?

Change The F—ing Goalkeeper, Mr President

It is a hot and noisy afternoon in a house in Maputo, Mozambique, where around 50 people are celebrating a birthday. Most have one thing in common: they hail from the islands of Cape Verde—a nation with a mere 500,000 people, fewer than Soweto in Johannesburg. They drink Grogue and Ponche the tipple of their ancestors. On the table is Queijo de Cabra (goat cheese) and doce de côco (coconut candy with sweet jelly).
Mozambique is home to around 1,500 people from Cape Verde. Many were born here after their parents fled hard times decades ago. In 2012, they have had something to shout about as their team qualified, against the odds, for the African Cup of Nations in South Africa in January.
<div id="attachment_1491" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1491" class="size-medium wp-image-1491" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/000026743-300x202.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="202" />The Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace. North West Province. South Africa.</div>
One of the party-goers, Maria da Conceição Silva, came to Mozambique with her parents in 1948 when a drought in Cape Verde forced thousands to flee the island. Today she is the vice-president of the Associação Cabo-verdianos em Moçambique.
“The plan is to fill two machibombos [buses] with Cape Verdeans and friends of Cape Verdeans, and drive to the financial capital of South Africa,” she says.
“I did believe this would come one day and that it could have happened before, had it not been for the fact that many of Cape Verdeans’ sons living in Portugal choose to play for the Portuguese national team,” says another ex-patriate from Cape Verde.
The archipelago, just off the coast of Ghana, is made up of 10 islands. Most people live in the capital city, Praia. Cape Verde was ranked second in the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, an indication that the islands are well-run; it is backed by high literacy levels of 70% across the population.
The national team is called the Tubaroes Azul—Blue Sharks—and is coached by Lúcio Antunes, an air traffic controller who has taken leave to coach the team. The team is ranked 51 on the FIFA rankings—above South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon and Morocco.
Ninety percent of the players play in the lower leagues of Europe. The star players are 22-year-old Ryan Mendes who is in the books of Lille OSC in France and veteran striker Lito, who is based at Portimonense, a second division side in Portugal.
In Cape Verde, football plays second fiddle to basketball. A mere handful of fans waited until the wee hours to welcome the team at Nelson Mandela International Airport, in Praia, after their victory in Cameroon.
Cape Verde is not the only surprise qualifier. Known more for their long-distance runners, the sleeping giants, Ethiopia, have made it back to the tournament after 30 years. Ethiopian Ambassador to South Africa, Yeshimebrat Mersha, believes the nation is on its way to reclaim their rightful place.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-1489" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/dreamstime_m_15698047-300x201.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="201" />
“Ethiopia was one of the strongest football nations previously. We are really happy that we are back on track. This is the result of the development plans by the government and good organization by the football federation,” Mersha says.
“We have high expectations for the cup and are ready for the matches. The fans are eager to watch the matches and some of them will travel from Ethiopia to support the team.”
Africa’s second most-populous nation, with 85 million people, had become conspicuous by its absence. Ethiopia was a founding member of the Nations Cup when they were part of the group of nations that formed the Confederation of African football (CAF) in 1957 in Khartoum, Sudan.
The Walya Antelopes are coached by Sewnet Bishaw and have two powerful strikers. Former Orlando Pirates player Fikru Tefera is a bustling striker any defender will struggle to handle. The man to watch is Saladin Seid, who scored the first goal in the final qualifier match against Sudan. He is currently in the books of Wadi Degla in the Egyptian Premier League who paid $200,000 for him.
Neither of the nations is expected to win the tournament ahead of the likes of Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast and defending champions Zambia. It will not be too much of a surprise if they cause an upset or two. After all, they did not make it to the continent’s premier football competition by sheer luck alone. Be afraid, be very afraid.
<div id="attachment_1492" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1492" class="size-medium wp-image-1492" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/98632409-300x203.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="203" />Stadium</div>

Cape Where?

