Andrew Muchineripi SOCCER To most countries in Southern Africa the Castle Cup is manna from heaven, a rare opportunity for cash- strapped football associations to make money while spending none as the brewer foots travel and accommodation bills. For South Africa it is less of a blessing because the national association is extremely wealthy by African standards and regional championship fixtures create those never-ending club-versus-country disputes. Coach Trott Moloto goes into the semifinal against Zimbabwe at Telkom Park in Port Elizabeth on Saturday without a single foreign-based player and two of his original local selections. Injury forced midfielder Dillon Sheppard out and the suspension of striker Patrick Mayo by Bush Bucks led to him being withdrawn. Jethro “Lovers” Mohlala and Nkosinathi Nhleko take their places. First-choice goalkeeper John Tlale is also missing due to injury, although the inspirational form of Calvin Marlin from Ajax Cape Town in a midweek BP Top 8 match suggests he would be an excellent replacement. Moloto has a chance to prove to the South African Football Association (Safa) that if they insist on placing a foreign coach above him, it must be someone he can respect. He certainly cannot look up to Giuseppe Dossena, who got the boot from Ghana this week after a miserable spell in charge of the national senior and Olympic teams. Despite being boosted by home advantage and having some of the best players in Africa like Bayern Munich defender Sammy Kuffour, the Black Stars were the biggest disappointment of the 2000 African Nations Cup.
Ghana scraped into the knockout stages on goal difference. It was Dossena versus Moloto in the quarterfinals and Bafana triumphed 1-0 against a team clueless about how to make their numerical superiority tell after Eric Tinkler was sent off. And it was not only Moloto who proved himself superior to Dossena, a member of the 1982 Italy World Cup-winning squad. Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba took his Amaglug-glug squad to Ghana, forced a 2-2 draw and won the return match 1-0 at Vosloorus thanks to a Stanton Fredericks goal.
It was all too much for Ghanaians and they voted to dump the Italian when his contract expires on Monday.
Of course, Dossena is fully entitled to apply for the Bafana Bafana head coach position, and Safa is equally entitled to say no. As for the Zimbabwe match, it comes uncomfortably soon after that tragic Sunday in Harare in early July when 13 people lost their lives in a stampede caused by trigger-happy police firing tear gas indiscriminately.
South Africa performed like a typi-cal North African team at the National stadium that day, snatching an early goal, soaking up continuous pressure, and grabbing a second in a swift counterattack. It is fair to expect more adventure from Bafana in the Eastern Cape as they are the home team. Expect another close match as a glorified Bafana B team has a lot to prove, especially Mohlala, the best left wingback in the world if some members of the local media are to be believed. Mohlala is much more suited to the demanding role than those like Joel Masilela and Helman Mkhalele, who have been forced to function in positions they are obviously unsuited to due to defensive frailties. Mohlala has been tried before, notably in an African Nations Cup qualifier against Angola at FNB stadium, with little success. Should he play, he has much to prove.
Marlin or Brian Baloyi will be the goalkeeper and Cyril Nzama, Matthew Booth, Andile Sixaba and Jacob Lekgetho appear the probable defenders with Musa Mntakwenda and David Kannemeyer on the bench.
There should be a first cap for Warren Lewis in midfield, where captain Thabo Mngomeni is a certain starter, while Fees Moloi is the likely strike partner for Siyabonga Nomvete.