Rigobert Song interview: “Me, Gattuso, Mandela and the Africa Cup of Nations”

Rigobert Song is a legend of African football, 8 African Cups (two won) and 4 World Cups with Cameroon have made him an immortal Indomitable Lion. But African competition is a land of surprises, so… “How is Rino? Tell him I’m rooting for his Italy, eh? You can’t miss going to the World Cup and I’m sure he’ll take you there”, he tells us straight away. And then we need to rewind the tape and go back to the summer of 1998, when Song, after playing in the French World Cup, moved from Metz to Salernitana. And there he found a twenty-year-old Gattuso, who had returned to Italy after his experience in Glasgow with the Rangers.

And what was that young Rino like?

“He had a monstrous, overwhelming strength, and he wasn’t afraid of anything. And he was a golden boy, with a huge heart. All qualities in which I recognize myself, he was an Indomitable Lion, like me!”.

Song laughs. And look back without regrets. It didn’t last long, did it?

“No no, very little! I make my debut with Roma at the Olimpico and I score straight away. We take the lead, then we lose 3-1. It’s one of the 4 games I played in Italy, four. In January Gerard Houllier called me to Liverpool and I went. Good memories anyway, that’s how it went.”

What is the Africa Cup of Nations?

“The World Cup of our continent, a fundamental championship for Africans. A party, a showcase, an opportunity to express oneself, make oneself known and to see old friends again. And a tournament that has grown sensationally in recent years”.

“Indelible: in Soweto, the opening match of the 1996 Cup, Nelson Mandela was in the stands. An incredible atmosphere, the football celebration of the end of apartheid, we lost 3-0 but it wasn’t a match like the others, you could feel the weight of history.”

“Today we are in Morocco for a much bigger tournament, then there were 16 teams and today 24, we are guests of what has become an exemplary country for African football. Morocco has demonstrated that with will, means, planning, commitment, and obviously money, you can do great things, that you can compare yourself with European football, compete at the same level. And in fact in less than 5 years they will organize the World Cup here.”

And the rest of Africa?

“Because we need the means, and not just financial ones. Passion is not enough, we need to give people the chance to express themselves, to grow. Passion cannot be the only driver of development. Let’s stay on a strictly football level: here in Morocco there are pitches everywhere: in other countries it’s not like that, and if children and young people don’t have a place to play, passion is of little use. And it also applies to us professionals: they’ve never given us the chance to stay at home, we’ve always been forced to come to Europe. Which at the level working and economic for the individual is fine, but in this way the local structure never grows, the future is not built. There are African national teams who have 28 players called up out of 28 registered abroad, and so it is difficult to improve. The base is fundamental and Morocco has understood this for some time by focusing on young people born in Europe but investing heavily in the development of local talent, to no longer depend solely and exclusively on European academies. There’s no point in pretending nothing happened or, worse, being hypocritical.”

Who wins this Cup?

“Morocco is obviously the favourites. With the World Cup semi-final they demonstrated everything. And then they won everything: the Chan, the Arab Cup, the Under 20 World Cup… They became aware of their strength. Then it is clear that they will have enormous pressure and winning at home is never easy or obvious.”

Cameroon led by Samuel Eto’o is experiencing yet another complicated situation.

“Yes, and it’s a shame. We have great potential, great quality, we have everything, but… there’s always a but. Overcoming that ‘but’ is the most difficult thing for us. But I don’t lose hope.”

The last 3 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations have been won by local coaches, Belmadi with Algeria, Cisse with Senegal, Fae with Ivory Coast.

“Despite everything, today in general Africa is progressing, slowly but progressing. This data shows that there are the qualities and the people to challenge others. First this emerged on the pitch with us footballers, today it is finally the same on the bench. Of the 9 African national teams qualified for the 2026 World Cup, 7 have a local coach. The training has improved but also the desire to have faith in the coach of one’s country. It has always been thought that the others were better than us, it has been a general problem for the entire African continent, which football has made its own. Things are finally changing.”

The African Cup of Nations is played every two years and has no fixed place in the calendar.

“And it’s a problem for everyone: national teams, players, coaches, clubs. I suffered it firsthand: you left and risked losing your job, the club complained, the coach too. But I left to play with my national team, for my country, mine wasn’t a whim. A solution must be found that satisfies everyone, and so far it hasn’t been done.”