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So what's the point of this article.As an African and a Ghanaian to be precise,I don't think the African contigent this time have really had an impact in Inter's champions league run.Eto is the only starter but he looks like a pale shadow of himself.Next time write articles about the team instead of African players.Football afterall is a team game.

Once ensconced in west London, the 'Special One' busily snapped up African footballers who most fans barely knew. Under his watch, the big names still at Stamford Bridge today - Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Mikel Obi and Salomon Kalou - were both bought and brought to the fore.

---------------
Didier Drogba, described while playing in France as one of the world's best strikers.

Essien, target of United, Milan and Barcelona before joining Chelsea.

Mikel, already at United.

Yes they were definately unkowns were'nt they. What is it with Beebs football reporters lately, at least try to pretend you are credible journalists.

If I remember correctly, it was actually Ranieri who suggested the signing of Drogba to Abrahmovic. Discussions were already in place before the Mourinho era.

There's no denying he's a great manager, but there's no need to give him EVEN more credit than he deserves!

Mourinho signed Muntari

Sorry, but nanaloa2001 is spot-on. This is a complete non-article. Plenty clubs have three African players in their squad.

Get your facts right Piers, Muntari was not at Inter before Mourinho, he was signed by the Portuguese along with Mancini and Ricardo Quaresma just after he arrived.

If my memory serves me right I think Muntari was actually signed by Mourinho himself, contrary to what you said. Mourinho joined Inter on On 2 June 2008 and Muntari on 28 July same year.

About Muntari, he is a far better player playing for Ghana, as he has more freedom and the confidence to do his own thing, unlike the more regimentary style we see at Inter.

Good Article. Thank you very much.

WE DON'T WANT TO WITNESS ANY ACT OF SELF DEFENCE IN THE FINAL.

I am from Africa and has never been a Mourinho fan. Never will be. When did you last see a manager, yes a manager, doing an 'Adebayor' in front of the opposing team's fans? Shouting to the opposing team that 'the ref was all yours but we still beat you'. Claiming that a 17 year old Messi had learnt a lot from the Barcelona theaters, that a 21 year old Christiano Ronaldo was 'uneducated'. I am surprised that a man like this, who does not have an ounce of respect for himself, has fans out there!
I am not looking forward to another 90 of a Mourinho performance angain. No CL finals for me on TV this year. This kind of man makes me lose interest in football.

its strange that arsenal was criticised all the time for having a team full of foreigners .. but no one noticed that the team of inter that beat chelsea and barca had no italians at all ... just because inter is in the final , your actually complimenting them that they are open to foreigners .. strange ..

Thank u mourinho and wenge hopefully other managers will appreciate african talents especially man-u

One wonders how Madrid fans will evaluate club strategy when finding not one, but three, discards returning - Eto'o being joined by the brilliant Dutch duo of Wesley Sneijder (Inter) and Arjen Robben Bayern).
hmm, interesting,last I checked, Walter Samwel and Esteban Cambiasso once used to play at real madrid as well....or did that part fo their history change?

I thought that Muntari closed down Barcelona well and terrified Busquets and Keita. If he improves his discipline, he will be a great player. Mariga did very well when he came on, and Eto'o... well... need I say more?? There is great talent in Africa and more managers need to realize that.

Muntari is seen as an big flop in Italy..in the same category as Quaresma and Mancini.

Eto'o though has been great..some people say he doesnt score as much but his work rate upfront has been fantastic. With lazy Ibrahimovic they would never had reached the final.

Muntari, as has been already piointed out, was recruited by the Master Builder, into Inter. Like him or hate him, Mourinho is a great tactician. Many a team would have succumbed to the Barca onslught. Inter showed resilience and self-belief. Congrats Inter!

Good read for me, cheers.

That deal last summer was mind boggling at the time, now it just looks woeful. To pay 46m and miss out on the CL final with a misfiring Ibra, against a rejuvenated Inter with Eto'o up front. Even if Eto'o really needed to move on, that deal alone had as bigger impact on the outcome of this semi as any refereeing decision.

