Africa Is a Country

The French advantage

The French advantage

By
Sean Jacobs

The largest delegation of foreign coaches at Afcon is French and 8 squads draw more players from the French leagues, than elsewhere.

Didier Drogba, 2011 (Wiki Commons).

Academic and soccer fan Andrew Guest previews the 2012 African Cup of Nations for Football is Coming Home. He points to the French influence on teams that qualfied for the finals that start later this week. The post that comes complete with a table illustrating his findings: “The French influence this year seems ubiquitous; 9 of 16 teams have Francophone history, the largest delegation of foreign coaches are French (4, compared to 7 locals—which is a fairly significant local contingent compared to recent tournaments), and 8 of 15 squads draw more players from French professional teams than from any other foreign league system (the 16th squad — Sudan — has an entirely domestic roster).”

Read the post in full here.

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