No Longer Naïve

African Football's Growing Impact at the World Cup

Ibrahim Mustapha

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785319778
• Edition: 1

No Longer Naïve is an in-depth look at the history of African soccer at the game's greatest showcase event.
As soccer grew globally over the 20th century and the World Cup became the zenith of the sport internationally, Africa was left trailing, both through a lack of organization and exclusion by the powers that be. In 1974, Africa's 'best' team, Zaire, were humiliated on the world stage, creating a negative perception of African soccer. Teams from Africa were often labelled naïve in their approach, but gradually African nations repaired their reputation. This led to increased participation, vastly improved players and famous victories over the world's best - culminating in the tournament being hosted on the continent for the first time in 2010. However, while great strides have been made on the pitch, greed, in-fighting, violence and the whiff of corruption behind the scenes have undermined progress. African sides are no longer naïve, but are we any closer to seeing a team from Africa lift the World Cup?

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Zaire – African Ignorance and Mobutu’s Influence
• 2. Colonialism, CAF and the Complicated Road to Recognition
• 3. Roaming Foxes and the Disgrace of Gijon
• 4. Morocco’s History Boys
• 5. Roger Milla’s Italian Job
• 6. All Eyes on the Eagles
• 7. Senegal’s Eastern Promise
• 8. Fresh Faces for Germany
• 9. The Fall and Rise of South African Football
• 10. The Tournament, Part I – Welcome to Africa
• 11. The Tournament, Part II – Black Stars Shine Bright
• 12. More Money, More Problems in Brazil
• 13. From Russia with Little Love
• Epilogue
• Statistics – The Complete Record of African Teams at the World Cup
• Bibliography
• Photos