Andrew Muchineripi Soccer
You woke up feeling terrible. The TV set presented a blank picture, the dogs would not stop barking, the wife went on a shopping spree you deemed extravagant, and the bill for “minor” car repairs actually ran into thousands of rand. So you are feeling desperately sorry for yourself.
And you have a hunched back. After all, the weight of the world is resting on your shoulders. No one loves you. No South African could possibly be more depressed. Right? Wrong!
No matter what national soccer coach Trott Moloto says in public, he cannot be a happy chappy. A solitary victory in eight matches has put him under the sort of pressure you do not wish on your worst enemy.
Another defeat in Cape Town on Saturday, against Saudi Arabia in the first leg of a long-delayed Afro-Asian Nations Cup showdown at Newlands Stadium, and Moloto will be staring at the unemployment queue.
To some extent he is the architect of his own trouble because he does pick the team, although some members of the media would have us believe a secret force actually does it for him.
Needless to say, not a shred of evidence has been produced by the conspiracy theorists so this humble member of the Muchineripi clan will let those stories rest where they belong … at the bottom of a deep wastepaper basket.
Criticism of Moloto is justified because those matches were against Gabon (0-1), Denmark (1-1), Trinidad and Tobago (0-2), Jamaica (1-1), Mauritius (2-0), Zimbabwe (0-1), Angola (2-2) and Namibia (1-1).
True, six of the matches were staged away, but the opposition hardly reflects a who’s who of international football, with only Denmark among the top 30 on the official world rankings. Results often do not tell the full story, of course.
While I am weary of sycophantic “we wuz robbed” stories, we were deprived of a seemingly legitimate goal in Gabon by a Congolese referee whose performance left much to be desired.
A creditable draw in Denmark, where a poor first-half showing was followed by a good second half, preceded an ill-timed if diplomatically necessary visit to the Caribbean.
The 2006 World Cup bid committee wanted the flag waved in Central America and a visit by Bafana Bafana was part of the package. Unfortunately, many of the team took time adjusting to different conditions and time zones.
Many appeared half asleep when losing to Trinidad and Tobago, and they did perform considerably better when drawing with the popular Reggae Boyz in Jamaica.
Success over Mauritius in the only match that really mattered – it secured a berth at the 2000 African Nations Cup finals in Ghana and Nigeria — should have taken the heat off Moloto.
A lacklustre loss in a match to celebrate the inauguration of President Thabo Mbeki had exactly the opposite effect and when Bafana Bafana could only draw in Angola after leading by two goals, the media knives sharpened.
Moloto must have fancied his chances against Namibia in the Castle Cup, only to be let down by poor penalty-taking in a shoot-out, and we were dumped out of the competition for the second successive year by the Brave Warriors.
South Africa Football Association (Safa) chief executive Raymond Hack is on record as saying Moloto will lead Bafana Bafana at the Nations Cup no matter what happens against the Saudis or in a November friendly with Sweden.
Those who are so keen to see Trott fired have hardly come up with an alternate. All that matters, it seems, is that they can claim the glory for his dismissal. The fact that some of them could not explain basic tactics does not matter.
They want blood and I doubt if even Safa can save Moloto should Bafana Bafana fail to beat the Saudis, whose own recent form is not exactly awe-inspiring. Competing in the Confederations Cup, they slumped 5-1 to hosts Mexico, drew 0-0 with Bolivia, humiliated eight-man Egypt 5-1, crumbled 8-2 to Brazil and fell 2-0 in a third-place play-off against the United States.
South Africa and Saudi Arabia drew 2-2 in the World Cup finals last year, with Shaun Bartlett opening and closing the scoring while Pierre Issa conceded two penalty kicks that were converted.
Moloto has recalled goalkeeper Andre Arendse and midfielder Eric Tinkler, members of the “old guard” well used to winning in the days when Bafana Bafana seemingly could do no wrong. Moloto will hope their presence can bring a change of luck to a side lacking captain Lucas Radebe and leading scorer Philemon Masinga. Otherwise, his future may be too ghastly to contemplate.