It would be easy to suggest that in taking the Bafana Bafana job on a short-term contract, coach Ted Dumitru can spare himself the embarrassment that would come if the team were humiliated at the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament in Egypt over the next month.
Nothing would be further from the truth. Dumitru has taken a gamble on his most prized asset — his reputation as a football student and thinker.
He has taken his football philosophy to Egypt. The players will be merely the guinea pigs. Last Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the host nation was the first step in the laboratory experiment.
For a long time, Dumitru, known as the Professor, has theorised that South African players must be played to their strengths instead of bemoaning that they are too small to be internationally competitive.
Last weekend’s game gave a glimpse of what he means. Afcon gives Dumitru an opportunity to test his theories on the continental stage.
Though not too much ought to be read into winning a friendly, even against the hosts and some pundits’ favourites for the cup, Dumitru has a few things going for him.
For starters, a nation so used to mediocrity on the football field does not really expect too much from what is essentially a rebuilding project.
Secondly, it cannot get any worse than the way things have gone since South Africa won the continental showpiece in 1996. In Tunisia in 2004, Bafana were knocked out in the first round.
Dumitru will be leading a relatively young and inexperienced side. Many of the experienced players have hung up their international boots, Aaron Mokoena being the latest of these after he petulantly decided that if he was not going to be captain then he would not play for the national side.
While he has been criticised by, among others, Neil Tovey, Phil Masinga and Eric Tinkler for having a team that Bloemfontein Celtic coach Paul Dolezer would describe as having ”chicken legs” as opposed to ”big animals”, Dumitru’s selections are hardly surprising.
A quick glance at Dumitru’s coaching manual Maximal Training would have given anyone a hint of the Professor’s theories.
”It is fundamental that in our coaching and training theories we recognise and learn to understand the genetic, geographic, climatic, environmental and cultural factors that help form the profile, identity, mentality and attitude of players.
”It is these characteristics that influence players’ technique, work rate, mobility, tactical creativity and attractiveness of style of play,” Dumitru argues in the textbook.
Dumitru’s hypothesis is that African countries, and by extension Asians too, will never win a major international tournament as long as they slavishly copy the coaching methods designed for the differently built European players.
Tinkler’s main argument is that South African players are too small — Joseph Makhanya, for example, stands at 1,64m and weighs 54kg — while Senegal’s midfield strongman Pape Bouba Diop is called the Wardrobe by Fulham fans because of his 1,93m and 84kg stature.
Dumitru argues: ”Although performance is not decided by the players’ physical constitution, some aspects of anatomy need to be considered. For example, players who are tall and have long limbs may find it more difficult to make sudden or quick moves with the ball or execute complicated movements when running fast.”
Dumitru has always been happiest when sniping at critics. The Nations Cup is his chance to show what he has learnt after a lifetime of taking notes.