CAN Ivory Coast 2023 : The CAF technical study group presents the mid-term assessment

While the African Cup of Nations football was taking place, experts from the Technical Study Group of the Confederation of African Football, also did their work on the matches in the different stadiums. In front of the media accredited by CAF for this 34th African Cup of Nations, Monday 05 February 2024 at the Palace of Culture in Abidjan, a point focused on technical data was made.

The African Cup of Nations is a benchmark competition for African football. To the African Football Confederation (CAF), a whole system is put in place to evaluate the tournament through the performances of the teams as well as the actors. After the group matches, the round of 16 and the quarter-finals, the members presented the fruits of their mission. From the strategies used by the coaches to the behavior of the players in all areas of the game, including the surprises recorded, especially with the little thumbs and the outsiders, the study group reviewed all aspects. Clémentine Touré, former Ivorian football international and member of this study group in relation to the tactical choices of the teams suggested that the teams used the vast majority of the same tactical systems. “We have noticed that the teams are increasingly better organized with the aim of being able to close risks, especially at the central level.. So these teams are organized at the level of the game systems they were able to put in place and at the level of the blocks. We were able to see the three different blocks. The high block, the middle block and the low block. But the fact remains that the constitution of the blocks was with the aim of making them even more compact even if we noticed at the level of certain teams that there was space at the level of the defensive line which were exposed. But it is clear that for most teams, they were well organized in a compact block. Tightened lines also worry about closing intervals, prevent verticality…”, she exposed.

Joseph Antoine Bell, former Cameroon goalkeeper, analyst and sports columnist took care of the performance of goalkeepers in the continental tournament. “The goalkeeper is the first player the coach thinks of. All the tactical arrangements at the point where we arrived today, it’s because everyone understands it well. FIFA in 1993 organized a task force to think about how to make football more complete, attracts more people to the stadiums and is less violent and it is on this occasion that we are arriving at the big change, in the rule that put the goalkeeper first. Today, if we are so happy with the competition we see, it’s because we now have goalkeepers in Africa who can compete with others from around the world. They are almost all very good because in each country we have become aware and there is specific work that is being done… This competition is really the summit. Our goalkeepers are at full strength…” explained the African football legend.

The reports presented during this meeting with the media, it should be remembered, will serve to provide CAF with reliable data which will ultimately be used by the governing body of African football as training materials.. Already, all those knowledgeable about African football affirm that this continental celebration which takes place in Ivory Coast is the most beautiful of the CANs organized by CAF.

Etienne YEMADJE, From Abidjan