Manchester City veteran Patrick Vieira says African nations flopped at the World Cup because of the pressure of expectation.

The France midfielder, who was born in Senegal and is heavily involved in developing the game in Africa through his Diambars Academy project, insisted the Ivory Coast and Cameroon were too reliant on their figurehead players as both made first-round exits, in the case of the Indomitable Lions without winning a point.

Vieira said: "It is quite difficult to understand, some of the big names (of African football) play in Europe and when they come back to their national teams they struggle a lot.

"Players like Drogba and Eto'o, when they play for their clubs there are other stars who share the pressure but when they come into the national team the people expect them to win games by themselves.

"They will make a difference but they cannot win a game by themselves. It is important for other players not to expect one player to make the difference - some players lay back and expect the big players to make a difference on their own. Other players must take responsibility as well."