Even though it has such a rich history, North Africa has always been a tricky place one can find themselves in. It’s beautifully intriguing, the sights and the beaches are paralysingly spectacular but being there can give one a feeling of being a little lost and not quite sure if you are still in Africa or if you have encroached beyond the Mediterranean Sea to the tiny continent a little up north called Europe.
I was fortunate enough to have travelled and criss-crossed between the between the Mediterranean and the Sahara. It was a privilege to have covered the 2004 Afcon in Tunisia where we were based in the south in Sousse and covered matches in the cities of Monastir and
Tunis. It was an eye-opening experience.
I was also summoned to the 2006 in Egypt where we also zig-zagged between Cairo and Alexandria where Bafana Bafana were based and played their matches against Tunisia, Nigeria and Zambia. The least said about coach Ted Dumitru’s team the better as they returned home with their tails between their legs after having scored no goal, nor recorded a win or even a single point.
Also known as the Maghreb region, people in the north are just too passionate about football and they have dominated the continent for decades.
Even though they are not as talented as the gang from the west and to a little extent the southern part, they are still able to run, control and to take full grasp of the African landscape.
They took advantage of the corruption that tainted and hugely affected development and facilities in most of the countries in the west and south of the continent. The North African federations and governments have always been stable and were never riddled with corruption and crooked officials – hence they always held the baton and surged forward as a unit.
The headquarters of CAF are in Cairo and this rubber-stamps the region’s notion as the mecca for football in the motherland.
Now, as the pendulum is swinging the Arab nations find themselves in a bit of a sticky situation where they have to accept that South Africa is on the rise and are posing a threat to their dominance. Mzansi’s own Patrice Motsepe stood unchallenged for another term as CAF president and this must have left a lump in their throats.
Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates are in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League, while Stellenbosch FC sneaked in unnoticed into the Confederations Cup last four.
In Casablanca, Wydad Athletic bosses gave South African coach Rulani Mokwena the hot seat as the head coach.
But clearly, the media and the players were not too happy with the appointment of the young mentor, and he will leave the club at the end of the season.
Pitso Mosimane, the greatest African coach, was deemed not to be good enough to coach Al Ahly and was dismissed after 18 months, having a mountain of trophies with the club, including two CAF Champions League titles.
Al Ahly legends were relentless and did not give up in making Mosimane’s stay in Cairo a nightmare.
The violent scenes by Esperance and MC Algers hotheads we witnessed in the CAF club competition is a sign that they are having a torrid time accepting the new status quo.
It’s not sitting well with them that black Africans are launching a takeover.
Well, the northern can sit and watch the party down south as our lads run riot and reclaim the glory of the mid-1990s.
