The President of the South African Football Association, Danny Jordaan has disregarded the comparison between Ghana and Morocco, arguing that both nations benefit from the presence of players from Europe.
Africa was represented by the Black Stars and the Atlas Lions at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar; the former team was eliminated from the competition in the group stages, while the latter team advanced to the semifinals.
Morocco defeated Portugal to become the first African country to progress to the semis of the global showpiece and given the nature of the players that featured for both nations, Jordaan believes Bafana should not be compared to their two African rivals.
“We must not equate a team that has 90% of their players coming from Europe and becoming citizens in order to be in the team,” Jordaan said as quoted by sabcsport.com.
“How’s it possible that one [Inaki] Williams is playing for Ghana, and his brother, another [Nico] Williams, is playing for Spain?
“Our focus is, we must not be distracted by that. Fundamentally, our position is [that] we must produce world-class players that can compete with the best in the world.”