The first ever World Cup on African soil brought the whole continent together. Africa was finally able to showcase its beauty to the rest of the world. The passion, vibe and pure energy were beyond all imagination. People took to the streets, sang through the cold winter nights and the world was introduced to the vuvuzela. Who could ever forget it?
The international football governing body, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), once said: “Brazil is football”. So it’s hard to think that the country synonymous with the beauty of football could be struggling to put on such a huge event in the sporting world. Is it true? Are the Brazilians more concerned with lifting the cup for the sixth time than putting together a spectacular event?
Brazil is the only team to have qualified for all the World Cups and has won it: in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. The country last hosted the World Cup in 1950 and is currently ranked 13th by FIFA, Spain and Germany are ranked first and second respectively.
The excitement of a World Cup at the home of legends has been tainted by allegations of corruption and reports that construction was far behind schedule and over budget.
When news of Delta Constructora’s withdrawal from the Maracanã stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, redevelopment and its investigation for corruption and bribery by the federal police came out, it threw a $3.7 million investment into doubt. This money was meant to contribute to the Maracanã Rio 2014 construction consortium, which included Odebrecht Infraestrutura and Andrade Gutierrez. With only two companies left in the consortium, the question was whether there were going to be enough funds to complete the project. At the time, the construction company also had numerous Rio transport infrastructure contracts.
Maracanã was built for the 1950 World Cup final. It holds the record for the largest attendance at a World Cup final, at 199,854 supporters. By April, work on the stadium was about 40% complete and open for public tours. It is the venue for the 2014 World Cup final and is supposed to be completed by February 2013, in time for the Confederations Cup.
PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, Mauricio Girardello wrote: “When building a facility for one event, you need to balance the demands of a limited use with other uses that will make the facility more financially viable over the long term.”
This is something South Africa knows all too well. The country is faced with the problem of unused stadiums that it spent close to $1 billion to build. The 94,000 capacity Soccer City, in Johannesburg, is being used for concerts, games and tours but others, like Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, are sitting empty and costing millions to maintain each year—due to the fact that there are no provincial teams large enough to take the leases over from the provincial governments and the inability of the stadiums to cater to the large rugby teams and their supporter’s needs. The other legacy left by the 2010 World Cup was the dire state of the South African hospitality industry. In 2011, the average occupancy rate dropped to around 48% and many hotels had to shut their doors. The millions of visitors were gone and had taken their money with them.
Danny Jordaan knows what it’s like to stage a World Cup. Jordaan was part of the formation of the South African Football Association (SAFA) in 1991. His World Cup involvement spans almost 15 years and his experience with the 2010 World Cup, held in South Africa, earned him the position of special advisor for the 2014 World Cup; a member of the 2014 World Cup and Confederations Cup’s organizing committee; a member FIFA’s Transparency and Compliance Committee and part of the FIFA technical evaluation team for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
“The infrastructure of Brazil needs huge investment and so their infrastructure program has greater demands on Brazil than in South Africa,” he says.
Access roads, parking lots, subways, trams, monorails and shopping malls are just some of the infrastructure projects Brazil will need to focus on, aside from stadiums. Construction of the $500,000 North/Center (Manaus) Monorail has been awarded to a consortium consisting of three companies.
Brazil’s planned infrastructure budget is around $11.2 billion and it is expecting $102 billion to be contributed to its GDP by the end of the two tournaments. Three point two billion dollars is allocated for airports.
In February, Airports Company South Africa (ACSA) and a Brazilian partner secured 51% of a 20-year concession to expand, operate and maintain the Guarulhos Airport in São Paulo. The airport is said to be one of the worst in the world. Brazil has decided on the privatization route for its airports in the hope to meet the demands that will be placed on them by the millions of expected visitors.
The two countries, Brazil and South Africa, have been sharing information and expertise since the 2010 World Cup, when a Brazilian soccer delegation came to visit. Like Brazil, South Africa received a lot of bad press, with people citing high crime rates; poor preparation and calls to move the tournament to Australia.
