No matter what excuses are made about player availability, poor preparation times and shambolic administration, 2006 will go down as a true annus horribilis for South Africa on the international soccer front. With the domestic game producing little in the way of international standard footballers, has the time arrived to look outside our borders for players?
Of the 11 matches played by the national side this year, there are perhaps two results that will be viewed as satisfactory by fans across the country — the 2-1 friendly victory over Egypt before the Nations Cup, and the excellent 1-0 away win in Zambia in October.
It is not difficult to see where the problems lie — Bafana Bafana managed just five goals (including one own goal!) all year to continue a trend that has dogged the side pretty much since they re-entered international football in 1992. That includes being held goalless by African giants Lesotho, Botswana, Congo (at home) and Guinea.
Of their four wins in 2006, two came in unconvincing fashion — both 1-0 — against Namibia and Swaziland. Supporters may point out that those sides were devoid of our international stars and therefore understrength, but for me that is an even sadder indictment on our local game.
Are we saying that, even with a squad made up of locally based players, we do not have enough firepower to put away convincingly minnows such as Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana and Namibia? Is our local game that poor? The answer, I’m afraid, is that in the attacking third, it is.
When assessing the strength of the current national side, new coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will have already identified where he needs to build in the three-and-a-half years to 2010.
To win football matches, you need to score goals. Simple, right? The last team to win a trophy based solely on defensive football was Greece at Euro 2004, but they at least managed to score in all their games — even if it was from a rare chance.
And herein lies our problem. Because of our lack of quality strikers — or even goal scorers from midfield as against Zambia in October in the Nations Cup qualifier — we need to create a mountain of opportunities before putting one away. It was even worse in the game against the Congo at FNB Stadium, when the chances count was probably in the high teens but nobody could find the back of the net.
In my opinion — and I know this will not go down well with local fans — with so little time to develop players ahead of 2010 and the so-called “up-and-coming prospects” flattering to deceive, we may need to import some striking talent. Our established international strikers, Benni McCarthy and Sibusiso Zuma, are both unlikely to feature at the tournament through age.
Co-hosts Japan did it in 2002 to boost their tournament chances by nationalising Alessandro dos Santos (known as Alex) of Brazil, and Europe has for years plundered Africa’s talents to boost its national sides.
Oh, and that guy who scored a hat-trick for Croatia in their Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel this month? Eduardo Alves da Silva. I doubt you’ll find too many Da Silvas in the Zagreb telephone directory.
Then, of course, there are the 2004 African champions, Tunisia, whose top scorer and talisman is Francileudo Silva dos Santos, and whose fullback is José Clayton Menezes Ribeiro. I think you’re getting the picture.
I’m not talking about an influx of foreigners into our national game, but simply following the Tunisian model of finding a quality striker and perhaps a playmaker in the middle of the park.
In 2005, 804 Brazilians signed for foreign clubs in 83 different countries. Of course, many would not be of the standard required by Bafana, but among them there will also be quality players who have no chance of representing their own country and who will jump at the chance to play under the legendary Parreira for the host nation of the 2010 World Cup.
We have already seen the excellent impact two Brazilian youngsters, striker Marcos de Jesus and midfielder Danilo Julio, have had at high-flying BidVest Wits in the Castle Premiership this season. Of course, with his own contacts, Parreira will know of plenty more.
The South African Citizenship Act requires that a person live in the country for four years out of eight prior to applying for citizenship. Rules may have to be bent, as they are in other countries, but if it is going to help get South Africa out of the group phase of the World Cup, the value of such a person cannot be underestimated.
Salaries within the Premier Soccer League are now such that a prospective footballer from abroad may even see our league as a good financial option. Some players are earning upwards of R150 000 per month, a figure on par with many of the smaller European leagues such as Belgium, Denmark and even The Netherlands.
Like I said, many local fans will not like it. It is not a long-term solution, as proper development structures in South Africa would be, but failure to get past the group stages of the World Cup could have massive implications for the success of the tournament and our soccer overall.
Bafana in 2006: The full goal-scoring horror
January 14 vs Egypt (a) 2-1 Zaki (og), McCarthy — friendly
January 22 vs Guinea (n) 0-2 — Nations Cup finals
January 26 vs Tunisia (n) 0-2 — Nations Cup finals
January 30 vs Zambia (n) 0-1 — Nations Cup finals
May 10 vs Lesotho (a) 0-0 — friendly
May 20 vs Swaziland (n) 1-0 Mhlongo — Cosafa Cup
May 21 vs Botswana (a) 0-0 — Cosafa Cup (Botswana won 6-5 on penalties)
August 16 vs Namibia (a) 1-0 Mashego — friendly
September 2 vs Congo (h) 0-0 — Nations Cup qualifier
October 10 vs Zambia (a) 1-0 Mokoena — Nations Cup qualifier
November 15 vs Egypt (n) 0-1 — Mandela Challenge