Just when it seemed nothing more could go wrong with Bafana Bafana’s hazardous preparation for the Concacaf Gold Cup tournament in the United States, along came Independence Day on Monday.
On the day treated with reverence by all Americans, the US embassy was closed, leaving six Bafana players stranded in Johannesburg without visas, delayed for another costly 24 hours as time continued to run out before Friday’s opening fixture against Mexico.
”We had hoped to find someone at the embassy to tend to our requirements as a matter of urgency,” said South African Football Association director of international communications Barney Kujane.
”But the doors were locked and we had no alternative but to delay the departures of Thabang Radebe, Stanley Kgatla, Peter Petersen, Phil Evans, Siyabonga Nomvete and Elrio van Heerden until Tuesday.”
This will mean the six players without visas will only arrive in Los Angeles to join the other 17 squad members little more than a day before the game against the Mexicans, ranked sixth in the world, on Friday — after a trying journey via London and New York lasting 36 hours.
”Barring an earthquake,” said Bafana general manager Stanley ”Screamer” Tshabalala from London on Monday night, ”the team’s preparation has been hit by every conceivable obstacle. But the morale of the players remains high and we can only do our best against great odds.”
From the outset, the Gold Cup has proved anything but a glittering proposition for Bafana coach Stuart Baxter, with South Africa’s top overseas-based players declaring their unavailability en masse and local clubs Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns, in particular, withholding permission for their players to travel to the US in preference to the unofficial events in which they are participating.
And the suggestion by one observer that South African soccer officials might have handed Baxter a poisoned chalice, in view of the haphazard manner in which the Concacaf Cup planning has been handled, seems to be anything but far-fetched. — Sapa