africa's game

The Narrative vs. Reality

2010-07-06T01:31:00.000-07:00

Every World Cup a certain narrative emerges about a team that is not always in line with the reality on the pitch. So it is, I feel, about Spain going into the semifinals against Germany. They were obviously heavy favorites going into the tournament. Then they lose against Switzerland and everyone starts seeing chinks in the armor. But look at that game again. I've rarely seen such domination. Spain had 20-something shots and should have won it by 5-6 goals. Switzerland was numbingly defensive, but it paid off. And suddenly Spain was not the Spain of two years ago. Nevermind that they went on to beat both Honduras and media favorites Chile comfortably, with the games won inside the half hour. The way they then toyed with Portugal in the last 20 minutes after taking the lead was masterful. They did look off their game against the Paraguayans, who put a lot of pressure on Spain when it had possession, but could that not have been an off game?

Germany, on the other hand, has benefited strongly from taking early leads against England and Argentina. But Spain's defense is a lot more disciplined and, frankly, skillful and I think we'll see a completely different game if there is no early German goal against Spain. Yes, the Germans were outstanding against Argentina. But, again, look at the game (and I have, as they show every game at least 20 times on South African TV) -- Argentina created a dozen chances in the game from which it really should have scored. That they didn't was as much down to bad finishing as strong German defense. Messi's shooting was atrocious. Look instead at the German game against Ghana, where the defense looked very shaky and the Germans were lucky to get away with a win thanks to an Özil wonder volley. I'm not writing Germany off, but I'm picking Spain.

Will Soccer Change Africa?

2010-07-06T00:52:00.000-07:00

Here is my NBC Sports story about the future of African football and the impact of the game on the continent. Please comment!

WC of Surprises

2010-07-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

Holland knocks out Brazil. I think it's good. Now Brazil has to win it next time, at home -- and in style. The Brazilians won't stand for this Dunga crap anymore. All the Brazilians I've talked to here have downplayed Brazil's chances and said they don't like the team. Gotta love it when they start talking about the 1982 side. It's still the greatest and it didn't even make the semis.

Although Brazil was entertaining in first half and completely in control. They just imploded in second, inviting Holland in. This continues to be a World Cup of surprises. Who knows -- maybe what seemed to be South America's WC will turn out not to have any South Americans in the semis. One of these teams will be in the final: Holland, Ghana, Uruguay. Holland-Germany would be a classic. But come on Black Stars of Africa!!

Valiant U.S. Run Ends

2010-06-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

The U.S. is out of the World Cup, but its run has to be considered a success. Here's my NBC Sports column.

Black Stars Make History

2010-06-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

A thoroughly deserved win for Ghana over the U.S. Great game. This team can go far. Already it has matched the best-ever performance by an African team in the World Cup (Cameroon, 1994, Senegal, 2002). This is a side more than capable of beating Uruguay in the quarters. Come on, give us a Ghana-Brazil semifinal.

The African Coaching Problem

2010-06-26T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here's Bill Rhoden's story in today's New York Times about what went wrong for Africa at this year's World Cup (where only Ghana advanced to the second round). So much has been made of the hiring of white coaches as one cause of Africa's footballing problem. While I agree that African football can only develop if indigenous coaching develops alongside it, I don't buy the argument that European coaches can't succeed because they don't understand the tribal mindsets that permeate multiethnic African teams. It is precisely because a European coach is not part of a particular ethnic group that a country like Nigeria hired a Swede, Lars Lagerbäck, as coach. He is seen as above the favoritism and nepotism that has influenced the selection of players for so long in Nigeria. The real problem is African coaches are not given the training or the resources to do the job properly in Africa, and they are left to work with a shrinking talent pool as the best African players continue to move abroad. The top players who are found in the African national teams are also all used to playing under white coaches in Europe.

