CHAN 2022: Why strikers are struggling to find the net

We will never know whether the presence of Morocco, who are absent from Algeria because of a diplomatic spat with their neighbour, would have significantly lifted the average number of goals scored since the CHAN kicked off. After the last two matches played before this article was published (DR Congo-Ivory Coast 0-0 and Uganda-Senegal 1-0), it stands at a meagre 1.73 per game. Morocco and Sudan, who were due to meet on 15 January in Constantine, might have delivered a goal-filled spectacle. Or not. It would not have changed the conclusion drawn by many observers about the poor return from strikers.

Kouadio: "The best African strikers have left"

Apart from Mozambique-Libya (3-2), Mali-Angola (3-3) and Madagascar-Ghana (2-1), the other matches have finished 1-0 or 0-0. That proved enough for the host nation, laboured winners over Libya (1-0) and Ethiopia (1-0), to secure their place in the quarter-finals. "But the reality is there: African strikers score few goals. That doesn't surprise me, given that the best ones have generally left: sub-Saharans for North Africa, Asia and Europe. And North Africans move abroad to the Persian Gulf and Europe," says Ivorian Georges Kouadio, a former coach of the Ivory Coast senior and home-based national teams, who has also worked at AS Tanda as sporting director, and at Jomo Cosmos (South Africa) and Djoliba AC (Mali).

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The best African players, and strikers in particular, especially the most prolific, generally leave home very early. "They go abroad because they simply want to make a living from the game. So they join better-paying leagues," Kouadio continues. "Many leagues are being weakened by the departure of the best players. Even if those who stay are full of goodwill and have qualities, they lack efficiency. Look at the top scorers' lists in African leagues and you'll see the best rarely get past ten or fifteen goals. Overall, not many goals are scored in Africa," adds Denis Lavagne, who has managed clubs in North Africa, South Africa, Cameroon and, most recently, Tanzania, at Azam.

Lavagne and the question of player development

The early departure of many young players is not the only explanation for these recurring attacking problems. While Kouadio points to "the increasingly defensive tactics of many coaches in Africa," Lavagne raises another hypothesis: the development of strikers. "In Ivory Coast, Senegal, South Africa, at TP Mazembe, and in a few North African countries, there are clubs that do develop players in general, and attacking players in particular. But that is far from the case everywhere. It's by moving abroad, to countries where the training and working conditions are better, that these players progress…"

Lavagne puts forward a few ideas to ease, at least partly, this worrying picture. One is to allow all players based in Africa, and not just those playing in their home country, to take part in the CHAN. "I'm not saying it will change everything, but I think it could improve the quality of the competition." Given the rather disappointing fare on offer since the start of the CHAN in Algeria, any idea is welcome…

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CHAN 2022: full results and schedule for the competition

Alexis BILLEBAULT