Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru has apologised to South Africa for the failure of the national soccer team at the African Nations Cup.
The South African team returned home on Wednesday following their winless expedition where they failed to score a goal in their three matches.
”I want to say a big sorry to the nation. It was a nightmare for me as a coach to prepare a team. Then one is hit with inconsistency and bad results. It is difficult to find all the reasons why we lost,” Dumitru said.
Two decades of domestic success had almost turned Dumitru into something of an icon in South African football. But in a matter of two weeks and three matches, Dumitru’s confident swagger and football acumen has been made to look like a mythical tale.
Dumitru, widely regarded as the master of coaching in South Africa, became the villain of nation after sinking the national team to their worst display yet at the African Cup of Nations.
Attack
But while apologising, Dumitru also launched a scathing attack on the South African media as well as members of the public who booed Bafana Bafana players and bayed for their blood at the airport.
”I just think that the way in which people reacted at the airport will do nothing for the young players in the team. In fact, it will destroy them.
”Was it a crime for these players to want to represent their country? Instead of criticising, we need to build these youngsters because they are the future of Bafana Bafana,” Dumitru fumed.
He also believes that the heavy media criticism of his team did not help their cause.
”Our media was very critical of us, while their Egyptian counterparts spoke volumes of the future stars of this Bafana Bafana team,” Dumitru said.
But the Romanian-born Dumitru, the winner of domestic titles with Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs, mentioned that in his preparation for the tournament he did not take into consideration ”economical disruptions”, eluding to the player-remuneration debacle that embroiled the team on the eve of the Tunisia match.
Players were demanding a financial incentive of more than R500 000 compared with the R290 000 agreed with the South African Football Association (Safa) prior to their departure for Egypt.
”As a coach one does not think about economic disruptions when preparing for a tournament. It is difficult to find all the reasons,” said Dumitru.
‘Delusional’
Before they left for the African Nations Cup, Bafana Bafana captain Sibusiso Zuma and Dumitru claimed that Bafana Bafana would conquer Egypt and bring back the title.
On Wednesday, Zuma said the team had been delusional to expect victories over teams such as Tunisia and Ghana.
”To expect us to win against teams like Tunisia who have been playing together for three years, and Ghana, who have the same defence I saw in the last tournament, was crazy,” Zuma said.
However, the South African national soccer team had raised the expectations of millions of fans when they left the country to face off against Guinea, Tunisia and Zambia at the tournament.
Bafana Bafana lost all three of their group-C matches: first a debilitating 2-0 loss to Guinea, followed by another 2-0 defeat to Tunisia and finally an academic 1-0 loss to Zambia.
Zuma went on to blast the state of South African football and the lack of adequate preparation time for his team’s embarrassing exit from Africa’s premier football tournament.
”I will make no excuses, but we have a big problem in South African football and we must fix it. We had a good team, we just needed more time. I don’t blame the players,” said a defiant Zuma.
He also quashed any suggestions that he was not patriotic, but failed to answer allegations adequately that the rest of his teammates went to the tournament for financial gain, rather than for the pride of representing their country.
”I can only speak for myself and in my case, I am losing match bonuses by participating at Afcon [African Nations Cup]. My club even offered me an extension on my current contract and more financial reward if I did not go to the Nations Cup,” said the German-based Arminia Bielefeld striker.
‘Fissures’
Meanwhile, the African National Congress Youth (ANCYL) league has criticised Safa for Bafana Bafana’s poor performance in the African Nations Cup.
”While we are deeply disappointed at this performance; we are similarly convinced that this is a result of deep-seated fissures within the leadership of soccer in South Africa,” ANCYL spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said on Wednesday. ”Safa must take full responsibility for this disgraceful performance.”
He said the Bafana team are a young and inexperienced side and there is no need to doubt their loyalty to the nation.
The ANCYL appealed to the nation to continue supporting the team and be more understanding in its criticism. — Sapa