Nothing But Fear Mongers

2010-06-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

About 300,000 people are visiting South Africa for the World Cup, way down from an initial forecast of 450,000. The smaller number of fans has been blamed on everything from the global recession to South Africa's cold weather. But surely all the media fear-mongering ahead of the WC about South Africa's terrible crime rate and the numerous terror threats apparently aimed at the tournament played a major part in dissuading people from coming.

As I just walked through Pretoria downtown after midnight, chatting with a stranger about Bafana Bafana's Cup exit, I remembered reading this preposterous article by Louise Taylor in The Guardian last year.

After the Togo football team had its bus attacked in the Angolan enclave of Cabinda, 1,000 miles away from South Africa, there was drivel like this Christian Science Monitor story.

On my way to South Africa, all of the British tabloids ran front-page stories about a stampede at a Nigerian warm-up game in which about 10 people were hurt, but none seriously. "World Cup Terror," blared one headline (the Daily Mirror, I think).

Terror? Really?

So, now that the World Cup has reached its half-time mark, have any of these doomsday predictions come true? Luckily not. There have been isolated incidents of theft and such, but this World Cup has been no more dangerous than the ones in Germany or Japan. In fact, most of the special World Cup courts (there are apparently more than 50) that were set up to administer swift and harsh justice to criminals caught targeting foreign visitors reportedly stand empty.

What has struck me instead is the amazing diversity of fans that are here. There may not be as many as organizers had hoped, but I for one didn't expect to see thousands of supporters from each of the South and Central American teams.

South Africans, understandably considering the country's history, are obsessed with how the international media is portraying South Africa. Of course, once the tournament started, the foreign press has had very little to complain about when it comes to security and overall organization. But the damage is already done.

Bring on the second round

2010-06-25T15:41:00.001-07:00

OK, so the last day of the opening round was a dud. But now we move on to the knock-out stages. Some tasty match-ups in store. Here are my predictions.

Uruguay-South Korea 3-1
USA-Ghana 1-2
Germany-England 1-2 (a.e.t)
Mexico-Argentina 2-4
Holland-Slovakia 3-0
Brazil-Chile 2-1 (a.e.t)
Paraguay-Japan 1-3
Spain-Portugal 3-1

Super Eagles Deserved Better

2010-06-22T13:35:00.001-07:00

So, only Ghana left after Nigeria crashes out. That Yakubu miss with the goal gaping from three yards out is the worst I can recall...in recent World Cup history. To think Nigeria would have made it had he scored. Awful. The Super Eagles certainly had other chances and probably deserved to win, but the truth is they were disorganized in the back and, no surprise, both Korea goals came off set pieces.

Blow It!

2010-06-21T07:50:00.000-07:00

Still people are complaining about the vuvuzela. Of course, only people sitting on the couch at home. Here in South Africa everyone's into it. Most of all foreign fans, who blow it with greater abandon than the locals (though not as well). It brings a great sense of "other" to the games. And gives the tournament a unique feel that is sorely needed in the increasingly watered down World Cup. There was nothing particularly German or Japanese about the last couple of World Cups. Sounds like people better get used to it too, according to the AP.

Ivory Coast Next to Fall

2010-06-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

I'm getting really tired of writing about Africa's despair. It almost couldn't get worse, until it did. Ivory Coast was easily swept aside by an annoyingly efficient Brazilian side. 3-1. It could have been more. I'm sitting here in the press tribune at Soccer City as the stadium clears. There's no disguising the fact that this is turning into a horror show for Africa. One win out of 12. Only Cameroon is out, but Ivory Coast now has to hope that Brazil beats Portugal and the Elephants can sneak through on goal difference. South Africa is as good as out, though who knows maybe the French won't show up for the game (like they didn't do at training today). Ghana has to draw Germany. Ironically, it's Nigeria, with two losses, that may have the best chance of going through. Very disappointing.

