5 days ago
WAFCON showcases growth of Women's Football in Africa
In an era of unprecedented growth and development, the ongoing TotalEnergies WAFCON 2024 in Morocco has continuously displayed the impressive evolution of Women's Football on the African continent. In its 13th edition now, the continent's flagship competition has this year seen a new trend in the tactical flexibility of participating teams, importance of goalkeepers and the impact of technology on game analysis before, during and after games.
A second straight edition with 12 teams – four more than the eight that featured in the first edition in 1998 up until 2018 in a period spanning two decades, the current competition has highlighted how far the quality of football has improved to match global trends.
With world-renowned names like six-time African Player of the Year Asisat Oshoala of Nigeria, the reigning African Player of the Year Barbara Banda from Zambia, her teammate and the most expensive player in a football transfer in 2024 Racheal Kundananji and Mexican league winner Jermaine Seoposenwe of South Africa among others, this WAFCON has been thrilling.
And to breakdown the insight from the 42 games played so far is the CAF Technical Study Group that is comprised of the crème de la crème of African Football in WAFCON 2008 winning coach Clementine Touré from Côte d'Ivoire, the reigning TotalEnergies CAF Women's Champions League winner with TP Mazembe Lamia Boumehdi, the Namibia Technical Director Jacqueline Shipanga and Shilene Booysen – current CAF Coaches' Instructor and former South Africa Performance Analyst, ex-head coach of the South Sudan Women's National Team and Wadi Degla.
Then and Now?
For Women's Football in Africa, the last 27 years of the WAFCON have been like giving birth to a child, seeing the child crawl, then walk and eventually run. The WAFCON is currently at a phase where it is running, running alongside other continental tournaments across the world. From the large numbers of fans attending games to the birth of superstars, the WAFCON has arrived.
Ivorian legend Touré looks back at the WAFCON 2008 that she won with the Nzalang Femenino effectively becoming the first and only team to win the tournament outside of Nigeria until South Africa were crowned champions in 2022.
'We started with eight teams. Everyone knew it was Nigeria. We were the first team to beat Nigeria. It is true, many things have changed. Back then for instance, we did not have a platform where coaches would listen to each other. Now we have women as part of the preparations of the WAFCON, more female media, more female security officers in the organization. There is more female presence,' she emphasizes.
'The WAFCON is now on TV. There is technology involved at the game. Everything that we see now is documented and we can talk about this information immediately we receive it like live stats during the game. This is progress. Let me use this opportunity to congratulate everyone that has been involved from the players, coaches – it has been a holistic transformation.'
'I am very pleased to be here. I am lucky to be here at the WAFCON to witness this progress. It is significant. This WAFCON has revealed many trends starting with the playing styles be it offensive movements or the defense. We have noticed a variety of styles – combined playing styles. We also noticed the presence of goalkeepers and how they helped their teams progress in the tournament. Their high quality is important for us to mention. The covering of spaces at the back has been incredible. We saw the quality of the Botswana goalkeeper [Maitumelo Sedilame Bosija]. The impact of the goalkeeper, controlling airborne balls or the midfield on the pitch or the middle of the pack. There has been a lot of curiosity, and we would like to recognize their trainers. All of us [TSG] are trainers and want to be able to train other trainers in other workshops in other countries. The project is still very big. We are here to discuss the trends and the progress made by every team.'
'Now, we also see players who know how to control the defensive side of the pitch, those who are versatile and can play multiple positions. Some players start games as strikers and then they switch to the right wing, then to the left wing. Versatile players like these ones thrive in the flexibility systems. We also noticed that coaches deployed two to three systems within one match. The defense line or block was very compact. There was a lot of space between the lines,' Touré explains in detail.
Individual Brilliance Within the Team Collective
Many an edition ago, teams on the continent relied heavily on individual players to carry teams throughout the WAFCON and at other major tournaments. However, at this particular WAFCON edition, it is more evident than ever that teams must dig deeper to attain results and not just rely on their star players.
Shipanga, who is the only female National Technical Director in Africa, explains, 'Of course, it is very important to have individual players who standout. For instance, look at the importance of Barbara Banda [Zambia], Jackie, Esther Okoronkwo [Nigeria], Rasheedat Ajibade [Nigeria]. These are exceptional players. We have noticed that extreme sole dependence is shifting. We are seeing more of a unit within teams.'
'Look at Ghana, you cannot single out one exceptional player. Even Nigeria, starting from the disciplined organization of the defenders. Mali, look at their midfielders. The versatility has been impressive. The coaches are now interchanging the movement of these players. We have seen the impact of substitutes in games. The tacticial awareness that has come from the coaches. Look at Sanaa Msoudy coming from the bench and her impact on Morocco,' she explains.
