English football awakens to the ponderies on African players

Perhaps, for the first time in the history of the tournament, Premiership managers are starting to notice the African Nations Cup that kicks off on Saturday. Which isn't such a good thing seeing that they've hardly found a good word to say about it.

Like most of their European counterparts, their view is that this is a meaningless competition that will only serve to deprive them of key players at a crucial stage of the season.

African players have only just started to make an impact on English football, well after the rest of Europe. Before, the traditional destinations for African players were France, Holland and Portugal.

Everything changed practically overnight after Cameroon's success in the 1990 World Cup. The Indomitable Lions' progress to the quarter-finals not only caught the imagination of the public, but also attracted more clubs to the potential of African football. Soon, the trickle of players turned into a flood.

Yet, this transition never happened in England. The stringent work permit rules made buying non-EU players a prohibitive task. It also made it virtually impossible for English clubs to spot young talent at an early age. For instance, no English club could bring through a player like Nigerian Obafemi Martins who has come through the ranks at Inter costing them virtually nothing.

Instead, English clubs were forced into paying excessive fees for already established players who, somewhat predictably, normally failed to live up to expectations.

Yet, whilst problematic, these restrictions weren't the greatest barrier for African players but rather the diffident mentality.

Although the influx of foreigners in the early 90s had freed English football of its traditional insularity, Africans were still considered a luxury, players who were neither ready for the physical requirements of the Premiership nor capable of handling the bitterly cold winter.

In time, both problems have diminished as work permit restrictions have been slightly relaxed.

More significantly, the success of Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton), Kolo Toure (Arsenal) and Quinton Fortune (Manchester United) swept away the diffidence and confirmed that Africans can indeed handle the requirements of English football.

Yet, while old difficulties seem to have been overcome, new ones are emerging. The more African players became established, the greater the reluctance in letting them go to play for their countries.

The African Cup accentuates this problem as the month-long tournament happens to fall just when most Euro leagues are entering the second half of the season.

This has always upset European clubs, yet the English seem to have taken it more to heart. Sam Allardyce asked Bolton captain Okocha to consider retirement from international football while David Pleat virtually labelled Fredrick Kanoute a traitor for choosing to play for Mali not Tottenham.

One can only imagine the reaction should Real Madrid decide against allowing David Beckham to play for England for those same reasons.

The criticism is however affecting the players who don't want to lose their place in the team but at the same time would still like to play for their country. That certainly seems to be the thinking behind El Hadji Diouf's call for the tournament to be held during the summer.

Going home; staying

Kanoute couldn't pass up the opportunity of international football and accepted to play for Mali. Nor could Okocha miss what could probably be his last chance of a continental honour with Nigeria.

Liverpool will have to do without the talents of Diouf, who joined the Senegal squad along with team-mate Salif Diao. Merseyside neighbours Everton will undoubtedly miss defender Joseph Yobo while Portsmouth will rue losing Yakubu Ayegbeni.

Fortune has been left out of South Africa's squad after falling out with the management as Arsenal will be relieved that first team regulars Lauren and Kolo Toure won't be going to Tunisia. The Cameroon defender retired from international football last year whilst Toure's Ivory Coast failed to qualify.