Former Ghana defender Sammy Kuffour has ruled out any African country from reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup starting on Thursday.
Africa will be represented by Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco at this year’s tournament in Russia.
Despite Nigeria’s devastating form in the World Cup qualifiers and Senegal’s astronomic display on their way to Russia, Sammy Kuffour thinks Africa must not expect a semi-final berth at the Mundial.
“The quarter-finals will be a good level to reach because frankly I don’t think there is enough in the teams heading to Russia from Africa to hope for a semi-final place,” Kuffour told KweséESPN.
“I like Senegal, but I worry if they can hold on when they face teams like Germany, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. Can they be tactically disciplined enough against those sides to win? “It is a big issue. For me the problem has been a lack of tactical discipline at a certain level,” Kuffour added.
“In 2006, there was no reason why Ivory Coast, with the players and team they had, should not have made it out of the group.
“Ivory Coast had very good players again in 2010, but they couldn’t do much with it because it comes down to more than just talent, and that is where the continent has been lacking.”
The last time an African team came close to reaching the semi-finals was Ghana 2010.
