Safa CEO Danny Jordaan has looked back at the year 2017, and what it brought for the national teams.
This year was an eventful year for some of the national teams, but very disappointing for Bafana Bafana, who failed to qualify for football’s most prestigious tournament, the Fifa World Cup in Russia, next year, Jordaan says.
The beginning of the year, 2017, saw Bafana Bafana ranked 61 in the world. But poor performances by Bafana caused them drop to a disappointing 81.
“From here on we cannot afford to lose any match as Bafana Bafana, it does not matter who we play. So a different approach, methodology, philosophy and psychology if we want to get back to where we hope to be,” says Jordaan.
However, it was a good year for women’s football. Banyana Banyana made the country proud by winning the Cosafa Cup in Zimbabwe.
Bafana Bafana legend, Mark Fish is worried about the state of the senior men’s national team. He says if handled properly, young players will perform better once they are promoted to the senior team.
Mark Fish shares his concerns by saying: “I think it falters from the top all the way down and unfortunately you know the right things aren’t being done at grassroots level so that we can have a national team that we can consistently be proud of. It becomes an emotional roller coaster when you support Bafana.”
Safa are building a technical centre for all their national teams that will have a variety of pitches, including an artificial turf and a Futsal ground.
