Call me unpatriotic if you like but South Africa is not yet ready to participate in the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund took over from Pitso Mosimane when the former SuperSport United coach failed to qualify for the 2012 Afcon. He miscalculated South Africa’s point’s situation in the qualifiers, so Igesund was given the mandate of reaching the Afcon semi-finals and qualifying for the 2014 World Cup. But the three-time PSL league champion has had a mixed bag of results since he was appointed as head coach in June.In September 2012, Bafana Bafana, guided by Igesund in his new role as coach, fought gallantly against Brazil in an international friendly match but succumbed 1-0 away.
The team later travelled back home to play against Mozambique in another friendly in Nelspruit. Bernard Parker scored a brace as Bafana Bafana defeated The Mambas 2-0 to lift South Africa’s confidence.
Bafana Bafana’s confidence took a knock again when they lost to Poland who were ranked 54th in the world by a solitary goal in October 2010.
Now, to me that is just an excuse, Igesund is handling most of the international and experienced players locally.
Then they played against a weaker Kenya side in another friendly match played in Nairobi. Bafana Bafana managed to beat the West African side by 2-1 goals at the time the Harambee Stars were ranked only 128th in the FIFA world rankings.
Late last year, South Africa suffered another loss to African champions Zambia, the Zambian team winning in front of a South African home crowd 1-0. Striker Collins Mbesuma scored the solitary goal as they won the Nelson Mandela Challenge at the FNB Stadium. Many of these performances have been unconvincing, so Igesund declared that his team would not enjoy festive holidays as it would be a work in progress over Christmas. Gordon says he has not had time to prepare a competitive team because of time constraints. He says his team has had little time to prepare while other teams like Cape Verde have had ample time to bond as a team. Gordon could be spot on. Cape Verde played as a unit as they bundled Cameroon out of the Afcon qualifiers last year.
But that is certainly no excuse not to do well in the upcoming Afcon, especially since South Africa was handed the privilege of hosting the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations on a silver platter after the original hosts Libya tried to recover from political turmoil. Bafana Bafana are expected to play three international friendlies before the tournament starts later this month. Norway, Algeria, and Malawi will test South Africa’s strength before the Afcon continental showpiece starts. But with the finals around the corner, Igesund has revealed that his squad has not yet mastered the art of free kicks, corner kicks, and crosses. He was speaking on the 4thof December, where he was outlining his plans ahead of their camp for the Afcon this month. Now, to me that is just an excuse, Igesund is handling most of the international and experienced players locally. Some of these players played together in the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup. The likes of Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Anele Ngcongca, Katlego Mphela, and Itumeleng Khune have all been in the setup long before Igesund was appointed as new coach.
The coach knows very well that the skills that he mentions are acquired through time and have proven to be key in many teams who have won championships. Poor performances over the years have been a great concern to fans who believe they can do better. Bafana Bafana have sunk to a lowly 84th position in the FIFA world rankings. And the Afcon finals won’t be easy. Bafana Bafana have been drawn against giant-killers Cape Verde, Angola, and the always tough Morroco in Group A. A win in their first match against the Verdians is non-negotiable if South Africa is serious about going through to the second half. In fact seven points could be enough to see South Africa through. The fact is that Igesund still has a lot of work to do ahead of the 2013 African Nations Cup and he needs some strong focus in these last weeks of preparation if he is to have any chance of emulating the class of ’96s. Besides giants like Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast, South Africa needs to guard against dark horses like Ethiopia, Togo, and Niger who could rise to the occasion. So Gordon, be warned…. -Themba Shiba is a SABC sport journalist
– By OPINION: Themba Shiba
