As it has been over the years, it was overwhelming to welcome our boys to the development program after the Christmas and end of the year holidays.

We anticipate a great year of football in the continent. Despite the causalities, the football feast in Africa has begun in Angola and it has indeed been a tremendous event with a number of mind-boggling results.

The incident to the Togo national team is very unfortunate and I personally condemn that. This could have happened anywhere and at any time - that is why it is important that Organising Committees double their efforts in making all the provisions for top notch security during such events.

The rumours doing the rounds that it (the attack on the Togolese team) would have ripple-effects in the world Cup is rather a pessimistic and gullible view about South Africa’s readiness to be the privileged ones hosting this envied event.

I was amazed to watch the greatest comeback in the AFCON in the match between Angola and Mali. This is why I often emphasize that coaches have to have a profound understanding of the depth, personality, maturity, endurance and emotional state of their players. I am in no manner suggesting that Angola’s 4 – 4 draw was due to the coaches’ inability to understand his players. Football is a game of collective effort when wanting to succeed and I believe that everyone in the team should feel responsible for allowing Mali to fight back against all odds.

It is important for coaches to read the game and have the courage to implement tactics during the game. There are times that we have to know whom we are playing against, check their record, history and understand them. Football is not a simple business and in this century it has become a game where the more tactically sound and disciplined wins.

The usual readers of my column will recall that I often say that the last ten minutes of a game are very important… people cannot lose concentration, and have to maintain emotions under control at the stage.

Mali has a good coach Stephen Keshi with whom I am friends, and I knew that he was planning to fight back… he saw that Angola kept the same rhythm, and it was just a matter of time until they killed their spirit; the first goal was the killer punch!

I hope we have all learnt something form that match.

Going back to our development program – as I said earlier, we are back. Our coaches had a workshop and we are ready to start operations for this year.

I have to congratulate Mduduzi Nyanda as he has finally been registered with the first team.

After a long and arduous work with him, I am happy to know that we managed to equip him with the necessary abilities to play for the first team.

In our academy, our players have been divided in categories, and with the new players also being well integrated into our system, we are certainly on course for a splendid season.

It is all systems go for us, and we hope that this year brings all the best for us.

Until next week.

Professor Augusto Palacios