The embarrassment of South African soccer continued unabated at the National Stadum in Gaborone on Sunday as Bafana Bafana crashed out of the Cosafa Cup after a penalty shoot-out defeat against Fifa’s 103rd ranked Botswana.
A tepid quarterfinal embodied with little excitement or inspiration ended goalless — with the team known as the Zebras showing their stripes by netting all six penalty kicks and edging out Bafana 6-5 in the shoot-out.
A spontaneous outbreak of joy erupted among the 26 000 crowd after SuperSport United defender Siboniso Gaxa’s fateful sixth penalty for Bafana was comfortably saved by Botswana goalkeeper Madiri Marumo — catapulting the minnows of Southern Africa into the Cosafa Cup semifinals for the first time.
And while Bafana had 14 shots at goal against Botswana’s six and enjoyed a clear territorial advantage, the Zebras deserved full credit for a gritty, gutsy performance in which they never lost their nerve and were not overawed by their opponents.
As for South Africa, with a population 40 times that of Botswana and all the facilities and infrastructure that are missing for their near-neighbours, the lack of enterprise was distinctly disturbing.
It extended the miserable record of the 2010 World Cup hosts to scoring one goal in their last 508 minutes of soccer in which they have lost four times without scoring.
If Saturday’s win against Swaziland could be construed as tame, the latest debacle, which terminates SuperSport United coach Pitso Mosimane’s brief tenure as Bafana caretaker coach, was nothing less than a lame affair.
But once again Safa demonstrated their ineptitude by agreeing to play the Cosafa Cup matches on the same weekend as the Absa Cup final — depriving Mosimane of the chance of including Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates players in his squad.
It could be argued, however, after the mediocre finishing in the Absa final that the malaise of South African soccer runs deeper than an out-of-step controlling body.
Alton Meiring’s snap-scoring attempt in only the second minute hit the post and then it took Bafana 65 minutes of play to come close to scoring again as a header from captain Ricardo Katza following Siyabonga Nkosi’s corner was well-saved by goalkeeper Marumo.
Nkosi’s subtle touches were neutralised by continued wild finishing and it was Botwana who had the best scoring chance of the 90 minutes, with a groan of dismay from the crowd following the fresh-air attempt from close-range in the 36th minute. – Sapa