Andrew Muchineripi SOCCER
Unless I have taken complete leave of my senses, the Olympic Games football tournament is considerably more significant than the Castle Cup Southern Africa championship.
The quadrennial Olympic Games is the biggest multi-sport festival, is steeped in history, and the football matches attract crowds bettered only by those at the venue hosting the athletics programme.
The annual Castle Cup is a splendid addition to the Southern Africa calendar, not least because the South African brewery who bankroll the knockout event are extremely generous when it comes to assisting the competitors.
However, the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations – better known by its acronym, Cosafa – would surely be the first to admit that comparing their championship with the Olympics is nothing short of absurd.
Why then, given that South Africa are just one opponent and two matches away from a first appearance at the Olympics, was the Amaglug-glug squad not called up en masse for the Castle Cup match against Mauritius on Saturday?
Frequent visits to Vosloorus Stadium on the East Rand for Olympic qualifiers have convinced this humble scribe that the Olympic squad are dear to the hearts of most South African football supporters.
I would go so far as to predict they would come pretty close to filling the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng near Rustenburg, which is a wonderful venue with a 40E000-seat capacity.
Amaglug-glug have not played since defeating Guinea 4-1 more than one month ago, and the Mauritius match would have served as an ideal warm-up for playoffs with a New Zealand team we dare not underestimate.
Too many voices, including New Zealand- born SuperSport United goalkeeper Mike Utting, have been dismissing the All Whites (so called because of the colours of their kit rather than pigmentation, let me hasten to add).
The first leg is in Auckland on Friday May 19, and the second in South Africa (presumably the Vosloorus slaughterhouse) on May 27, so time is running out for thorough preparations.
Olympic coach Ephraim ”Shakes” Mashaba would surely have jumped at the chance to sharpen the bodies and minds of his players, who reached the playoffs by finishing as the best second-placed team in the African mini-leagues.
I appreciate that certain key pieces in the Amaglug-glug jigsaw, like Benni McCarthy and Quinton Fortune, would probably not have been available due to club commitments, but threequarters of an exercise is much better than none.
Norway-based Emille Baron is certainly not inferior to Bafana Bafana choices Brian Baloyi and Simon Gopane and seems destined to overtake both before too long in the race for the national jersey.
Similarly, a back four consisting of Nkiphitheni Matombo, Fabian McCarthy, Matthew Booth and David Kannemeyer is hardly inferior to Cyril Nzama, Andrew Rabutla, McCarthy and Kannemeyer.
Bafana Bafana coach Trott Moloto has selected Steve Lekoelea, Thabo Mngomeni, Joseph Ngake, Arthur Zwane, Godfrey Sapula, Jabu Pule and Dillon Sheppard as his midfielders.
Even without quiet hero Fortune, who is hoping for several appearances with English Premiership champions Manchester Uhited as they enter the final straight, Mashaba would be able match Moloto.
Remember the name Abram Nteo, a young, medium-built ball winner from lowly Bloemfontein Celtic, who does not get the media attention he deserves for his unfashionable but crucial destructive role with Amaglug-glug.
Then there is the silent assassin, Patrick Mbuthu from Kaizer Chiefs, and the skilful Stanton Fredericks from Wits University. These young footballers are a match for anyone Moloto can call up.
Bafana Bafana and Amaglug-glug use the highly sought-after services of one Siyabonga Nomvete, now of Chiefs but seemingly destined for an address in Sunderland, north-east England, or Perugia, central Italy.
His partner will surely be George Koumantarakis from Swiss club FC Basle, who has been recalled to the senior squad after almost three years in the international wilderness. Patrick Mayo is the other striker.
Mashaba would have considered Nkosinathi Nhleko, Bradley August or Daniel Matsau in the absence of Benni, and whether Big George is better than them is open to considerable debate.
I sincerely hope Koumantarakis, one of the most pleasant footballers I have had the pleasure to meet off the field, is given a little more encouragement from South African supporters this time.
Remember the disgraceful, Philemon Masinga-style treatment the young man from Durban received when he played against The Netherlands in the 1997 Nelson Mandela Challenge at a freezing FNB Stadium?
How can any player, even those with the thickest of rhinoceros skins, excel if those who share his birthplace verbally abuse him each time he touches the ball?
That said, Koumantarakis does not feature in the Muchineripi list of leading South African footballers. He looked distinctly awkward against Congo and the Dutch and well below international standard. Let us give him a chance, though.
Mauritius will be no pushover after giving Egypt two tough matches in World Cup qualifiers last week before losing 2-0 in Cairo and 4-2 in Alexandria. The squad includes goalkeeper Orwin Castel and striker Jean-Marc Ithier from Cape Town club Santos.