Jordaan feels that this criticism rears its head when the host country is in the developing world.
With this shared experience, how much cooperation is there likely to be? There are two sides to this coin. Some would say that the key to hosting a great World Cup would be to use the experience and expertise of those who have come before. But on the other hand, you can argue that Brazil would want to keep all business and money within the country by giving Brazilian companies the opportunity of large-scale projects.
Jordaan says this is where joint ventures come in. He says that as much as the government will not give a 100% tender to a foreign company, having a Brazilian company on board will certainly help—like in the case of ACSA.
“Brazilians are passionate about football. So I think that once they get the bricks and mortar sorted out the people will turn it into a wonderful celebration and that is what we are looking for”, he adds.
One of the issues facing the organizers was the passionate but poor Brazilian fans. In Brazil, students and pensioners are allowed a 50% discount on tickets. As an institution trying to make a profit, this may not be what FIFA had in mind. As a compromise, the organization has agreed to set aside 300,000 tickets for these supporters.
It really has been one thing after another for the Brazilians. The sports minster, Orlando Silva, resigned last October under accusations of corruption. The Brazilian Football Association’s president has also resigned. At some point the Brazilian President, Dilma Rousseff, was not speaking to the Brazilian Confederation of Soccer’s president, Ricardo Teixeira. At the same time the minister of sports, Aldo Rebelo, was not speaking to FIFA’s general secretary, Jérôme Valcke.
In 2000, FIFA introduced the continental rotation policy, which began with the 2010 World Cup in Africa; South America was next in line.
There is a major difference between the South African and Brazilian World Cups, beyond geographics. Unlike Brazil, South Africa went through two competitive bids, the first was lost to Germany for the 2006 World Cup and the second was secured against five African countries with a 500 page bid book. South Africa had to show that it had the capacity to host the tournament and provide 17 government guarantees. Brazil was up against Columbia in the 2014 bid, but the South American Federation unanimously decided to back Brazil as the option for 2014.
This seems to have caused problems. One of the more thorny matters was the sale of alcohol at matches. Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) is the largest brewer in the world and one of its brands, Budweiser is a major sponsor of the tournament. The problem was that Brazil’s Soccer Fan Statute—Article 13: prohibits alcohol at Brazilian soccer games. After heated words and years, the World Cup Bill—to lift the ban on alcohol—was passed by the lower house of Parliament in March, the Senate in May and received the final approval and signature of the president in June. The Senate changed the Bill so that it applies only to the Confederations and World Cups.
Some members of Senate were holding out because they felt that their law on alcohol was in line with the FIFA 2004 Safety Guidelines—Article 19: ban on the sale of alcohol and that the ban has helped reduce violence at games.
Jordaan’s tips for a world class World Cup are simple. First, you need the necessary legal framework and then you get the infrastructure going. These seem to be lessons the Brazilians would have done best to learn much earlier in the game. All new reports from both sides seem to be positive that Brazil is back on track, or at least trying.
You’ll get a different story if you ask the millions who live in Brazil’s slums—the favelas.
One of the harshest measures in the preparation for the soccer tournaments, as well as the Olympic Games in 2016, is the forced removal of favela residents. Some have been around for over a century and have now been declared Imminent Domain—meaning that the government has the power to remove the residents and use the space for public use. The proposed 2016 Olympic Park is an extravagant project destined on a favela site.
In a video produced by non-profit organizations, Phesca Brazil and WITNESS, a devastated grandmother tells of how she was born in Morro da Providência, in 1941, and her mother before that. Three generations of her family currently live in the favela. Some residents talk about how they’ve only been given a month’s notice.
Other favelas are enjoying some improvements to the power, water and sewage. There have also been reports of armed police raids with tear gas, rubber bullets and tanks to clean up crime.
All this aside, the eyes of the world will be on Brazil. The only question is whether they will feel the pressure to step up their game and put on a fantastic show or merely the pressure to lift the cup.
“The people [Brazilians] will not react as South Africans. What South Africans did was embrace other teams and the event hype and passion continued and South Africa celebrated in the streets even though their own team was long out of the tournament”, says Jordaan.
“If they [Brazil] don’t [win on home soil] I think it will be a difficult moment”.

