Fredrick Musisi
6 July 2009
Abedi Pele, a Ghana legend and member of Fifa Technical Study Group (STG) for the FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 last week expressed his satisfaction with the level of play at the 8th edition of the competition in South Africa and the host nation's preparations for the 2010 World Cup.
The three-time African Footballer of the year was particularly impressed by the two teams, South Afrrica and USA, which sneaked into the last four after nightmarish starts. "I was impressed by South Africa's approach against Brazil in the semi-final and USA's triumph over Egypt and Spain. It was great football from minnows," Pele, who is also the ambassador of Stanbic bank, said. "The tournament had fluent football, speed and was so technical. There was also mental strength and positive play."
Pele singled out Brazil and Spain for their contrasting styles of play. "Brazil exhibited a high level of counter attacking football while Spain played the passing game. But they over passed the ball which allowed the opposition to regroup and close them. They also tried to score through the middle which in the modern game is difficult," explained the Ghanian icon, who visited Uganda last year. "It was a joy to see teams using wing play although no team had specialist wingers. Most teams used the space outside well."
Pele also observed that with the majority of players turning out for European sides, it was not surprising the level of tiredness showed. "The tournament came after a long European season. It was not easy for players to play 3-4 games in a short period at the same level." Asked to recall his thoughts on that moment in 2004 when Fifa boss Sepp Blatter opened the envelope that confirmed the 2010 World Cup was going to South Africa, he took a long breath before giving his answer.
The former Marseille attacker told Daily Monitor that the process started in 1999 when the then President Nelson Mandela called him to be part of South Africa's bidding team for the 2006 World Cup. But the bid hit a dead end when Germany controversially won the right to host the soccer bonanza. "We all know what happened during that time. I don't want to go back to those details," Pele said.
"In 2003, I was again called to join the bidding team. This time, we devised a new strategy for the task. First we had to convince the heads of states of Africa and then move outside Africa with determination and courage. Nobody believed this could be a reality. I travelled with Danny (Jordaan) all over the world. But as a footballer, I lost patience and started wondering if Africa could the host world cup?" Pele however was strengthened by Danny Jordaan's optimism. "Jordaan said the whole world would be behind us this time round after we lost to Germany by one point for the right to host 2006."
Pele acknowledges the support and ideas offered by former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki. "Mbeki assured us that this is the moment; that the South African government and the continent were both backing South Africa's bid," said Pele, adding that the bidding team tried to forget the past failure (World Cup '06) but it was not simple. "There is no future without the past. It was time to analyse where we went wrong and to go all over the process again. This demonstrated the courage of South Africa and Africa," he said.
Executive meeting
Pele was humbled and honoured by his involvement in bringing the World Cup to Africa after meeting regularly with Nobel Prize winners Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. "Mandela and Mbeki are very important personalities who played a major role in the SA bid. It is the moment I will never forget in life."
At the Fifa executive meeting in Zurich which decided the 2010 host nation, each of the five bidding countries was given an hour to make a presentation that would convince executive members. Pele vividly recalls his dramatic contribution. "I was allocated seven minutes but exceeded the time limit and Blatter halted me. The rest is history. I was glad to be part of the team and I am confident South Africa and Africa are ready next year," he reaffirmed. Abedi is considered one of the best players in world history to not appear at the Fifa World Cup.
But he will take solace in seeing the World Cup take place on the African continent, after working tirelessly to that cause.
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