Poor preparation is Africa’s bane — Njitap

Former Camerounian and Chlesea football great, Geremi Njitap, has blamed Africa's abysmal showing at global competitions on poor preparations by the various countries.

Njitap, who played as a defender for club and country during his playing days, noted that Africa's woes would continue if the right preparations towards competitions are not made.

Citing Cameroun's poor performance at the just-ended FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, which saw them exit in the first round, the former Real Madrid player explained that the team failed to make an impact because they had a late preparation.

He said every team needed the right frame of mind to excel thus the need for Africans to prepare in time to be able to challenge for FIFA competitions such as the World Cup and Confederations Cup.

In an interview with the Graphic Sports last Wednesday, Njitap, who is in the country as a representative of Cameroun on FIFPro Africa Divisions General Assembly, an international players union that oversees the interest of international footballers, said "honestly, I will say African sides don't prepare well for global competitions and that really affects them at the highest stage".

"Every player needs the right frame of mind to excel and this comes with preparations. Countries must help the team financially in time in order to prevent misunderstandings between players and management at competitions," he added.

"It is hard time Africa realises the need to prepare adequately for competitions, which I believe, has been one of the downfalls of the continent at these competitions," Njitap stressed.

When asked about the progress of African players in Europe, Njitap emphasised the need for players on the continent to work harder to get to the top of their careers.

This, he said, was the way he made his name among other great footballers on the continent, such as Austin Jay Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Abedi Ayew Pele, Anthony Baffoe, Michael Essien and Rigobert Song, among others.