The Land of Pelé  Tackles The Tough Times

There’s something solid about Lucas Radebe. Something calm and sturdy—a kind of steadfastness that gives you the idea you are safe with him. He is late for this interview because he was picking up his children.
“Being a single father has taught me a lot. Mostly, it has taught me how to be at two places at once, as well to be two people in one,” he says.
There are two sides to the Lucas Radebe story—glory and pain. He hit professional heights by playing at Leeds United and scoring at a World Cup. The painful side of his life was the tragic death of his young wife, who succumbed to bowel cancer in 2008, when their youngest was just two years old.
“My wife’s death has been the one event in my life that humbled me beyond words. It was the sort of thing that I never thought would happen to me at that point in my life, but I believe that everything happens for a reason,” he says of the tragedy that led his family home.
“Even after I had retired from active football, it never seemed likely that we would return to South Africa to live here permanently again.  Leeds United—which I had captained for more than 12 years—had offered me a job and named a stand in their home stadium after me—I was deeply entrenched in the community and had many projects and initiatives that I had set up there,” he explains.
Radebe looks sad for a moment. Then the trademark toothpaste smile returns gently as he talks of the old days and the game he loves.
“In 1987, my parents decided to take me out of Soweto because of all the racial violence that was happening there due to political unrest. I found myself in Bophuthatswana—in a rural area called Lehurutse. Having been a boy from a fast-paced township, I found that the only thing that was there to keep me occupied was soccer.
“Sooner than anyone knew it, I was starting to excel at the game—to the point where I was now playing for the Bopson League and even for the Bophuthatswana national team,” he says.
Radebe returned home when Bophuthatswana played the South African national team. He was a goalkeeper in those early days, before a kick in the face persuaded him to give up the gloves to become a central defender.
“Even though my parents were not really keen on it, it was pretty obvious that I was going professional when after that match, Kaizer Chiefs offered me a contract which I signed during the first week of trials,” recalls Radebe.
After two years at Kaizer Chiefs, Radebe shifted his focus towards Europe when Leeds United called him for a trial.
“At that point, I was convinced that it wasn’t going to happen for me. I was 25 years old, which is considered ‘late’ in the football world, and most of my teammates—Phil Masinga, Sean Bartlett and many others—had already gone and had been properly settled,” he relates.
Soon after arriving in Leeds, Radebe regretted it.
“The weather was bad, the homesickness was awful and worst of all, I was the only other black person in the town of Leeds, and the community were not sparing in the way they treated me like an alien,” says Radebe.
“The racism came as a serious shock to me. It was almost like jumping from the frying pan into the fire—except in my home country, things were beginning to settle down with the release of Nelson Mandela from prison.”
Radebe recalls that the racial hatred became so bad that one time when he was sent off for a foul, the crowds struck up a sickening racial chant.
“I remember I was being escorted off the field. When I heard what they were saying, I stopped and asked the officials on either side of me if they were hearing what I was hearing. They carried on straight-faced. I guess they just didn’t know what to say,” Radebe says.
The officials may have been tongue-tied, but Radebe wasn’t going to be.
“I decided to start two programs—one was called ‘Kick Racism out of Football’, and the other was called ‘Learning with Lucas’. The latter was designed to teach kids in the community about the different races and the different cultures that exist in the world, while the former was an initiative that was designed to be implemented in actual soccer teams where racial intolerance was rife,” he explains.
As Radebe’s community work helped him find his space, Leeds United management also discovered that Radebe could be a rock for the team as well. In one famous Premier League game against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 1996, Radebe had to take up the goalkeeping gloves once again. The Leeds goalkeeper, Mark Beeney, had been sent off and the team didn’t have a substitute goalkeeper on the bench. Apparently the manager, George Graham, could never see the point.
“As I walked towards the goal I looked across to my South African teammate Phil Masinga and he just put his head in his hands,” recalled Radebe in a radio interview years later.
Radebe distinguished himself in front of 48,000 people, saving blinding shots from Brian McClair and Ryan Giggs, before Eric Cantona put one past him to win the game 1-0.
“My game was really starting to flourish. I had also been in the Bafana Bafana team that won the Africa Cup of Nations, and Manchester United came knocking looking for my signature. After much deliberation, I turned them down because I viewed Leeds United as a club where I could really make a lasting impact. I was now very loyal to them,” he says.
His loyalty was repaid. Leeds United matched Manchester United’s offer, and made Radebe captain. Radebe’s star rose even higher when Nelson Mandela visited Leeds for the official opening of a park named after him. He requested that Radebe introduce him to the crowd and said the footballer was one of his heroes.
“How the nation rated me got a definite boost from that point on. It even became hard to leave the team even when they had been relegated to the second division,” says Radebe.
Then there was the glory of scoring for his country against the mighty Spain in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea. Many South Africans remember where they were when Radebe’s powerful header hit the net. It was an equalizer that could have sent South Africa through to the knock out stages, but Raul scored three minutes later to deny them on goal difference.
When Radebe retired from Leeds in 2005, 37,886 fans turned up at Elland Road for his testimonial. Most of the Leeds fans have taken him into their hearts and called him “Rhoo” or “the Chief” out of respect for his former club in South Africa. When a Leeds brewery asked for suggestions for the name of a new beer, the most popular suggestion was “Radebeer”.
It was then that he returned home to recast himself as an entrepreneur and nurture the family that had lost its mother. He didn’t want to end up broke like many of his fellow players.
“I started preparing for my retirement from soccer four years before it actually happened. I set up trusts and my own management company that would look after all my interests. Right now, I have an endorsement deal with toothpaste brand Aquafresh and FNB,” he says.
Even though Radebe is gearing up to become an entrepreneur, he still cannot—and does not—want to rule out football.
“Retiring was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Soccer is still very close to my heart, and if I am not given the opportunity to coach the national team, I will look into starting a development program where we get to train footballers from a young age, because I believe that is where we are getting it wrong in terms of soccer at our national level,” he concludes.
Maybe one day Radebe will rise through the ranks of South African football to do something about it.

Tag: World Cup

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