Merryman Kunene
In the aftermath of Bafana Bafana’s poor showing at the Nike Cup in the United States recently, the issue of finding a new national team – and coach – is back in the spotlight. By the end of the 2000 African Cup of Nations campaign in Ghana and Nigeria, South Africa had been led to believe that a new coach would lead Bafana in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
As things stand, former schoolteacher Trott Moloto looks set to stay – by default. The South African Football Association (Safa) does not seem to have a short- or long-term solution to the problem and recent utterances by Safa officials and captain Lucas Radebe are eroding the status of the national team coach.
“I do not mind when people criticise me, however, it hurts when I am being undermined by the people who I think should understand what we are trying to achieve here,” Moloto said.
Moloto is distressed by the unrealistic expectations from a nation that has barely 10 years’ experience of competing at international level. For whatever reasons, South Africans have come to regard Bafana Bafana as world beaters. Every time they take on opponents other than Europeans, they are expected to win. What many have failed to realise is that the players are still developing and could even be a few years behind some of their counterparts in Africa. This is evident at club level, where local teams have been outclassed frequently in African competitions.
Sorting out Bafana’s woes might not be just a question of finding the right man for the coaching job, but also looking into the administration, management of fixtures and development of the team. With Safa’s brand of administration, coaching Bafana Bafana is a difficult job made impossible. Only recently Safa made little effort to facilitate the under-23 team’s qualification for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Moloto, a self-proclaimed paragon of morality and a staunch Christian, refuses to quit and has relied on his spirituality to stay in a job where he knows he is not wanted. For now he seems happy to profit from Safa’s ineptitude. “I am not worried by outside comments and I will carry on with my duties until I am told otherwise,” he said.
Moloto is convinced that with him at the helm the face and soul of Bafana Bafana has changed over the years. Among other things, he credits himself with raising HIV awareness in the communities. But most fans would rather have tactical awareness on the football pitch where it seems to be in short supply and that is where it counts most.
Although Moloto’s reign has seen some indifferent results, occasionally his spirituality has been the only driving force behind the team. He has also been lucky. Last May against Gabon, Bafana needed some divine intervention in the form of Lovers Mohlala getting injured to allow Joel Masilela to transform the fortunes of the side. And there have been several matches when Bafana Bafana performed unconvincingly but still got the results.
Amid clamour for a change in the coach, Safa seems clueless. Ironically no top coach seems interested in the job. Names like Ruud Gullit, Berti Vogts and Alberto Perreira have been bandied about, but none has even bothered to come to South Africa for an interview. That leaves Moloto and few locally based coaches – who do not seem to interest Safa.
“Ultimately, I would love to lead my country into the 2002 World Cup,” continued Moloto. He might not have the confidence to say boldly he will be in Japan and Korea for the finals with Bafana Bafana – but we know he is praying for it and the teacher has been a good student of South African soccer politics.