Spot-on, yet again. Fantastic article.

hi people, relax! Why are you all going ballistic because of this article! Nice article I would say. Am a big fan of the Special One and I think the Africans' style of play suits Jose well .... read essien, muntari, mikel, etc etc ... gives the team some spine and the ability to grind out results! If a Jose's team scores first you can be sure they can defend a 1-0 lead! Best of luck to Etoo, Muntari & Mariga in Madrid.

a point of correction piers, muntari was bought from portmouth by Mourinho. it is incorrect to say he was there before mourinho came to inter

The views expressed in connection with Piers Blog make useful reading.

To say that Mourinho has not raised the profile of African football is intellectually dishonest. How many African players do you have in the likes of Man U or Liverpool, who are powerhouses of English football.

Not every manager is as understanding as THE SPECIAL ONE when it comes to signing players from the Dark Continent! A couple of managers in the English Premiership have expressed concern about the hosting of the Africa Cup of Nations every other year. They prefer to sign players from the EU at best or from South Anerica at best. But this is a story we can tell another day.

Players' role vary from team to team. Sulley Muntari is at ease with Ghana because he is given the freedom to roam. He's a gifted attacking midfield player. Ghana use his attributes to good effect. With time he will becaome a versatile player like Abedi Pelé and make his mark in world football. Anyone who thinks that Eto'o Fils is playing out of position in Inter Milan is mistaken. SEF as he's known to French-speaking Africans is a play maker-attacker. Some previous managers of the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon took stock of his dexterity. Cameroon rarely plays SEF as the main striker. That role falls to players like Achille Webo and Somen á Tchoyi amongst others. Which brings me to somwthing that is too glaring for any avid football fan to miss - the universal and studied approach Mourinho employs to beat Teams whose players on a 1-2-1 basis appear superior to his on a paper.

In my opinion, Piers' article is spot on. If we all had to agree to what pundits say, the world would be a boring place. But we need to give credit where it is sue.

Some typo's in my article! The changes I have made all fall under the heading, Read

In lieu of:
"They prefer to sign players from the EU at best or from South Anerica at best."

Read
"They prefer to sign players from the EU at best or from South Anerica at worst."

In lieu of:
"But we need to give credit where it is sue."

Read
"But we need to give credit where it is due."

Nobody cares about your spelling mistakes.

"Throw in the fact that Mourinho's wife was born in Angola, and it's easy to understand why he has so many African fans."

So the fact his wife was part of the colonial class that oppressed Africans is supposed to make him MORE popular there?

Hello all fotbal fans, yes we all African stop talking about the couches- those types of couches can never couch an African team- Mourinho will never couch in African may be in his late 80s. Lets give applaus to our own brothers at the CL final 2010 as usual.
One of them,the great hero of the last two finals,scoring the first goal for his team, what happened?
Had it been his first goal in the last CL final was the only lone goal what would have happened? After half time higlights of main actions and goals are shown but last year none because it was an African-Eto.
Eto himself promise Inter that they will be at the final first day at Inter-(read here at Â鶹Éç) and this has happened, he will score agiain. Good bless Cameroon and Eto, African football KING. Talk bla bla bla...

As said above, ETO is African football KING by merits and a touch bearer. Anyone to Challenge? An examlary good leader is never bought in the market, exchange (trade by batter) nor inherited, its simply inborn.
Africsans mentality will never change, resident in Africa, Europe , Americas or Asia because we hate to call a spapde a spade. we can change our cloths (dressings) or homes but the mentality remains the same.
History should speak itself for us not we now comparing this to that and that, well as the say goes, the importance of a man is known only after his or her absence (death).

Thanks for your contribution, John which I found constructive.

@ Ktfoot

Colonialism left its mark in those parts of the world where the master nation oppressed its subordinate subjects. To such an extent that we are using the colonialists'language(s) to communicate here?

