How football superpowers have done it

PHOTO | AFP Arsenal's German midfielder Mesut Ozil in action during their English Premier League football match against Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium in London, on October 19, 2013.

What you need to know:

  • In Europe, Germany is perhaps the best recognised country in tapping and nurturing football talent. Ironically, the latest structure by the European country was set in motion following public outcry that followed its national team’s poor showing at the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro finals.
  • The French, Spanish and Belgian leagues have since borrowed from the German model of youth development, which has produced the likes of Mesut Ozil, Gerd Muller, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neur and Julian Draxler.
  • In Kenya, the top-flight league’s administrators have attempted to copy-paste this tried and tested stuff, albeit from the top.

It’s not surprising that countries with sound youth structures in place occupy the top positions in the Fifa world football rankings.

In Europe, Germany is perhaps the best recognised country in tapping and nurturing football talent. Ironically, the latest structure by the European country was set in motion following public outcry that followed its national team’s poor showing at the 1998 World Cup and 2000 Euro finals.

Christian Seifert, Bundesliga’s chief executive, told Observer Sport how the national team’s recent improvement was a direct result of the overhaul of Germany’s academy system, as all 36 clubs in the top two league divisions are obliged to operate centrally regulated academies before being given a licence to play in the league.

The most significant change, said Seifert, was that in these new academies at least 12 players in each intake have to be eligible to play for Germany.

So, clubs in the top two tiers of the German league are literally ‘forced’ to have an age-group academy of Under-10, U-12, U-14, U-17, U-19 and U-21 squads that train on almost a daily basis, and churn out talent for their senior teams and the national team. The youth national teams use these academies as feeder camps.

GERMAN MODEL

The French, Spanish and Belgian leagues have since borrowed from the German model of youth development, which has produced the likes of Mesut Ozil, Gerd Muller, Thomas Muller, Manuel Neur and Julian Draxler.

Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay lead the line in South America. These countries boast sound structures with definite programmes of turning potential into a finished product. Barcelona starlet Neymar is the latest product off this conveyor belt.

In Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Egypt are tops as far as developing youthful talents is concerned.

The Accra-based Ghana FA and their Nigerian counterparts have consistently churned out U-17 and U-20 teams in continental and global competitions with encouraging results.

Ghana clinched the Fiaf U-20 World Cup in 2009 and the Nigerian team triumphed at the U-17 World Cup in the United Arabs Emirates last month.

ATTEMPTED TO COPY-PASTE

Besides, a sizeable number of players, including John Obi Mikel, Asamoah Gyan, Samuel Kuffour and Micheal Essein, have gone on to become established players.

In Kenya, the top-flight league’s administrators have attempted to copy-paste this tried and tested stuff, albeit from the top.

The U-19 tournament, which involves all the 16 teams, is currently on its second edition.

Two weeks ago, the U-20 national team hand-picked some of these players for the invitational Cosafa tournament in Lesotho where Kenya finished second to South Africa.

Word has it that some players from the patched-up impressed and could be in line for moves to South African clubs.