COLUMN: Afcon 2021 local vs foreign

The debate on who is better, local versus foreign coaches, has been idling and as Afcon 2021 concludes its business this weekend the truth will manifest.

Host Cameroon entrusted 61-year-old Portuguese Antonio Conceicao with the responsibility of rebuilding Cameroon back into the solid, powerful outfit eyeing to clinch a sixth Afcon crown on home soil. Conceicao makes his maiden journey as head coach of a national team. His coaching journey in the land of Issa Hayatou and Samuel Too started on September 21, 2019.

Runners-up in 2013 and making their 12th appearance at an Afcon, Burkina Faso has long grown beyond the Aristide Bance and company era to mark their presence at this year’s Afcon. Kamou Malo a Burkinabe has notable previous feats of winning the Burkinabé Premier League in consecutive seasons 2015/16 and 2016/17 with RC Kadiogo

Senegal’s Aliou Cissé has been the head coach of Senegal since 2015 – one of the longest serving managers in Africa with an unsullied record of 63 matches with an inspiring 40 wins, nine losses and 14 draws. He was in charge when the Teranga ions finished as runners up in 2019.

The hugely experienced Bosnian Vahid Halilhodži is arguably the second most decorated and of all coaches at Afcon after Carlos Queiroz with Morocco having had previous stints with Algeria (60% win rate), Ivory Coast (47.625% win rate) and Japan (55.26% win rate).

Equatoguinean Juan Micha has the rare distinction among all Afcon coaches to have coached five of his country’s senior and junior national teams, who have been in charge since March 2021 and mesmerised the opposition with his 4-2-3-1 formation. At 46 years, he is one of the youngest coaches at Afcon, the youngest being Aliou Cissé of Senegal.

Mondher Kebaier, who has no previous national team coaching experience but has worked with two of Tunisia’s most proficient clubs – Espérance de Tunis and Étoile du Sahel was in 2019 appointed manager of 2004 winners Tunisia on a three-year contract.

Debutants Gambia has been this Afcon’s biggest revelation under tutelage of well-travelled but underachieving Belgian Tom Saintfeit. Massive experience gained in coaching African teams during his nomadic forays which included Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi and Togo.

Nothing less than an unprecedented eight Afcon title is expected from Egypt’s Carlos Queiroz who undoubtedly is the most experienced coach at Afcon 2021 having coached big teams on four continents and is a huge disciple of the 4-2-3-1 formation.