Pitso Mosimane, former South Africa and Al Ahly coach, believes Stephen Keshi’s achievements as head coach of the Nigeria national team paved the way for other African coaches.
Between 2011 and 2015, Keshi served as Nigeria’s manager. He guided the Super Eagles to victory at the 2013 African Cup of Nations and helped Nigeria qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where they advanced to the round of 16.
He is the only African to have qualified two different countries for the World Cup finals, Togo (2006) and Nigeria (2014). The late tactician is also one of only two men to have won the AFCON as both a player and a coach.
“What Keshi did by beating foreign managers on his way to continental success was to break that notion of an African coach,” Mosimane said via BBC Sport Africa.
“He also laid the foundation for others to follow. I think his round of 16 achievement also set the tone globally.
“The last two winners of the Nations Cup are Africans [Djamel Belmadi of Algeria and Cisse of Senegal] which shows that most African coaches are as qualified as their foreign counterparts.”
Unless there is a last-minute change, all five African nations participating in the World Cup will be led by a local coach for the first time since the tournament’s inception.
Otto Addo (Ghana), Aliou Cisse (Senegal), Rigobert Song (Cameroon), Jalel Kadri (Tunisia), and Walid Regragui (Morocco) will all lead their respective national teams when the World Cup kicks off later this year in Qatar.
Mosimane sees it as a positive development for the continent and hopes that local coaches will continue to be given a fair chance. He added:
“To have trust in African coaches is massive and shows a great sense of growth on the continent that must be sustained. This is not a campaign against foreign coaches but applause to the decision-makers in our national associations.”