I was on Swedish television before the game talking about African soccer and was naturally asked why Africa hasn't done better yet. It was Pele who famously said that an African team would win the World Cup before 2000. There are so many factors, but a lack of resources obviously is a big reason. In Sierra Leone, where I've visited a couple of times in recent months, there is ONE grass pitch and that's the national stadium. The talent is abundant, but the opportunities for players to develop aren't there. Everyone's desperate to leave to go abroad to make money, even if it means Asia or the Middle East, where often their footballing development stops.

So much to talk about...

Can I just say how hard I find it to like this Brazilian team. It just doesn't have the personalities to root for, like in the past, with some exceptions (Maicon, Lucio).

From Bad to Worse for Africa

2010-06-19T13:44:00.001-07:00

Cameroon became the first team to be eliminated from the World Cup, losing 1-2 to Denmark. How on earth they were not able to score more than a single goal in this game will forever remain a mystery. They had 23 shots in total and squandered numerous chances, including several one-on-ones. For sure, Denmark also missed several clear opportunities to add to the scoreline. But the Danish defending was a horrow show, and Cameroon really has only itself to blame for not winning the game.

It reminds me of the conversations I've had with people in Africa about the African teams' lack of finishing, and how perhaps it can be traced back to the way many kids play when they're little. You'll see kids play in small, narrow alleys, putting down two rocks for goal posts. All the play goes through the middle and the kids love to dribble and play little triangles and walk the ball into the goal. No one plays on the wing because no one wants to pick up the ball from the gutter when it goes out. So there are no balls into the middle for strikers to finish, so why bother with strikers at all?

Cameroon, of course, has Samuel Eto'o, one of the finest strikers in the world. He scored the Lions' opener and also hit the post in the first half. But the man can't do everything himself.

There can be no complaining about the entertainment value of this game. In the end, however, a very disappointing result for Africa. The vast majority of the Loftus stadium crowd here in Pretoria was rooting for Cameroon. As I left the stadium (during perhaps the coldest night yet here), one really distraught guy draped in a Cameroon flag cried out, "Why Africa? We play all the good soccer! Why don't we win?"

Ghana Disappoints

2010-06-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

That Ghana dropped two points against Australia, despite playing almost an hour with a numerical advantage, is disappointing. It may not have changed the situation much for the Black Stars. They probably would have had to get a point from their last game against Germany if they had beaten the Aussies. What's more worrying is the poor performance. This was a shoddy game in which Ghana looked nothing like the composed side that methodically picked Serbia apart. The Black Stars had 22 shots, but a large chunk of them were potshots from 35 yards out. It was Australia that crated the more dangerous chances. Again and again the first touch eluded the Ghanaian players, and the defending was panicky at times. It showed that they had two 20-year-olds starting in central defense. That will be a major worry against a German side that will look to get back to winning ways after the upset loss to Serbia. It's looking increasingly bleak for African teams.

Nigerian Despair

2010-06-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

What a debacle for the Super Eagles. For the opening half hour they looked in complete control against Greece, having scored early on a fortuitous free kick. Then, a moment of madness for Sani Kaita. The Nigeria right winger kicks out in frustration against a Greek defender and is shown the straight red. He can have no complaints. It all goes downhill from there. Greece scores before half time. In the second it's mostly one-way traffic as both (!) Nigerian left backs get injured. Greece's 2-1 winner comes off a bad spill by keeper Enyeama, otherwise frontrunner for keeper of the tournament so far. You could feel the agony of 150 million Nigerians. It had all looked so promising after the entertaining game against Argentina. In all truth, the defense doesn't look strong enough. There was a lot of desperate defending. But it's not over yet. If Argentina beats Greece, Nigeria may still go through if it beats South Korea.

Black Stars Score First African WC Win!!

