FIFA's official analysis of the 2010 World Cup has offered high praise for Ghana's youth development programme that aided the Black Stars' campaign.

The soccer governing body assembled a team of experienced coaches and former players to analyze the 64 matches for tactics, trends and observations before publishing a 289-page document.

FIFA’s technical advisers, the 16-member Technical Study Group (TSG) highlighted young and skillful players as crucial to teams’ success and compared the Ghanaian programme to that of the host nation's concept.

“Ghana’s ongoing youth and development work was clearly in evidence, with five members of the team that won the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in 2009 making their squad, two of whom were regulars, with another player starting three matches.

“The fact that youth football is viewed differently in South Africa than in Ghana was demonstrated by the fact that none of the players used by South Africa at the U-20 World Cup in Egypt were selected for the senior squad,” it said.

The report also speculated about why Africa’s six teams with the exception of Ghana faltered, claiming that playing the World Cup just five months after the African Cup of Nations in Angola could be a major factor.

“Another issue is the staging of the Africa Cup of Nations in the same year as the World Cup. The difficulty resides in keeping players motivated and fit for two such major competitions. Two tournaments of this stature within six months of each other imposes an extreme mental burden on the players, particularly due to the great pressure to perform to which the players are also exposed their clubs,” the report said

Ghana was the only side from the continent that advanced from the groups as the Black Stars reached the quarter-finals.