affair
Andrew Muchineripi SOCCER
Amid all the hype and hope of the 2006 World Cup bid, it was all too easy to forget that there is the small matter of an important qualifying match for the 2002 World Cup on Sunday.
Bafana Bafana travel to Harare on Saturday for a Group E showdown with Zimbabwe before an expected capacity 60E000 crowd at the National stadium the following afternoon.
It was there in August 1992 that raw, nave South Africa got a rude awakening to the realities of international football with then national football association president Stix Morewa forced to swallow a huge slice of humble pie.
Bra Stix was never the most humble of football officials and, solely on the strength of a few meaningless friendlies against Cameroon, boasted that his stars would teach the hapless Zimbabweans a lesson or six.
I hardly need remind South Africans what happened.
Peter Ndlovu ran the Bafana defence ragged and scored twice as the Warriors triumphed 4-1 to hammer the first nail into the coffin of coach Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala. Before my valued readers start accusing me of being a gloating Zimbabwean, let me state for the record that there is no way my homeland can win 4-1 this time round.
If they do, I will publicly eat this page of your favourite newspapers sans salt and vinegar. Yes, that is how confident I am this is going to be a much closer affair altogether.
One cannot compare the South African team of 1992 with the present crop. For all the shortcomings of the class of 2000, they are one of the strongest national teams on the continent.
And in what will probably be his final major match in complete control, senior assistant coach Trott Moloto has an opportunity to prove he should never have been demoted.
Make no mistake, victory over Zimbabwe in Harare would be a huge feather in the Moloto cap. Only Algeria have won a World Cup quali-fier there in 20 years.
My prediction is a low-scoring draw or a narrow victory for Zimbabwe, who slumped 3-0 to Guinea in their first group match three weeks ago and subsequently overcame Seychelles 1-0 in an African Nations Cup qualifier.
The heart of the Bafana defence worries me, first because Pierre Issa and Frankie Schoeman are automatic choices, given they are the only central defenders in the 18- man squad.
Denmark-based Schoeman has represented his country only four times while Issa was more at sea than a sailor during that three-part Nike Cup nightmare in the United States.
It is also not ideal to have players guaranteed places – it can breed complacency when a coach is looking for competition, which does exist in the fullback slots.
Cyril Nzama should get the nod over Aaron Mokoena on the right side while my preference would be for much-improved Jacob Lekgetho ahead of injury-prone and physically frail Bradley Carnell on the other flank.
The return of “hard man” Eric Tinkler is a tremendous boost to a midfield often long on skill but short of brawn, and Helman Mkhalele and Quinton Fortune seem good bets to man the flanks. That leaves Godfrey Sapula, Dumisa Ngobe, Thabo Mngomeni and Delron Buckley fighting for one place, and hard-working Ngobe would get my vote despite a tendency to drift in and out of matches.
With the greatest respect to Benni McCarthy, my strike partnership would be captain Shaun Bartlett and Siyabonga Nomvete, which worked well during the African Nations Cup in Ghana.
Zimbabwe have South Africa-based players in defenders Kaitano Tembo, Edelbert Dinha and Innocent Chikoya, midfielders William and Wilfred Mugeyi and strikers Tauya Mrewa, Benjamin Mwaruwari and Alois Bunjira.
But Ndlovu, who has been granted a free transfer by English First Division club Birmingham City, is the man most likely to spread terror given the relish with which he roasts South African defenders.
The second round of a qualifying programme
that stretches to July next year may seem a little early for crucial matches, but if Zimbabwe suffer another loss they can forget about Seoul and Tokyo. While South Africa are making their debut, a loss coupled with a win for Guinea in Burkina Faso would put the West Africans six points ahead of Bafana Bafana. So it must be at least a draw.