Upbeat coach Jomo Sono has rallied South Africa’s rainbow warriors and taken them to within a point of the World Cup’s last 16.
Sono, one of South Africa’s all time great players, took over a disjointed and dispirited team after the African Nations Cup in January and has changed their fortunes with his straight-talking ways and straightforward tactics.
A 2-2 draw with Paraguay, thanks to a last minute penalty by Manchester United’s Quinton Fortune, and a 1-0 win over Slovenia on Saturday has put the rainbow nation in the driver’s seat for Group B qualification alongside Spain.
Sono, who played for Sporting Lisbon in 1974 during a glittering career, has been a massive influence on Bafana Bafana during their World Cup preparations.
”When I took over the team after the African Nations Cup they were not in good shape,” said the inspirational Sono.
”They were down, down, down. I think I have done a good job in lifting up the players and lifting up their spirits. Players broke into (racial) groups during the African Nations Cup and I told them ‘we are all South Africans no matter our colour’. We won a tournament in Hong Kong, beating Scotland 2-0, and came into the World Cup with a lot of confidence. But the boys have surprised me by coming out and playing as well as this.
”I keep telling them to go out and enjoy it, everything is possible in football. Senegal beat (world champions) France in the opening game so there is no reason why we cannot beat Spain in our final group game.
”I think the fans are going to enjoy the match. Spain and South Africa have very skilful players and I think it will be an open, flowing game. It will also be a hard game, if we get a draw we will go to the second round which was beyond our expectations.”
South African captain Lucas Radebe, injury free and thriving at the World Cup, agreed that Sono had united the team.
”Jomo (Sono) provides us with great leadership,” said Radebe, whose appearances for South Africa have been limited due to injury.
”He does not ask us to do anything that is complicated. Jomo’s team talks are simple – he tells us to go out and enjoy the game.
He is a well-respected figure who has been successful as a player and a coach.
”The previous coach tried to change the style of play. He asked us to play football that was not natural for us.”
Radebe, a rock-like figure at the heart of South Africa’s defence, added that the team had surpassed their initial goals but now wanted to go further in the World Cup.
”It is a great achievement to reach a stage where we are one point away from qualification for the second round,” said the Leeds United man.
”We have a good mix of overseas and locally based players in the side and they have come together well. I think we have to go out for a win against Spain. We have to take the game to the Spaniards and get stuck in. We created a lot of chances against Slovenia but only scored one goal. We have to start converting the chances.” – Sapa-AFP