European coaches stifling African teams claims Daniel Amokachi

But Amokachi, who played his club football in England, Belgium and Turkey before retiring in the early 2000s, was prepared to back up his strong claim.

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"You know in Africa we have our culture and we have our style of football, if we relate with our style of football then we'll always be the best football players in the world. Africa and South America, we are the same but in the European angle of it, they kill our style of football because they're too tactically disciplined," Amokachi said.

The 51-year-old seemed to be critical of The Super Eagles coach Jose Peseiro despite the Portuguese mentor having guided Nigeria to the quarterfinals of the AFCON, where they face Angola tonight.

Speaking at a CAF school initiative event in Abidjan where he was invited as one of the legends, Amokachi made reference to Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti.

"And that's why I love what Ancelotti is doing at Real Madrid, that he said I cannot stop Rodrygo or Vinicius Jnr to do what they wanna do upfront because if I tell them to stay on the left side and they're on the field and they see the need to make a run on the middle, who am I as a manager to tell them because they have to decide. So, that's what makes a great player and that's what African players are all about and if we have a manager that understands that, we'll fly," Amokachi added.

To support his point even further, Amokachi used the decision by AFCON hosts Cote d’Ivoire to sack coach Jean-Louis Gasset during the group stages and replace him with former player Emerse Fae as an example.

Having snuck into the round of 16 as one of the best third-placed teams, The Elephants have now made it to the quarterfinals after eliminating champions Senegal in Fae’s first game in charge.

"A typical example is the last game the Ivorians played against Senegal, you have a manager who's an African, you have a manager who understands the players, you have a manager who understands the quality that the Ivorian players have. You have a player who's the Man of the Match in the last game, he never played, he never kicked the ball, and they never even put him but he knows that this player he needs the link between the defence and the attack.

“Then he brought some players, he keeps some key players on the bench that tells you the quality that Africa has when it comes to managerial and the skill of football."