2010-06-13T09:06:00.000-07:00

Ghana's opener against Serbia was a must-not-lose game for the Black Stars, so to come away with a much-deserved 1-0 win is HUGE. They've given Africa its first win at the World Cup and I have a lot of belief in this team. It may not have been the prettiest of games - the first half could be described as cagey at best - but I continue to be impressed with the composure shown by this young side. Anthony Annan in the holding midfield role is one smooth operator. He was the man of the match for me. The Ghanaian midfield -- average age 22! -- was just so much more mature than their Serbian counterparts. I'm hoping match winner Asamoah Gyan will get his big break in this WC. He was tireless.

Great scenes of jubilation here at the end. The stands were overwhelmingly yellow and draped in Ghana flags. It helps that the South Africans wore their Bafana Bafana shirts. Nice touch by Pantsil -- who had his name misspelled on his shirt! -- to run around the pitch with the Ghana flag after the win.

I got some great video from Ghana fans celebrating penalty winner here.

Super Eagles Confident

2010-06-13T01:21:00.000-07:00

Nigeria's 0-1 loss to Argentina must be World Cup's most entertaining game so far. I thought Nigeria created enough chances to earn a draw, though a scoreline of 4-4 would have more accurately reflected proceedings. Worrying lack of organization in Nigerian defense at the corner from which Argentina scored the early lead, however. But Nigerian players were confident after the game that the Super Eagles would go through and I believe they will. In Enyeama they obviously have a keeper in top form.

US No Underdogs

2010-06-13T01:00:00.001-07:00

Taking a temporary break from Africa's Game, I covered the US opener against England last night. NBC Sports story here

We're Off!

2010-06-11T14:50:00.000-07:00

Oh, so close to a glorious win for Bafana and Africa. Still, a point from the opening game is a great start for South Africa.

You always want the host country to do well -- especially this time with the WC being held in Africa for the first time -- and it would have been a real blow had South Africa lost the opener.

Great atmosphere during the game, I thought. My personal favorite was walking the ramps zig-zagging their way up to the media tribune before the match and listening to the deafening noise from inside the stadium. Goose bumps. (Apparently Bafana keeper Itumeleng Khune disagreed. He said he was disappointed with the home support, and even complained that the vuvuzelas were not loud enough!)

Happy President Zuma called it an AFRICAN world cup in his introductory speech.

Not sure if TV pictures picked up the empty seats inside the stadium. Attendance was only about 84,000 in a stadium that holds over 90,000. The shortfall may be due to the horrendous traffic in the city before the game. It was completely stuck for hours. I only made it after joining a police motorcade driving 80 mph on the shoulder of the freeway. Some journalists I spoke to were stuck in traffic for almost 4 hours.

Off to Rustenburg tomorrow for England-USA. Bummed to miss Argentina-Nigeria.

Looks like Drogba may be fit for Portugal.

on the eve of the kick-off...

2010-06-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Just picked up my press pass. 24 hours to kick-off. South Africa-Mexico. So much excitement. 250,000 people showed up to celebrate BAFANA BAFANA in Sandton. The team is staying next door to us. I've been coming and going to SA for the past 15 years. To think that a country that was ostracized by the world just two decades ago is now hosting the greatest event on earth.......amazing.

Africa's Game

2010-06-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

View the trailer for AFRICA'S GAME, the documentary about the power of soccer to transform Africa.

Ghana Beats Nigeria; Reaches ACN Final for First Time

2010-01-28T10:03:00.000-08:00

Wow! Great to see Ghana make the African Cup final. And very unexpected. This is a mish-mash of a team. They're missing all their stars! It wasn't pretty, and Nigeria definitely had enough chances to put this game away, but kudos to the young Ghanaian side for some tenacious defending. I'll be in Ghana on Monday morning, so hope to celebrate a Black Stars ACN victory then.

28 Years Later...

2010-01-19T11:57:00.000-08:00

Algeria and Angola's 0-0 draw resulted in Mali's elimination from the ACN, despite "Les Aigles" beating Malawi 3-1 in their final match and having a superior goal difference to both Algeria and Angola, as head-to-head results prevailed.

