Tricks, corruption, healers … African football, from within

More than 100 Spaniards are in command of a foreign club, but only one will be lucky enough to compete this season in the CAF (African Football Confederation) Champions League. Toni Cosano (Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1997) has occupied the bench of one of the most important teams in Angola since mid-2019, a Petro de Luanda that, until the arrival of the Spanish to his bench, chained 20 years without rubbing shoulders with the best teams in Africa. In fact, Petro is already the first Angolan club to qualify for two consecutive editions of the Champions League. The two with Cosano in the band. “It has a lot of merit. It shows that we are doing things well. Angola is by no means one of the powers of Africa, but there we are. For us it is a responsibility to represent the country. The fans value it and the press highlights it. We will play with prudence, respect and humility “, discovers the Catalan coach before visiting Horoya, champion of Guinea, on the opening day of the tournament.

His group is completed by the Moroccan Wydad, “one of the largest clubs on the continent”, and Kaizer, “who plays in one of the most competitive leagues in Africa”, the South African. “Passing will be difficult. If any previous tie is already difficult, Being among the 16 best African clubs means that you will not find any simple opponents“, analyzes Cosano, who already knows that he will have to deal with many of the tricks that govern the CAF Champions League:” From when they do not let you train until they hold you two or three hours at the airport saying that there is a problem with passports. It is not proven that they do it to destabilize, but the fact that the light goes out in the sports city of a team that plays the Champions League is suspicious. There is also psychological warfare. That also happens in Europe, but here it is more beast. “Cosano assures that” you end up adapting “. In most cases he tries to escape, but he also tries to make Petro counterattack from time to time:”If it is winter in Morocco and here we have more than 30 degrees, when a Moroccan club visits us we will play at 2:00 p.m.. CAF lets us choose between several schedules, so that is legal. Sometimes I prod the president to try to annoy the rival because it is something that we suffer every 15 days, but he is very serious. And that's fine with me. He wants to change African football and he does it by setting an example. “

Despite the pitfalls, Toni Cosano makes the most of his experiences in a “special” competition like the CAF Champions League. “For many footballers it is a showcase through which to achieve a better future”, adds the Spaniard, who believes that Angola needs more “organization and infrastructures” if it wants to match many of the teams with which it will find itself in the highest continental competition: “Everything can be improved, even things as basic as balls or football. soccer player nutrition “. Cosano highlights corruption as one of the great evils of the Girabola (First Division of Angola): “The most talented kids do not always play here, but those who are willing to pay part of their salary to whoever decides the starting 11“. The Catalan adds that, when he directed the Petro academy,” some of my players made the jump to Primera and, suddenly, stopped playing. “The reason?” They told me that the coach had told them that, or they paid him 50% of his salary, or they didn't gamble. My parents have given me an education and I would be ashamed to do something like that. Whoever wins it in training plays with me. I don't even know what each one charges. It's something I don't care about. “

Corruption is not, however, the only evil that plagues African football. “I am an atheist, but I understand that footballers believe in God and think that, if they win a game or score a goal, it is thanks to him. What is excessive is the issue of healers,” discovers Cosano. “There are people who pay a man to do a ritual in which he assures him that he is going to score a goal. I know of footballers who have gone bankrupt going from healer to healer. Some assure them that they will not be injured if they are paid periodically. It is dirty and shabby, “adds the Spaniard, for whom the issue is serious when health is at stake:” I know of players who do not go to the doctor or the physiotherapist. And if they go, it is because the club forces them. They go to the healer to recover. “Despite not agreeing with the practice, Toni Cosano is aware that healers are part of African culture. Therefore, try to respect it while ensuring that its impact on the staff is minimal. And his method is effective: after nine rounds, Petro, the only Angolan representative in the CAF Champions League, is also the leader of the Girabola. The 'oilmen' have spent 12 years without reigning in Angola, but the reconquest is getting closer and closer.

The Covid-19 also plays the Champions

Toni Cosano knows that Covid-19 can play a fundamental role in the CAF Champions League, although, at least for the moment, its impact is not as latent as in Europe. “In Angola, day to day life is lived normally. It is clear that fewer tests are carried out than in Spain, but if the number of sick and dead were high there would be no way to hide it. If people die en masse it is known, and here that is not happening “, discovers Petro de Luanda's coach, who is not worried about having to travel to South Africa, the origin of a new strain, during the group stage of the Champions: “When we return, we will have to wait a week and do the PCR. If it tests negative, we can lead a normal life. “Cosano is obliged to pass two weekly tests. Not so the footballers who have already overcome the disease,” who only undergo a serology to check that they continue to have antibodies. “The one from Hospitalet enjoys Angola without taking his eyes off Spain, where his parents and two brothers, both health workers, are waiting. He may soon accompany them because, as he reveals to AS, Needs “a change of scene.”