Bongani Siqoko : Soccer
The World Cup tournament is only six months away and the count-down to the most prestigious soccer extravaganza in the world has begun. Travel agencies, printers and ordinary township people are gearing up for the tournament.
It is the first time that ordinary people have had so much interest in this tournament. The reason is easy to find — South Africa will be represented at the tournament for the first time since its inception. No wonder France ’98 is a buzzword among the soccer-loving masses of South Africa.
People are really divided over how Bafana Bafana will perform at the finals. There are those who say South Africa should go to this tournament with a view to learning in preparation for the future.
They say South Africa won’t even go through to the second round. If South Africa’s recent results against European and South American sides are anything to go by, then they might be right to predict that Bafana Bafana face an early exit.
There are those who are “as optimistic as coach Clive Barker” was that South Africa can cause an upset at soccer’s showpiece. They are quick to remind us that Nigeria and Saudi Arabia were underdogs in USA ’94 but went as far as the second round, registering stunning wins along the way. They say going into the tournament as underdogs can work to our advantage.
South Africa’s 3-4 loss to Uraguay in the Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia last week was received with mixed feelings at Piccadilly Centre in Yeoville where a crowd of people watched the game. South Africa was the only country which finished the eight-nation tournament without a win and was bottom of Group B with one draw and two losses. And this caused a concern among supporters.
After the game two guys nearly fought outside because one said John “Shoes” Moshoeu does not deserve to be in the 22-man team that heads for France next June.
Many people blamed Bafana Bafana’s poor perfomance in
Saudi Arabia on the group of “tried and tested” players and called for the axing of players like Mark Fish, Shoes Moshoeu and Eric Tinkler — all of whom helped South Africa lift the Africa Nations Cup trophy last year.
“Fish is useless,” shouted one man after a TV replay of one of the goals.
“We lost games we should have won in Saudi Arabia. We should have won all three games but if it was not because of Mark Fish, Tovey, Shoes and who else … Mark Williams, we could have advanced to the second round,” said an unhappy Solo Nzima. “These guys have served their country well, now if they are fair enough they will also go to the coach and ask for a break.” He said if South Africa continues to play “without discipline, other countries will really punish us in France”.
These sentiments were echoed by Xola Sibhene who said he was tired of South Africa losing all the games against European and South American sides. “These guys are playing rubbish. In France they’ll get 6-0 after 6-0 if they continue to play like this. They will be back home in a week’s time.”
Sam Khumalo does not believe South Africa will be the whipping boys of the tournament. He said he was satisfied with their perfomance but the only problem was the defence. He said the coach should spend time with his defenders who looked very suspect in Saudi Arabia. “France and other countries will really punish us if we go to the World Cup with such an undisciplined defence. Our defenders all want to overlap and they leave their opponents unmarked.
“Remember the fourth goal against us, that guy was unmarked. [Willem] Jackson left him alone at right back,” said an angry Khumalo.
These kinds of arguments have been the order of the day ever since South Africa qualified for finals on August 16. Slogans like “Siyaya eFrance” and “Viva Bafana Bafana viva,” are chanted everywhere you go in townships, from football grounds to shebeens.
Ordinary people, although not satisfied with Bafana Bafana’s recent results, cannot wait to see South Africa rubbing shoulders with the who’s who of international football. Taxi drivers have joined in the song and expressed their good wishes to Bafana Bafana.
“We wish Bafana Bafana well in France, but its just unfortunate that we won’t be able to take supporters to the stadiums to watch them,”=20said a taxi driver at Bree Street taxi rank. He said they just hope that fans will go to France in large numbers to give the players the support they deserve.
He said the stadiums were full to capacity in all the games involving Bafana Bafana in last year’s African Cup of Nations because taxi drivers were there for them. Alhough they went to the banks smiling after doing such good business they say they did not do it just for the money. “We were rendering a service to the nation. If we were not there maybe the stadiums would have been empty and no one would have been there to support Bafana Bafana,” said one taxi driver.
He said taxi drivers played an important role in ensuring that South Africa lifted that trophy.
Fans came from as far afield as Bloemfontein and Durban. This was the time that South Africans of all races came together for the same cause. The stands were truly a rainbow as the “Rainbow Nation” came in thousands to watch Bafana Bafana hammer Tunisia 2-0 in the final to lift the silverware. This, according to many taxi drivers the Mail & Guardian spoke to, was their contribution to nation-building. It is expected that once again people of all races will go to France and represent the “Rainbow Nation”
In an attempt to help those die-hard supporters and to meet the taxi drivers’ concerns, Fly Africa Sports World Agency — the only travel agency which has the World Cup rights at the moment — has organised two tours to France during the finals.
Fly Africa’s managing director Nazeer Camarooden said each tour will get a chance to watch at least two Bafana Bafana matches. He is not sure about the cost yet as they are still waiting for hotel prices, but added that it will be a good price.
He said they are expecting 2 500 fans. “At least Bafana Bafana will have support in the stands for their first three matches” said Camarooden. The first tour will watch Group C’s opening match between France and South Africa at Stade Municipal in Marseilles on June 12 and the second match against Denmark in Toulouse on June 18. The second tour will watch the SA-Denmark game and South Africa’s third game against Saudi Arabia in Bordeaux on June 24.
“South Africa will have a lot of support in the second game as both tours will watch the game,” added Camarooden.
Those who do not have the money to go to France, have already started betting. According to Glen Sepel of Sports Betting, people have already started putting their money on Bafana Bafana. He said Brazil are favourites to lift the trophy, even among South Africans, at 3-1 followed by Germany at 6-1, Italy and France at 8-1, while South Africa are 100-1. “This means that for every R1 you put on you get R100 if South Africa wins,” said Sepel. This simply shows that Bafana Bafana, despite being African Champions, go into the tournament as underdogs.
It only comes once in four years and South Africa have made history by qualifying on only the second attempt. There are countries, like Zambia and Zimbabwe who have been trying for a long time to qualify for the tournament.
But in the five years that South Africa has been a member of the Federation of International Football Associations [Fifa], two milestones have been achieved — winning last year’s African Nations Cup and qualifying for the the World Cup. This caused some hysteria and many people thought Bafana Bafana were “world beaters”.
In the past, although many South Africans were glued to their TV sets, watching and supporting other countries — like Brazil, Italy, England and Germany — deep down in their hearts they longed for the day when South Africans could show their skills against different schools of soccer.
That dream will soon become a reality when the men in gold, green, white and black jerseys take on France in the opening game on June 12.