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Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous
Further, African overall poverty means players are not training in the kind of modern and world class facilities which prepare the teams to compete with the powerhouse and mulitmillion dollar clubs and federations from Europe and the Americas.
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This doesn't detract from your overall point, which I agree with, but as you know a majority of African players in this world cup receive top class training already, due to their links with major European clubs. A bigger long term problem is whether African football will ever be able to draw its best players away from these clubs to play in Africa or keep those it has from leaving (both of which, right now, I think is highly unlikely). The other big problem for African players, especially those used to playing in Champions League clubs, is that they're used to being very successfull, so having to return to represent their country, while nice, is likely seen as major comedown for a lot of them, given the general expectation that no African nation is likely to do all that well. Although the same could be said for a player like Diego Forlan who's clearly good enough to be a cup winner but plays for a country that probably isn't.
Anyway, a more general point: if this World Cup achieves anything, I hope it makes African football more sustainable at a club level. Unfortunately, I think there's so much money in European football - especially amongst its elite clubs - that I just think it's an ask too far. Beyond that, I think the World Cup, for all its commercialism and self-interest, has done a good job of 'humanising' S'th Africa to much of the rest of the world: by showing it beyond the stereotype of rebel farmers, violent crime, etc. We'll see. I generally think that by choosing S'th Africa to host this tournament (against massive opposition) Fifa have done at least a little bit of good for that country. Certainly more than had they chosen a more traditional venue, anyway.