The European managers who have brought African players to the limelight of world football come from countries with affiliation to Africa through colonisation and/or language. Take the Portuguese, for example. They were the first nation in Europe to field Sub-Saharan Africans in their national team. Who was the leading scorer of the 1966 World Cup?

How many African players in the English Premiership besides, Kolo Touré whom Arsene Wenger bought directly from ASEC Abidjan, have signed contracts with their existing clubs without prior European exposure? The big names of African football, like Salif Keita, Rabah Madjer, Roger Milla, George Opong Weah, Abedi Pelé, Anthony Yeboah, Joseph-Antoine Bell and Jules-Francois Bocandé amongst others all came to the fore via the colonial connection.

We cannot forever blame the colonial masters for the ills of our society.Let's take pride in the positive image which SEF, Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Fred Kanouté, S Keita, Salomon Kalou portray to the whole world. They are good ambassadors and exponents of African football. A Brazilian friend of mine once told me that his country finds it more difficult to beat the likes of Nigeria and Cameroon than established European national teams. Football as we know it today was brought to Africa by the colonial powers. It is an irrefutable historical fact and should be appreciated as such, the more so since it's a leveller. Sports is one of the sole domains in everyday life where the economic might of a nation does not necessarily matter when it comes to making and unmaking World champions.

1. At 2:54pm on 30 Apr 2010, nanaloa2001 wrote:
So what's the point of this article.As an African and a Ghanaian to be precise,I don't think the African contigent this time have really had an impact in Inter's champions league run.Eto is the only starter but he looks like a pale shadow of himself.Next time write articles about the team instead of African players.Football afterall is a team game.
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Eto "a pale shadow of his old self"? What on earth are you talking about? Eto has been phenomenal for Inter (as always). Phenomenal. If you notice, and as someone pointed out above, Eto has not been playing the #9 (main striker) position he played in Barca and with the Lions. With Milito, Eto has dropped to his real role (playmaker attacker). Even with that, Eto has bagged goals, has played on the wings and for at least 3 games he has played in defense for Inter. In defense! And he was phenomenal in the game against Barca...And don't forget he was off for almost a month at ACN in January/February. So what are you on about? "Pale shadow of his old self"....you must be joking!

Piers' article is spot on. I never liked Chelsea but I love Murinho. He loves Africa. He makes special trips to Africa to help develop football. How many PL coaches went to Nations Cup...how many? Murinho went. Right after the season, he was off to Africa to help develop football. He cherishes his African players (unlike Alex Ferguson who has actually said he tries to avoid signing African players)! I will be rooting for Inter all the way!!!!!

One last thing, Eto is already amongst the greatest African footballers ever (IMO he is already the greatest). But if Inter's season goes well and the win on all three fronts this season (CL, Serie A and Italian Cup), Eto has to be considered the GREATEST African player ever! Bar none.

If it goes well for Inter, Eto would have won:

3 Champions Leagues
3 La Liga Titles
2 African Cups
1 Olympic Gold medal
1 Serie A
1 Italian Cup
Top scorer in Spain., etc etc...

Not a single African player ever would match those accomplishments. And he has done so being an integral part of the team (as opposed to just being in the squads).

Sorry..meant to say "not a single African player so far can match those accomplishments".

Piers Edwards, you are classic.In my own terms, you are an adept journalist and I fully admire your style and write-ups.To your detractors,its normal just as someone mentioned,the world will be full of trite and hacknyed so to say,therefore it is implicit that contrary expressions will always be there.
Accept it or not,Jose Mourhino is a classic coach and I know even detractors are also praying for him to come out successful come May22.It will be exhorbitant joy for me when Inter with Samuel Eto'o lift the golden trophy come the 22nd.I wish Guardiola will be there; no regrets for managerial decisions,but if we all fail to praise and raise Eto'o. God will not and never fail him.Anyone can call him any names,but like someone mentioned,his awards are testimonial.History is in the making.Give praise where prise is due.He is African,so lets all speak African.Muntari is reflecting on lessons and maiking great strides while mariga is in the build-up.Mourhino and Wenger are talents see where the Mundane humanperson will not.All the best of luck to Inter,come 22nd May.

