ADVERTISEMENT
  • The Membership Club
  • PT Hausa
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
Friday, March 5, 2021
Premium Times Nigeria
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Opinion
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Parliament Watch
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • AGAHRIN
Premium Times Nigeria
BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad BUA Group Ad
ADVERTISEMENT
Senegal’s Sadio Mane during the 2019 AFCON final soccer match between Algeria and Senegal in Cairo. He also plays for Liverpool. [Photo: EPA-EFE/Khaled Elfiqi]

Senegal’s Sadio Mane during the 2019 AFCON final soccer match between Algeria and Senegal in Cairo. He also plays for Liverpool. [Photo: EPA-EFE/Khaled Elfiqi]

Want to put together a winning AFCON team? Here’s the formula

byThe Conversation
August 17, 2019
3 min read

The African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament is the most important sporting event on the continent. It attracts media attention, sponsors and draws significant global viewership. Organised every two years, it is also considered one of the most difficult to win based on a large qualification pool.

Since it was first held in 1957, only 14 countries have won the right to be called African champions. What factors could possibly explain this?

There is a shortage of research in this area. So, we set out to understand what factors could explain the successful performance of these national teams in Africa’s premier football tournament.

Unlike normal clubs, national teams don’t have full-time players. Instead they have to draw them from club teams, both domestically and abroad. Given the short time they have available to select and prepare a national team for a major tournament, a huge plus would be knowing what a winning combination looks like. Understanding these factors could also have broader management applications, such as a reliance on teamwork, cohesion, diversity as well as recruiting the right people.

Drawing panel data from AFCON tournaments held between 1990 and 2017, we studied the performance of 38 African countries. We found that team mix, young talent, team experience and the national team’s ranking by FIFA had a significant marginal effect on the performance of teams in the continent’s premier tournament.

Our data analysis showed how active, elite foreign based and local players, a blend of young talents, team experience and familiarity with the terrain and nature of the tournament, and consistent high international ranking by international football governing body FIFA improved a team’s chances of winning tournaments.

Based on our findings we have come up with a proposed framework for composing a national team around four areas: team mix, young talent, team experience and international rankings. This framework applies even at the World Cup level to teams from other regions.

So, what is it about these dimensions of team composition that explains a national team’s chances of winning the African Cup of Nations?

Team mix: players from foreign and local leagues

First, a look at selecting players who have played for top leagues abroad.

RelatedNews

Nigerian Army debunks troops desertion reports

Kwara governor imposes curfew, deploys soldiers to quell renewed Offa/Erin-Ile clash

FRSC operatives flee office as Offa/Erin-Ile communal clash flares again

Nigerian lawmaker, Yuguda Hassan-Kila, is dead

These players offer experience that translates into high performance. Foreign clubs have better training facilities which enable migrant players to develop their talents and improve their performance.

But players from national teams bring their own set of strengths. Those who have played in a domestic league are familiar with the African terrain and adapt better to terrain changes.

There’s more to the team mix than this: a national team increases its winning chances if it can establish a unique identity that transcends the assembly of star players.

Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1)

And then there’s the age factor. The consideration of what we label young talent is also imperative to overall success. This refers to a team’s average age. A team with an average age of 22 can be described as youthful. These players offer physical strength but they are inexperienced. A mature team is one with an average age of 26. These players have strength and stamina to ensure high performance. The third category in the mix is the experienced group, built around players aged 27 years and older. This category has experience but may lack strength on the pitch.

Ideally, a team should have a blend of all three.

Team experience is also crucial. This refers to the number of appearances made in the tournament, which can help guarantee familiarity with tournaments. A good level of team experience is participating on average at least nine times. Beyond this, a team stands an improved chance of thriving in continental tournaments.

The fact that team experience matters is supported by other studies that have found a similar outcome of experience which tends to affect performance.

FIFA rankings also matter. Highly ranked teams have better medal winning potential in tournaments than lower ranked teams. FIFA ranking is a strong determinant to grouping national teams for tournaments. This ensures that these teams are seeded in international competitions due to their sporting success.

The danger is that high rankings lead to complacency which in turn can ruin a team’s potential.

ADVERTISEMENT

We also identified an added ingredient: a team’s ability to integrate individual talent within the limited time available for preparation increased the likelihood of a better performance in the tournament.

