In order to test our theory, we need to look whether there are any other related cases anywhere in the world where players from a team the dominates the professional league carries the success of the national team.

Spain won the World Cup in 2010, and Pep Guardiola was coaching Barcelona in Spain in 2010 and they dominated La Liga.

In 2014, Germany won the World Cup and Guardiola was once again coaching Bayern Munich in 2014 and they dominated Bundesliga.

As much as this looks like an interesting observation, it's important to note that correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

Some people have gone to the lengths of saying this was just coincidental.

However, the success of a national team in any tournament, is influenced by a multitude of factors, including skills and tactics, the strategies of the coaching staff, the quality of players, team dynamics and performance on the day.

While the presence of successful club coaches in a country's league can have an impact, it is not a guarantee of national team success.

It is however, important to note that Guardiola managed Barcelona from 2008 to 2012 and seven players of his team were in the starting lineup for Spain in the 2010 World Cup final.

He had the philosophy instilled in the players and although he was the manager of Bayern Munich for one season, players like Manuel Neur, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Phillip Lahm and Jerome Boateng proved to be the key assets in Germany's World Cup run.

All seven of his team players started for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final.

"Although England boast talents including Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham, Bayern Munich's Harry Kane and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka, the bedrock of Gareth Southgate's squad comes from Manchester City and Guardiola's football philosophy," Mark Odgen, Senior Writer ESPN; 16 November 2023.

The Guardiola effect is evident, if you look at all the national teams where Guardiola has coached or is coaching, his players form the backbone of the national team.

The fact of the matter is that national teams don't have much down time to train together all the time, except for strategies and etc, many of the fundamentals and teamwork are mostly done at the clubs.

This has been the biggest problem Brazil has faced and obviously to be fair, most nations teams do as well.

They have very good players who start on all major club teams in the world, yet they are having trouble producing the desired results.

All the players are spread all over the world in different teams, which makes it very hard for them to practice together and get real game time together.

FC Barcelona dominated La Liga and was the backbone of Spain's 2010 team (Victor Valdes, Carlos Puyol, Gerard Pique, Xavi, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez).

Bayern Munich dominated Bundesliga and was the backbone of Germany's 2014 team (Manuel Neur, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze, Phillip Lahm and Jerome Boateng).

The Brazilians are serial PSL winners, they have won the Champions League, and they are the current champions of the inaugural Super League and their players form the backbone of Bafana Bafana's 2023 AFCON squad.

Ronwen Williams, Grant Kekana, Terrence Mashego, Aubrey Modiba, Mothobi Mvala, Khuliso Mudau, Themba Zwane, Teboho Mokoena, Thapelo Maseko and Thapelo Morena.

This sees the Brazilians dominating the Bafana Bafana squad list.

In the team that destroyed Namibia a few days ago, 8 Sundowns players were on the starting eleven.

The inclusion of Morena made a huge difference as the first goal was a combination of Sundowns players just like the last goal of the same match.

The back 5 that kept a clean sheet, all of them happen to be Sundowns players and against Tunisia 8 Sundowns players were also on the starting eleven.

The Man of the match award on both matches went to Themba Zwane, a Sundowns player.

The same back 5 kept another clean sheet.

This goes to show that when players train and play together, synergy becomes evident, be it offensively or defensively.

It is clear that the team that dominates the local professional league has an impact on the national team's success.

The style and philosophy of that team's coach will definitely have some form of effect on the performance and success of the national team.

We have seen the "Pep Effect" on national teams of Spain, Germany and England.

Looking at the performance of Bafana Bafana over the past few days, are we seeing the emergence of the "Rulani Effect" in the South African national team?

Some may argue and say Bafana Bafana haven't won the tournament yet, it's still too early to talk about the "Rulani Effect" however, looking at the performance of the national team recently, and the number of players who work on a daily basis with coach Rulani, one might be tempted to say the "Rulani Effect" has emerged.