Fifa president Sepp Blatter has warned that an African team is unlikely to win a World Cup if the continent does not place more faith in its coaches.

"A coach must have a feeling for the heart and soul of his players - look at Nigeria for instance," he said.

"The players may be in Europe but the coach must understand, deeply, the mentality of the players. How can someone from outside do this?"

Blatter also believes African teams suffer from poor preparation.

While no African team made it past the quarter-final stage at the London Olympics, Blatter, speaking at the Games, believes the continent's sides at that level are more competitive than at senior level.

Egypt Olympic coach Hany Ramzy has tipped the next generation of Pharaohs stars to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

A 3-0 loss to Japan in Saturday's quarter-final at Old Trafford ended Egypt's challenge at London 2012 after defender Saadeldin Saad was shown a red card in the first half.

But Ramzy, who selected experienced trio Mohamed Aboutrika, Emad Meteab and Ahmed Fathi as his over-age players for the tournament, believes there are still plenty of positives to be taken from their campaign.

"Even after the sending off we tried to get back into the game. It was very hard for us but I'm still proud of my team - everyone gave 100%," he told BBC Sport.

Senegal assistant coach Aliou Cisse has admitted that the exit of his side and Egypt from the Olympic tournament, is a "big disappointment" for African football.

Both teams were the continent's only remaining sides in the men's competition.

But they both lost in Saturday's quarter-final matches - with Senegal going down 4-2 in extra-time to Mexico and Egypt beaten 3-0 by Japan.

The two teams who represented Africa in the women's tournament, Cameroon and South Africa, failed to qualify for the knock-out stages and did not win a single match.

Giovani dos Santos and Hector Herrera scored in extra time to lead Mexico to the semifinals of the 2012 Olympic Games with a thrilling 4-2 win over Senegal in front of 81,855 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

Jorge Enriquez scored on a header in the first half and Javier Aquino gave Mexico a two-goal before Senegal tied it late with headers from Moussa Konote and Ibrahima.

Mexico, which won Group A, remains unbeaten in four Olympic matches and will face Japan in the semifinals after the Asian squad defeated Egypt earlier in the day. The semi matchup will be played at Wembley.

Japan kept a fourth consecutive clean sheet and secured a semi-final clash with either Mexico or Senegal after beating ten-man Egypt 3-0 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Kensuke Nagai began the scoring in the first half before Maya Yoshida and Yuki Otsu added further gloss to the scoreline in the second period as Takashi Sekizuka's side capitalised on their man advantage following the 41st-minute sending-off of Saad Saadeldin.

The Samurai Blue progress to the last four and another knockout match on Tuesday at Wembley, while Egypt head home wondering what could have been after their last-gasp qualification from the group stage.

Morocco Olympic team coach Pim Verbeek has admitted his side failed to take their chance to reach the quarter-finals after a 0-0 draw with Spain saw them eliminated at the group stage.

The Atlas Lions finished third in Group D after drawing 2-2 with Honduras in their opening match and losing 1-0 to eventual group winners Japan.

It meant that Morocco once again fell at the first hurdle but Dutch coach Verbeek praised the efforts of his players - many of whom have been fasting for Ramadan.

"I'm very proud of them, especially regarding the situation around Ramadan and there are positives we can take from this," he told BBC Sport.

Egypt coach Hany Ramzy believes his side's progress into the quarter-finals at the London Olympics will have given their country a much-needed boost.

A 3-1 victory over Belarus on Wednesday sealed Egypt's place in the last eight, where they face world champions Japan.

Domestic football in Egypt has been banned since more than 70 fans died in the Port Said tragedy and tension remains high in the country since the toppling of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Ramzy told BBC Sport: "Olympic success is very, very important. I talked to the players and said we will try to put a smile back on the faces of our people because it is a very difficult time in Egypt.

Gabon coach Claude Mbourounot believes insufficient preparation and a lack of concentration led to their failure to reach the knockout stages of the Olympic men's tournament.

A goalless draw against South Korea at Wembley on Wednesday meant Gabon were unable to match the achievements of Egypt and Senegal, who made it through to the quarter-finals.

Gabon finished third in Group B, having been beaten by Mexico and drawn with Switzerland in their previous two games.

"I am very disappointed to leave the competition this early. We had our hearts set on qualifying for the quarter-final. But we had very limited preparation," Mbourounot told BBC Sport.

Giants Al Ahly will host Ghanaian side Berekum Chelsea in Saturday's CAF Champions League Group B tie without duo Mohamed Abou Treika and Emad Meteb.

The Cairo giants have allowed the two players to remain with Egypt's Olympic who have progressed to the quarter-final.

Ahly face Chelsea at the Military Stadium on Saturday-the same date Egypt's Under-23 will play Japan.

"After consulting manager Hossam Al-Badri and chairman Hassan Hamdi, we have decided to leave Abou-Treika and Meteb with Ahmed Fathi until the end of the Olympics,'' Ahli football director Sayed Abdul-Hafiz told the club's website.

A fourth goal in three Olympic matches from Moussa Konaté put Senegal into the quarter-finals as runners-up to England in Group A, leaving the fancied Uruguay to depart early.

For much of this game it was difficult to imagine how Senegal could possibly have beaten Uruguay in their last game, though once level after surprisingly going behind in the first half they created enough chances to win by a score big enough to top the group.

A draw means Senegal will face Mexico next, when they will be looking to improve their finishing. Konaté alone could have had a hat-trick here, though he put away the all-important equaliser decisively enough.