Andrew Muchineripi Soccer
Au revoir France. Hello Mauritius, Gabon and Angola. As memories of the World Cup fade from the memory bank, Bafana Bafana must start preparing for another African Nations Cup campaign.
No longer holders of the most prestigious football prize the continent has to offer, South Africa must go through a six-match qualification programme that includes visits to Curepipe, Libreville and Luanda.
To be assured of a place at the 16- nation finals in Zimbabwe come the year 2000, Bafana Bafana will probably require 12 points and they certainly are capable of winning their home matches and the one in Mauritius.
The visits to Gabon and Angola on the west coast promise to be much tougher, and a South African football public with a tendency to expect too much should appreciate that there are few easy away games.
True, Angola are going through a difficult patch with three coaching changes since February, and the expected Gabon goal avalanche against Equatorial Guinea in the preliminaries never materialised.
But South Africa do not visit Gabon until April and Angola until June, and much may have changed by then. Bafana Bafana won 3-1 on a previous Nations Cup journey to Mauritius and another victory can safely be predicted.
Given the danger of over-confidence after competing with the best in the world, it was pleasing to read that caretaker national coach Trott Moloto is off to Luanda this weekend on a “spying” mission.
Moloto will watch Angola playing Zimbabwe on Sunday in a Castle Cup Southern Africa championship – an event Bafana Bafana were bundled out of by Namibia in the preliminary round.
Angola have not fared well in the R2- million competition, squeezing past Swaziland via an extra-time own goal and drawing with Zambia, Namibia and Mozambique.
While it would obviously be better to watch the Angolans in an away-match situation, Moloto can gather useful information and his approach displays a level of professionalism not always associated with the national squad.
Not that Moloto is guaranteed to be directing operations come October 3 and the visit of Angola to FNB Stadium. The position of national coach remains up for grabs before the deadline for applications this Sunday.
Confusing signals are coming from the South African Football Association (Safa) offices within the Soccer City complex, leaving yours truly a little unsure just who has applied and who has not.
Ruud Gullit is a name on many tongues and it would be nothing less than a coup if he were enticed from the bright lights of London and Amsterdam to the much dimmer ones of Johannesburg.
What we do know is that he spoke to Safa officials during the World Cup in France. What was discussed remains confidential and if chief executive Danny Jordaan does not spill the beans soon, I shall have to consider calling the FBI.
Howard Wilkinson, coaching director of the Football Association, has also been mentioned but, in my opinion, would fit as well with Bafana Bafana as pap with caviar.
Wilkinson is a dour Englishman from the old school of up and at ’em, and I fear even the darkest days under Monsieur Troussier would be positively mild compared to what could happen with the former Leeds United manager in charge.
Moloto has applied and so, too, has national under-23 coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba. They lack experience, the critics will shout. But Gullit was also inexperienced when Chelsea handed him the reins.
Much discussion has taken place in the Muchineripi kitchen (it is the warmest section of our humble abode) about who should coach Bafana Bafana and whether he must be local or foreign.
Please do not accuse me of sitting on the fence when I say we need the best of both. Troussier largely sidelined Moloto, preferring to work with his French and Moroccan friends, and we all know what an unhappy camp that produced.
At the risk of being lynched by the local-is-lekker brigade, I do not feel pushing Moloto or Mashaba or both into the lions’ den without some foreign expertise is a good idea either.
Let Trott or Shakes coach and let Safa bring in a European or South American technical adviser. Those chosen must be given four-year contracts to cover the Nations Cup and the 2002 World Cup.
While one can argue that the masses should be led rather than lead, Safa cannot afford to hire a foreigner who is not going to enjoy the support of the players or the people. One Troussier affair is more than enough.