By Luke Jennings
Brian Kerr praises structures in place behind the Asian and African countries reaching the last 16 of the World Cup in conversation with Joe Molloy on OTB today.
Speaking on Off The Ball, Kerr delved into the Asian and African team's success throughout the World Cup.
For the first time in World Cup history, Asia has more nations in the last 16 than the South American teams.
Kerr was full of praise for the participating nations for reaching the knockout stages.
“A lot of the reasons are quite obvious,” said Kerr. “There are so many players from Africa and Asia playing in the better leagues around the world.
“We think that the European qualification process is very difficult because only 13 teams qualify for the World Cup.
“If you look at the African situation where they're five out of a similar number of countries.”
Kerr highlighted the improvement in facilities and opportunities across the globe when crediting the success of Asian and African teams.
The impact of locality for supporters and weather conditions has helped the regional clubs, according to Kerr.
Kerr credited the participating nations for appointing managers with the same nationality as their players. The former Republic of Ireland manager highlighted the importance of the management understanding their player's culture.
“The reasons why they have improved, in fairness to FIFA, is because the coaching structures are better,” Kerr added. “More of their players are getting the opportunities to play in other countries.
“One of the reasons they’ve done well in this competition is the environment, the support for the African countries, Morocco’s games have been like home games.
“The fact that they're not playing in Europe or South America has helped them.
“They know the culture of their own players. I think it’s good for football.”
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By Luke Jennings
