Bafana Bafana should now start rebuilding after their tantalising World Cup performance, despite an early exit. The core of the national team that went to the World Cup –the likes of Jabu Pule, Delron Buckley, Benedict McCarthy and others –must be retained, while the likes of ageing defender Lucas Radebe, goalkeeper Andre Arendse and midfielder Thabo Mngomeni should call it a day.
This is to ensure that we save ourselves from making the same mistake France made by sticking with the same players they had four years ago and playing several thirtysomethings in defence.
The debate on who should take the Bafana Bafana coaching job will be vigorously debated over the next few weeks. The boys’ first task after a well-earned break will be training for the Council of Southern African Football Association (Cosafa) Cup quarter- final match against Madagascar in July. Bafana Bafana would do well to take this tournament seriously if they are to mount a realistic attempt to do well next time in the African Nations and World Cup.
The claims made by Bafana Bafana coach Jomo Sono before leaving for the World Cup that if he stays as technical director the new coach will not have a free hand over the national team should be immediately addressed.
The South African Football Association (Safa) will have to begin to monitor the performances of the under-20 and under-23 sides so as to close the gap between them and the national team.
This would then create a new generation of players for future Bafana Bafana squads for the African Cup of Nations cup in 2004 and 2006 World Cup.
This time around Bafana Bafana did far better than four years ago when they lost 3-0 to eventual champions France, drew with Denmark 1-1 (after the crossbar denied Quinton Fortune a winning goal) and also drew against Saudi Arabia.
The South African team can now build for the 2006 World Cup as there were a number of youngsters in the team that will still be able to perform for Bafana Bafana.
As Bafana Bafana left the World Cup stage — along with Nigeria, Cameroon, France, Argentina, Uruguay, Slovenia, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Croatia — they left behind a promising young African country to continue the African dream of winning the cup.
Tunisia have a mathematical chance of staying on — if they win their final game against Japan by at least four goals and Belgium beat Russia onFriday. This scenario would then give Belgium five points with Tunisia equalling four points with Japan, then resulting in goal difference deciding who goes through. It looks unlikely that Tunisia will score four goals against the hosts without letting in a goal in their own net, but so far it has been a World Cup full of surprises.
Senegal have continued their fairytale rise in African soccer after reaching the final of the African Nations Cup, qualifying for the World Cup, beating World Cup champions France and making it through to the second round. They now face Sweden who topped Group F after draws against Argentina and England and beating Nigeria.
The Senegalese team arrived in the World Cup tournament very underrated but have now gone on to prove that their style, strength and quality can compete with the best in the world.
The equalising goal Senegal scored against Denmark must be rated as one of the best of the tournament. They have also shown that they are not a team to be taken lightly.
As Senegal face Sweden this weekend they will have to make sure that this time around they are not complacent as they were against Uruguay when they were leading 3-0 only to bow under pressure to give Uruguay a draw.
Senegalese striker El Hadji Diouf — the African player of the year — has played well but has just not yet scored. There have also been revelations of other stars in the Senegalese team with the likes of Khalilou Fadiga, Henri Camara and Papa Bouba Diop. The self-belief Senegal has in themselves is likely to carry them through to the quarterfinals.
Sweden cannot be taken lightly due to having more experience in World Cup tournaments. The Swedes have two coaches in this tournament and their players are up to the task of winning, despite also being seen as underdogs.
The strike partnership of Henrik Larsson and Mattias Jonson has resulted in the Swedes being top scorers in their group. The midfield of the Swedes will be anchored by the likes of Fredrik Ljunberg and Marcus Allback, who can also score goals.
On Thursday, just like on Wednesday, Costa Rica crashed out of the World Cup despite having equal points with Turkey due to goals scored. The pain felt by the South Africans was also felt by Costa Rica after they waited with bated breath to find out the score between Turkey and China — only to be given the sad news.