Algeria and Angola knew that a draw would put both teams through, and clearly played for that result. Algeria coach Rabah Saadane admitted he told his team to "take it easy" during the game. "We had the rules and knew that if Mali won, we would go through. So we said to our players: 'Now stop. Either score or draw - absolutely minimum,'" he said.

Mali lodged a protest with the CAF, complaining that the sides purposely played out a goalless draw to ensure progress.

It's been 28 years since Algeria was similarly eliminated from the 1982 World Cup in one of the World Cup's most disgraceful incidents ever.

BBC "Africa Kicks" Tracks the History of African Football

2010-01-12T09:44:00.001-08:00

This is must-hear stuff: a four-part BBC series by Farayi Mungazi on the history of African football. Excellent.

My Memories of Cabinda

2010-01-11T18:38:00.000-08:00

Few people have heard of Cabinda, the oil-rich Angolan enclave where gunmen allegedly belonging to the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) attacked the bus carrying Togo's national football team, killing three people and seriously injuring several others.

I've not reported on the conflict, but I did visit Cabinda about 10 years ago. Chevron flew me on a private jet from Luanda, the Angolan capital, to its base in Cabinda, from where the company took me by helicopter to one of the many oil rigs stationed offshore. I remember getting the PR spiel from the Chevron spokesman, who said the company was heavily investing in education, health and social services in Cabinda. Turns out that "heavy investment" amounted to about $60,000 a year. At the same time Chevron had just announced a new, multi-billion dollar oil exploration project in the region.

From the little I saw of Cabinda out of the helicopter window -- Chevron wouldn't let me visit outside the base because it said it couldn't guarantee my security -- the place looked just like much of the rest of Angola: desperately poor. I do remember the Houston-based, American supervisor of the oil rig bragging about having the best frozen yoghurt in Africa on board the rig. Not sure how he could know that since he also said he'd never been off the Chevron base, but I have to admit it was pretty tasty.

Don't Buy Into the Africa Pessimism

2010-01-11T18:19:00.000-08:00

The Togo bus attack is obviously a complete disaster for Angola, whose government had hoped its successful hosting of the African Cup of Nations would help polish the country's war-shattered image.

Predictably, the Africa doomsayers are also pointing to the tragic event as evidence that Africa is not ready to host the world's largest sporting event, the World Cup, this year, never mind that it's being held in a country a thousand miles away from Angola that is not battling any separatist insurgency or has been specifically targeted by terrorists. Africa is Africa.

Danny Jordaan, head of South Africa's 2010 World Cup organizing committee, moved quickly to quell fears about his country's ability to provide adequate security for the event. "Why are people suddenly applying double standards? When there are terrorist attacks in Europe, do we hear about the 2012 Olympics being under threat? No. Angola and South Africa are two separate geographical areas, two separate countries. Besides, the African Nations Cup is not the World Cup. We cannot be called to account for the security arrangements of Angola, which is far removed from South Africa," he said.

Sadly, his and other voices of reason will probably fall on deaf ears. Now, any negative incident related to the security of the tournament, no matter how minor, will be viewed as proof that South Africa is not up to the task. I'm not suggesting that the Togo bus attack was a minor incident. What I'm saying is that we'll have a couple of drunken Englishmen robbed on the wrong side of the tracks during the Cup and immediately South African security has failed. The narrative has been set.

NEW TRAILER: Africa's Game

2009-12-31T11:28:00.000-08:00

NBC Sports Story I Wrote

2009-12-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

Africa's Mad About Soccer, but Europe's the Goal

Background to the Documentary Project

2009-12-14T15:55:00.000-08:00

Nowhere in the world is the passion for the game of football greater than in Africa. In the back alleys of Accra and on the savannas of the Serengeti, in the refugee camps of Darfur and on the busy beaches of Durban, a fractured Africa unites in its love for the beautiful game.

