For the first time, Africa will have five home-grown coaches at the World Cup finals, a breakthrough that could lead to a shift in mindset and more opportunities for locals.Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia will all travel to Qatar next week with a local in charge, indicating a dramatic shift in attitude among the continent’s football leaders.
Previously, African teams at the World Cup were overwhelmingly led by European or Latin American coaches.Only Algeria was led by a home-grown coach in 2010, when Africa had six teams in the finals, whereas all five African representatives in 1998 were led by Europeans. For decades, the preference for coaches from outside the continent had been the norm.