New Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim ”Shakes” Mashaba cuts an imposing figure. His firm handshake complements that impression and the South African Football Association (Safa) has provided an impressive office at Soccer City to house the package.
The former under-23 coach is the eighth man to take the helm of the senior national team since readmittance to Fifa and he is determined to make his mark: ”I am looking at winning the Cosafa Cup and next qualifying for the African Nations Cup in Tunisia.” In his first match in charge, Mashaba took a big step towards achieving the first part of his plan. South Africa out-fought and out-thought an out-of-their-depth Swaziland side 4-1 in Polokwane a fortnight ago to book their first appearance in the final of the Cosafa Cup.
As we talk about his past and future plans his cellphone rings. He answers, tells the caller he is busy and immediately drops the phone and apologises for the disturbance. Mashaba means business both on and off the field.
Before the Swazi game he said his players’ attitude towards this regional competition should change. ”There are no minnows anymore. Our boys need to roll up their sleeves and go out there to die on the playing field.” The players listened.
Mashaba was born in Orlando to a family of five children. His family was well-off, with both of his parents being very religious. He grew up playing soccer and would sometimes dodge church services for a game. This did not amuse his father, who often gave him a smack or withheld food on the day.
Mashaba established himself as one of the greats of South African soccer when he led the 1974 Orlando Pirates team to an unprecedented sweep of all the silverware available in the National Soccer League (NSL). ”That was a great team and I was very honoured to have captained that side,” says Mashaba, who was nicknamed Babahouza (father of the house) in his playing days.
After he had achieved all he wanted to at Pirates — captaining the team for four years — he felt that he had reached his pinnacle and left the team for greener pastures. He took the plunge and moved to Swaraji United in the Indian and coloured soccer federation, choosing better organisation and incentives over bigger crowds in the black NSL.
His coaching career began in the National Professional Soccer League (later the NSSL second division) where he coached Vaal Reef Stars and got them promoted to the first division.
While at Vaal Reefs he was noticed by Stanley Tshabalala, who was coaching Sundowns at the time. The two pitted their wits against each other, with Mashaba’s team coming out tops 4-0. This signalled to Mashaba the beginning of good times, as Tshabalala was also the coach of the South African national team.
Mashaba and Tshabalala went together for a coaching course in Germany. When ”Screamer” Tshabalala was fired for slapping a journalist, Mashaba was called in to coach the national team in a World Cup qualifying game against Congo that ended in South Africa winning 1-0.
”It was a great honour to coach the first South African national team from isolation. Those players were dying to make names for themselves and were self-motivated. I realised then that I had to continue with coaching,” says Mashaba.
It has taken Mashaba 10 years to return to the hot seat and during that time he has been performing wonders, first with the under-20 and then the under-23 national teams.
Mashaba took the under-20 team to a silver medal at the African youth championships in Morocco, and from there qualified them for the World youth championships in Malaysia. ”It was a good experience for the first go,” he says modestly.
Mashaba’s achievements did not end there. His team won bronze in the All Africa Games and then he did the unimaginable with the under-23s, qualified for the Olympics and beat Brazil in Sydney.
Mashaba’s time with the junior squads saw him unearth and develop the talents of Benni McCarthy, Quinton Fortune, Siyabonga Nomvete, Jabu Pule and many more youngsters. But the new Bafana supremo does not want to rest on his laurels: ”Do not judge me on the achievements of the under-23s.”
Mashaba admits his new position is one of great pressure. ”I have made provision for the hot seat,” he jokes. ”I am carrying a bucketful of ice. If the seat gets too hot I will just pour the ice on to the seat and sit on the ice.”
The short-term objective might be to win the Cosafa Cup, but Mashaba’s longer-range ambitions are to ”build a side that will be self-marketing, giving the supporters their money’s worth”.
Mashaba’s contract runs until December 2004 but he would have loved it to be up to the end of the next World Cup. ”I would have loved four years, but let’s give it a shot.” He intends using the two years of his contract to make a great impression that will get him an extended tenure.
”I would like to set a standard for the next person — or even leave a legacy,” he says.
Bafana Bafana’s next hurdle comes this weekend, when they have a tough African Cup of Nations qualifier against Côte d’Ivoire in Abidjan. Mashaba’s task is to blend the foreign-based players with the core of his successful Cosafa Cup squad. With just one team from the group qualifying for Tunisia 2004 Mashaba needs a good result on Sunday.
To this end he has recalled strikers Benni McCarthy — who made a big impact at the Nations Cup in Burkina Faso — and Shaun Bartlett.
Young Orlando Pirates midfielder Bennedict Vilikazi also gets his chance to make his mark in continental competition.
The Ivorians under new French coach Robert Nouzaret have assembled a quality squad with only three players from the local league and the rest playing overseas signalling their intent to win this group.
The Ivorians will be led by striker Ibrahima Bakayoko of Marseille. Also in the team are striker Bonaventure Kalou of Feyenoord and Kolo Toure who is making his mark at English champions Arsenal.