A good balanced team

Our framework for a national team’s composition provides useful information on elements to consider when putting together a national team. This formula can be used by team managers, performance analysts and match pundits. Our framework does not shoot down the role of motivation in team performance but points to a neglected area – team composition.

A team composed of more professional players from elite leagues abroad provides a good balanced team capable of achieving desirable results. This new discovery contributes to theory and practice alongside the concepts of teamwork, team building and diversity to achieve performance goals.

Ernest Yeboah Acheampong, Lecturer, Health,Physical Education,Recreation and Sport (HPERS), University of Education and Ellis Kofi Akwaa-Sekyi, Lecturer, Economics and Business Administration, Catholic University College of Ghana

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The conversation
  • WhatsApp
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • Telegram
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pocket

Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility

Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.

For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.

By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.

Donate


TEXT AD: To advertise here . Call Willie +2347088095401...



JOIN THE CONVERSATION

  • Disqus (0)
premiumtimes



PT Mag Campaign AD

Previous Post

ANALYSIS: How social media is changing politics across Africa

Next Post

Basketball: Paucity of funds threaten Nigeria’s World Cup campaign

The Conversation

The Conversation

More News

Nigeria's rich Olympic history

ANALYSIS: How Nigeria can win five medals in athletics at Tokyo Olympics

February 27, 2021
Nigeria Golden Eaglets [PHOTO CREDIT: @thenff]

Why Nigeria’s dominance in age-grade football is under threat

February 6, 2021
Elizabeth Anyanacho

Seven Nigerian sports personalities to look out for in 2021

January 5, 2021
Deborah Onu

10 deaths that shook Nigerian sports in 2020

December 27, 2020
Coach Tipo at the Ebenezer Primary School, Egbeda.png

Inside Lagos School Where ‘Next Generation of Boxing Stars’ Are Trained

December 19, 2020
Diego Maradona

Tribute: Maradona, a unique football talent

November 25, 2020
Next Post
D'Tigers

Basketball: Paucity of funds threaten Nigeria's World Cup campaign

EPL Round-Up: Ceballos dazzles for Arsenal, Pukki nets first hat trick

EPL Round-Up: Ceballos dazzles for Arsenal, Pukki nets first hat trick

Discussion about this post

Search

#EndSARS: Latest Updates




Polaris Bank


JAIZ Ad


NITDA Ad





Glo Ad

Subscribe to News via Email

Enter your email address and receive notifications of news by email.

Join 1,629,094 other subscribers.

Advertisement






netherland biz school Advert



Zenith Advert

ADVERTISEMENT

Our Digital Network

  • PT Hausa
  • Election Centre
  • Human Trafficking Investigation
  • Centre for Investigative Journalism
  • National Conference
  • Press Attack Tracker
  • PT Academy
  • Dubawa
  • LeaksNG
  • Campus Reporter

Resources

  • Oil & Gas Facts
  • List of Universities in Nigeria
  • LIST: Federal Unity Colleges in Nigeria
  • NYSC Orientation Camps in Nigeria
  • Nigeria’s Federal/States’ Budgets since 2005
  • Malabu Scandal Thread
  • World Cup 2018
  • Panama Papers Game
  • Our Digital Network
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Projects
  • Data & Infographics
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • COVID-19
  • News
    • Headline Stories
    • Top News
    • More News
    • Foreign
  • Investigations
  • Business
    • News Reports
    • Financial Inclusion
    • Analysis and Data
    • Business Specials
    • Opinion
    • Oil/Gas Reports
      • FAAC Reports
      • Revenue
  • Health
    • News Reports
    • Investigations
    • Data and Infographics
    • Health Specials
    • Features
    • Events
    • Primary Health Tracker
  • Agriculture
    • News Report
    • Research & Innovation
    • Data & Infographics
    • Special Reports/Features
    • Investigations
    • Interviews
    • Markets
  • Arts/Life
    • Arts/Books
    • Kannywood
    • Lifestyle
    • Music
    • Nollywood
    • Travel
  • Sports
    • Football
    • More Sports News
    • Sports Features
  • Projects
    • Panama Papers
    • Paradise Papers
    • Parliament Watch
    • AGAHRIN
  • Opinion
  • PT Hausa
  • The Membership Club
  • Dubawa
    • Dubawa NG
  • About Us
  • Advert Rates
  • Careers
  • Contact Us
  • Digital Store
  • DONATE

All content is Copyrighted © 2020 The Premium Times, Nigeria

Our website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.