By Andrew Warshaw
March 17 – African football chief Issa Hayatou says it’s time the Continent provided at least one World Cup semifinalist.
The furthest an African nation has gone is the quarter-finals in 1990 (Cameroon), 2022 (Senegal) and Ghana (2010) but with so many top African players now playing their trade in Europe, Hayatou says Africa should be well capable of reaching the last four this coming summer.
Nigeria, Algeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast are the countries representing Africa in Brazil and Hayatou said: “What will make me happy now, after all these achievements, will be to get even more success for African football.”
In South Africa four years ago, it seemed like African football was going backwards when only Ghana progressed beyond the group stage.
But Hayatou, the long-serving president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), told CAF’s website: “I do not see why Africa cannot have one or two of our representatives reach the semi-finals or indeed even the Final of the World Cup during my time as President.”
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