Desailly wants World Cup legacy for all Africa

By Mike Collett

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former France international Marcel Desailly said on Friday that the lasting legacy of the first World Cup in Africa must be an improvement in soccer all over the continent, not just in South Africa.

In an interview with Reuters, he also said he hoped to take charge of a national team or a top club in the future, and thought they if they qualify for the finals, African champions Egypt and the Ivory Coast had the best chance of making an impact in next year's tournament.

Desailly, 40, who retired as a player three years ago after winning both the World Cup and the European Cup in a glittering career, said that African soccer had reached a turning point in its history with this month's Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup being staged in South Africa.

The Ghanaian-born player, who moved to France when he was four and played 116 times for his adopted homeland, said he was hopeful that soccer would continue to develop on the continent, but he was not aware yet of any major young talents coming through.

"The key to the future of African football is not the players we all know about now like Didier Drogba or Samuel Eto'o who have succeeded abroad, but how to improve the level of their own leagues by keeping their top young players in their own countries for longer." he said.

"It is going to be hard to change though. The best players will always go to Europe and it will be always be difficult to make them stay at home.

"But if the infrastructure was better, they could be persuaded to stay longer and not leave at such an early age.

"We are at a key moment in football for Africa and it is a chance that must not be allowed to slip. Maybe the legacy of the World Cup would be to change the thinking in Africa."