Shipanga further digs deeper into the impact of binational players and their impact on this WAFCON, 'Clearly, they bring an impact to the competition. When it comes to Women's Football, this is playing a huge role. Look at Ghana. This is simply because of their physical strength but also where do they play.'
'They have consistent competitions, and the player pathway has a huge advantage. At age 10 or 12, they are already playing in a club setup that has facilities. We are in Morocco, they have the best facilities, attract the best players, competitions and are indispensable. We need more of our players to experience that. There is never going to be a substitute. We cannot say that one is better. It is up to the coaches to make the best out of their potential.'
From CAFWCL to WAFCON
When Boumehdi lifted the CAF Women's Champions League 2024 with TP Mazembe, she made history as the first ever female head coach to lift the trophy in its fourth season. Her experience over the years coaching Moroccan junior teams including the U20s gave her the opportunity to shine and learn the ropes of the trade.
With the introduction of the continent's first inter-club competition, Boumehdi speaks to the importance of the CAFWCL and how it has provided more high level competition for the players featuring for teams in Africa and how eventually this experience supliments that of those that play overseas in major leagues in Europe, the USA and Asia.
'We need this for the development of Women's Football. Our players must compete in as many competitions as possible. There is no development without competitions. That is why we proposed to create another championship on the continent to give ample time to teams and players to make progress. The CAF Women's Champions League provides an opportunity to players who play on the continent to be exposed to high level competition. There is significant progress at the fitness level. We saw players who displayed a high display of fitness here at the WAFCON from the CAF Women's Champions League.'
Star players like Merveille Kanjinga who won the latter trophy last year with Boumehdi went on to join PSG in France and featured for the DR Congo while youngsters like Evelyn Badu and Comfort Yeboah stood out for Ghana going all the way to the semifinals for the first time since 2016.
Technology, Video Analysis and AI
There is no running away from technology in football now. This WAFCON in Morocco has seen a huge spike in the use of technology by teams with the hiring of video analysts as part of their pre-game preparations, direct communication between video analysts who are situated in the stands during the game with the technical bench as well as data-based decisions during the halftime break.
'My expertise lies in data. When I look at this tournament, it has become criticial to use data. It plays a huge role in the tournament. I cannot imagine a coach sending out players to war without substancial information. I look at the game plan that for instance Senegal did for their game against South Africa [quarterfinal] and I could see that they knew how to stop the Banyana Banyana. They made it difficult for them,' explains the former Banyana Banyana Performance Analyst.
'Senegal knew who was going to change the game on the South African side. That has become so important. When I look back to the WAFCON 2016, I was the only Performance Analyst at the tournament but then things started changing. In 2019, as we [South Africa] were preparing for the World Cup in France, CAF helped with data. In 2023 ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealands, we had a company that supported us. And you can see that led to three of the participating four African teams making it to the Round of 16 [Nigeria, South Africa and debutants Morocco]. There was no chance this would have happened without the use of data. Preparing for games especially at major tournaments requires careful planning. It is great to see that teams have now seen the importance of data.'
Booysen stipulates that coaches at the WAFCON would be keen to see whether the players are sticking to the pre-match agreements and the plan is being followed to the dot. 'If the analyst sees a gap, she or he might need to alert the technical bench. It could be who is not being picked up, who are the players that are not playing their part. In fact, the analysts might even provide clips to the coaches for them to further assess the situation.'
'Football is all about winning. If you see for instance South Africa had to make two forced substitutes in their semifinal against Nigeria [Hildah Magaia and Noxolo Cesane coming on after injuries to two starters, how did this change the team's plan at hand? Also, the analyst has a better view of the game courtesy of being in the stands. They can see the game better.'
Women Coaches at the WAFCON
WAFCON 2022 winning coach Desiree Ellis (South Africa) and Swiss tactician Nora Hüptle at the helm of Zambia were the only female head coaches at this WAFCON. Booysen believes that there is space for more female coaches on the continent to feature at the big stage.
'I think if we want to grow. That is one of the areas that we need to improve. Member associations need to identify areas where they want to develop. If I look at the Europeans, the EUROs have 44% of women coaches at the current tournament and we have 15% - which is two coaches. There are several female assistant coaches. Of course, males play a huge role in Women's Football but so do the females. What more can they do because when we look at the number of CAF A Licensed Coaches, there is a huge amount. The Member Associations need to reflect to do better. If we want to change the narrative, the coaches are there. It is up to the MAs. For instance, in South Africa, all our female teams are coached by women.'
Touré (2008), Ellis (2022) and Florence Omagbemi (2016) with Nigeria are the only female coaches to lift the WAFCON since its inception in 1998.
