You have to hand it to South African football fans. When it comes to fickleness, they are up there with the best. Which is a good thing for the sport, considering that what happens on the pitch is down there with the worst.
Fans called radio and television stations in a froth, accusing the South African Football Association (Safa) of sidelining them by staging the annual Nelson Mandela tournament — this year between Bafana Bafana and Egypt on November 14 — in London. Worse still, the game is to be played at a 13 000-capacity stadium in the backwaters of the English capital.
It did not matter to the ”marginalised millions” that the last time the national side played at home, only about 5 000 people showed up, many of them holding complimentary tickets.
Taking these last attendance figures, the London stadium could still end up being too large — unless the Pharoahs send plenty of supporters.
A popular view is that with Bafana Bafana having beaten Zambia in the most recent Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, South Africa has turned the corner. Fans will flock back in their multitudes thanks to the Aaron Mokoena goal that sunk the Zambians in front of their home crowd, goes this particular wisdom.
Safa told the Sowetan that it had agreed to play in England because the organisers had promised to foot the bill and pay some money over to the perennially out-of-pocket association. Fans remain unimpressed.
On Monday, the Kaizer Chiefs website ran a poll asking fans to predict how their team will fare in the Telkom Cup match that marks the highlight of this weekend’s fixtures.
About 90% said they expected Amakhosi to beat Bidvest Wits. This was, after all, the first match since Chiefs won the Supa 8 cup by beating Supersport United in Durban last weekend.
Forgotten was the fact that the Chiefs coach, Ernst Middendorp, was, prior to the Supersport match, probably the one most detested by own fans. Middendraw, they called him because of Chiefs’ league record that reads: five draws, a defeat and a win in seven matches.
Also blocked out was the fact that Wits are the only side to have beaten Chiefs in the league this season.
And they say that a week is a long time in politics.
Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund should be grateful that his side is paired against beleaguered Amazulu — who are to be auctioned unless the club’s new owner, Patrick Sokhela, pays the outstanding part of the debt owed to previous owner Pat Malabela.
In the unlikely event that Sundowns slip up, Igesund will certainly know that his biggest problem is not the fans but how irritable club president Patrice Motsepe becomes when his side loses.
Pirates’ fans, too, seem to have had a change of heart. About 20 000 watched Pirates beat Silver Stars last weekend. Many will have been those who saw a bleak future for the club after the most disappointing start to the season since the establishment of the Premier Soccer League in 1996.
Like Chiefs, Pirates meet, in Maritzburg United, a team that has already beaten them in the league. And like their traditional rivals, they will fancy their chances to even the score. With the African champions league sojourn over, Bucs fans have found their voice again.
The crowd that arrived at Ellis Park was not there because Stars are top of the log. A combination of at least two things brought them there.
Firstly, they wanted to satisfy their thirst to see the club unconstrained by the limited number of players registered for the continental adventure. And secondly, it was a way of saying that all the negative pre-season indifference had been forgiven.
But after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Supersport United on Wednesday, expect some Pirates fans to wonder whether last Saturday’s win was not a false dawn.