Superstars like Michael Essien and Samuel Eto'o have conquered Europe's top leagues. Their successes fuel the dreams of millions of young African footballers determined to achieve the same acclaim. Once viewed as a profession for people with no other future, football today is seen by millions of Africans as the most realistic way of breaking out of poverty.

Next year, as the World Cup comes to South Africa, African football takes center stage.

But African achievements, such as Ghana's recent triumph at the under-20 World Cup tournament, mask a grim reality: at home, much of African football -- plagued by corruption, mismanagement and a staggering lack of resources -- is in disarray.

Grassroots football in Africa struggles to take shape as thousands of the best young talents migrate abroad in search of greener pastures. A fanatical following of European leagues among football fans in Africa has replaced interest in domestic competitions. As the economic value of African football grows, outside forces are increasingly stripping the continent of its commodities. Is Africa's footballing future slipping out of its grasp?

Yet away from the headlines, a movement emerges to reclaim African football for Africa. Prospering from strong investment and sound marketing, South Africa's domestic league is becoming an alternative destination for Africa's top football talent. The continent's leading sports broadcaster is throwing its support behind long-fledgling leagues in Nigeria and Kenya.

On the grassroots level, football academies increasingly pursue a more holistic approach, merging sports and education, providing opportunities for young footballers to develop their considerable talents both on and off the field. It's a concept borrowed from America, but one that has, until now, been alien to most of Africa.

It's a story largely untold. Football -- or the talent and burning passion that Africans have for it -- may represent Africa's greatest untapped resource. Harnessing it may not only lead to World Cup glory one day, but more importantly help in the development of a long-suffering continent.

Tough World Cup Draw for African Teams

2009-12-07T03:30:00.000-08:00

Ghana and Ivory Coast landed in the 2 groups that could be closest described as groups of death. South Africa got France. I still think at least one African team will make the semis. My bet is on Ghana. They'll win their group (ahead of Germany), beat US in the 1/8 and Argentina in the 1/4. Spain in the semis may be too much.

The Euro Dream

2009-11-17T14:45:00.000-08:00

For the past few weeks, I've been crisscrossing West Africa and talking football. Here's a story I filed for MSNBC. The guy in the picture is Tony Chibuzor, described at the top of the story.

LAGOS, Nigeria

An oppressive mid-day sun bakes the pot-holed sand pitch where one of this mega-city's many informal soccer clubs is training.

On the sidelines, Tony Chibuzor leads his squad in a fervent prayer. His club, called the Zion Football Academy, is playing next.

"Oh, Lord, you are the God who remembered John Obi Mikel, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Ronaldinho -- remember us as you remembered them," the 19-year-old captain pleads to a chorus of "Hallelujahs" from his teammates.

"Connect us to people who matter. Let them come and see us play so they can take us to Europe."

Throughout deeply religious Nigeria -- and soccer-mad West Africa -- it's a prayer echoed by millions of young Africans desperate to escape the poverty at home and seek a professional soccer future -- and fortune -- in Europe.

Their dreams are fueled by the remarkable success that many African players have enjoyed in recent years in some of Europe's top leagues.

"They all want to be the next Michael Essien or Didier Drogba," says Christian Okpara, sports editor for Nigeria's Guardian newspaper, referring to the Ghanaian and Ivorian superstars who play for Chelsea in the English Premier League.

With the African conquest of European club soccer, there's a growing sense that Africa could become soccer's future powerhouse.

Next year's World Cup in South Africa will be the first time the tournament is held in Africa. There is a genuine conviction, even among some seasoned soccer observers, that the time may have come for an African team, say Ghana or Ivory Coast, to challenge Europe's and South America's traditional dominance in world soccer and lay claim to its greatest prize.

There's no doubting the African talent waiting in the wings.

Last month, Ghana became the first African team to win the under-20 World Cup, beating Brazil 4-3 on penalties in the final.