Oh Mr Darkonddom, Ghana is stiil in the dark continent where people still live on trees. Etoo's paleness is due too to much work and physique for his profession. What about the 48 year M Essien and 53 year Old struggling to be fit for the WC also the 47 year old Drogba trying dolge a sugery for hernia at the expense of the WC. Health come first before anything. Yes I know pale in Ghana means 7+1

Nana and John. Yes football is a team game, that's why Eto'o will find it difficult to advance to the next stages of the world cup playing in a team like the current Cameroon one, unless he single handedly does it, but how? Yes, at Inter and Barca, he was intergral because he had a good support system

Piers, I think with Eto'o he should just be content with the many cups he gets and do well for his country. Like i said, he just wont go further playing with the Cameroon team he's in. Hey, don't get me wrong!! Even if he can't get past his opposition at the WC, he has to play his heart out. At least for the patriotism

Never write off an African team in the World Cup! Each tournament springs surprises. Let's walk down the corridor of history and look at the portraits hanging on the wall.

1986 - Morocco reaches the 2nd Round of the WC in Mexico;
1990 - Cameroon reach the quarter finals where they are eliminated in extra time;
1994 - Nigeria reach the group of 16 stage at their first WC outing;
1998 - Nigeria reach the group of 16, once more and Morocco miss out due to the goal-average rule
2002 - Senegal reach the quarter finals of the WC in their first appearance at the World Senior stage;
2006 - Ghana against all the odds reach the round of 16.

Who's to say an African team will not fare better this time around? Only time will tell!

this is a nice article but some facts need to be established i know for a fact that inter have allot of academies in africa and do allot of grassroots footbal for the kids so there's an appreciation for them. Eto'o has not been a flop if any of you would actually watch Inter play he plays in a midfield role so his opportunities to score are far less than in Barcelona and is an important figure in the inter lineup because he defends compared to lazy ibra who barca are ready to replace with villa. muntari has good games and bad games so he wont start unless we have a lead with 20 min to go to help the midfield. Mariga is a little young to start but he will be a inter player for a long time. and for those people that say we don't have any italians in the starting lineup remember that santon plays for inter but is injured, matterazi is old and lucio is better defensively and balotelli has issues that need help from a doctor so we have 2 future Italian stars compared to 0 for milan and 1 for juve so we will see who has more Italians in a few years

@darkanddom

Ignore people with issues like nanaloa2001. Maybe he is upset his felow countryman Muntari had a stinker. Although I like Muntari as a player but I think sometimes certain players start to believe their own hype and forget to act the in the same manner that has brought them to where they are. His post was just stupid and unfounded at best. He made me laugh when he said the writer should concentrate on writing about the team. He obviously forgot this article is in the African Football section.

Also I love the way Mourinho ran unto the pitch to celebrate with his fans. You can tell those are spontaneous reactions from a man who is passionate about his team, football and what it means to him. I shall be rooting for Inter although I like Robben and unfortunately the suspended Ribery as players.

Eto in terms of medals is head and shoulders above any other African player. For teh berst 3 players to come out of Africa are in nor order. George Weah, Samuel Eto and Jay Jay Okocha.

@Piers Edwards

Nice article keep them coming.

Senhor Jose Mourinho is a master tactician. Players respond to his challenges and counter-challenges. He has built some very fine multi-cultural teams during the last decade. African footballers are hugely talented and many of them have reached their peak when playing with Mourinho around. Let's look forward to an evenful CL finals when Jose's men square up to face Louis van Gaal's side at Madrrid's Santiago Bernabeau.


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Thanks for the post.bbc always informative!

Now that Jose is in Real,he have more work to do with the team,the players is great but dont forget the super team Barca that is one of the best teams ever,for this year they cant take the spanish liqua,but i think next year the will be more competive!


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