On Sunday, Nigeria was expected to retain the under-17 World Cup title it won two years ago. However, the "Super Eaglets," as the Nigerian team is known, fell by a lone goal to Switzerland in the final. The Nigerians had impressed in the tournament with their quick-paced passing and relentless attacking game.

But recent African achievements mask a grim reality: at home, African soccer is in disarray.

The migration of thousands of African players abroad has decimated domestic leagues, including Nigeria's. The country is the world's second largest exporter of soccer players to Europe after Brazil.

"This migration certainly benefits individual players, but the local game becomes bereft of high-quality talent and as a result people lose interest in it," says Paul Darby, a sports studies scholar at the University of Ulster in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who has researched the issue closely in Ghana.

Twenty years ago, Nigeria's Premier League drew large crowds and offered heated rivalries. Today, attendance at games has plummeted. Many of the clubs are struggling financially. Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, no longer has a team in the top division.

Most of the fans prefer to follow African players in European teams.

During a recent Chelsea-Manchester United Premier League clash, the normally chaotic Lagos streets thinned out as fans, many sporting the team jerseys, headed for the hundreds of makeshift shacks set up around the city by local entrepreneurs cashing in on the locals' rabid interest in English soccer.

"People in Nigeria follow the English Premier League closer than English people do," says Felix Awogu, the Nigeria manager of Supersport, the continent's largest sports broadcaster.

"The typical man on the street can give you the line-up of the last three games for Man United or Chelsea."

In Ghana, Michael Essien, the combative Chelsea midfielder, is treasured as a national hero.

On a recent Wednesday morning, Essien, in Ghana for his country's final World Cup qualifying game, traveled to the modest village where he grew up, some 45 minutes outside of the capital Accra for what he had hoped would be a quiet visit.

Word of his arrival, however, spread like wildfire and within minutes hundreds of jubilant villagers began pouring into the village center to hug, touch, or at least catch a glimpse of their famous local son.

"When I was growing up, all I wanted to be was a professional footballer and play in Europe," Essien says. "I know how lucky I've been."

Essien broke through at the 1999 U-17 World Cup in New Zealand. He played one season for Ghanaian club Liberty Professionals before being drafted to Europe and French outfit Bastia.

For most of the African players featuring in the just-finished U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, playing in their country's domestic league, even for a year, holds little attraction.

"I want to play in Spain. I love Barcelona," says Abdulrahmon Azeez, the defensive midfielder for Nigeria's Super Eaglets.

"My favorite player is [Ivorian] Yaya Touré. I play in the same role as him."

But for many aspiring stars, their European adventure has ended in nightmares. Horror stories abound of unscrupulous agents taking young African soccer players to Europe -- often for fees ranging in the thousands of dollars -- only to abandon the player when a tryout doesn't work out.

"Most of these players don't know what they're signing," says Okpara, the Guardian editor. "When someone promises to bring them abroad, they fall for it."

Now, African players desperate to seek their fortune abroad are increasingly migrating to destinations in the Middle East, India, and southeast Asia. Many of the same problems appear to remain.

Twenty-year-old Franc Opara is back playing with the Zion Football Academy. Two years ago, he was approached by a man who called himself an agent who invited him to come to Singapore and play for a local club.

Opara soon realized the deal was fishy when he was asked to pay for his own lodging. After two matches, he was told to not come back to the club. He found himself stranded in Singapore.

"I had to give it a try," says Opara. "I would do it again."

Like his friend Opara, Chipuzor has no doubt that he will one day get a chance to showcase his talents in Europe. His belief in his skills and passion for the game remains undeterred.

"I live for football, I sleep with the football, the ball is my girlfriend," he says.

Without a job and any other skills, Chipuzor says he has no other options but to play soccer.

When asked if he worries that, at age 19, he may soon be too old for potential recruiters, Chipuzor shakes his head.

"God has been faithful to me," he says. "My time will come."