Perhaps the appointment of new Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has worked a trick for our soccer, even before his arrival in the country last week.
The Brazilian was openly scathing about South Africa’s development structures — or, to be more precise, the lack thereof — and since then we have seen a marked improvement in the South African Football Association’s (Safa) focus on the junior national teams.
Parreira was by no means the first national coach to bemoan the lack of attention given to the under-17s, under-20s and under-23s — Carlos Queiroz in 2000 and Stuart Baxter in 2004 had equally vociferous rants — but finally it seems the powers-that-be have taken note, perhaps given Parreira’s larger profile on the world scene.
Amaglug-glug, as Steve Komphela’s Under-23 side are known, had their most active year ever in 2006, playing 20 matches. They have also started 2007 in good form — an under-strength side featuring perhaps just two first-team regulars had, at the time of writing, reached the semifinals of the Qatar Friendship Tournament where they would face Egypt.
All of this is in preparation for their 2008 Beijing Olympics qualification campaign, which begins in February against Uganda. Making it to Beijing would also be a huge boost for the future of the senior national side, with players of a good age able to cut their teeth in a highly competitive international tournament against some of the best youngsters of their generation.
Sydney 2000, Amaglug-glug’s only previous visit to the Olympics, was a great learning experience for the likes of Benni McCarthy, Quinton Fortune, Aaron Mokoena, Siyabonga Nomvethe, Steve Lekoelea and Delron Buckley, all of whom have gone on to forge good professional careers.
The side, under coach Shakes Mashaba, even managed to beat a star-studded Brazil outfit 3-1 — one that included the best player in the world, Ronaldinho — before narrowly bowing out in the first round.
The national Under-20 team, Amajita, also had a busy 2006, winning their Cosafa Cup competition for Southern African sides in December and the gold medal at the Southern African Zone 6 Youth Games in Windhoek. They also played a number of other friendlies.
Of course, it is no coincidence that these two teams have seen an upturn in fixtures and exposure. It is hoped that between them they will provide a couple gems for the Bafana Bafana squad at the 2010 World Cup and, with still no national reserve or junior league for clubs in the country — something Parreira described as “the saddest thing I have ever seen” — they are our only hope for unearthing such talent.
Safa, in its infinite wisdom, has never paid much attention to the junior national set-up, as it costs a lot of money to run these structures — and provides no income, unlike the senior national side.
Indeed, our national Under-17 team, not really a factor for 2010 as players currently in the team will only be 19 or 20 at the World Cup, played just four matches in 2006 — a ridiculous number.
But it is the fact that we have no national reserve league in this country that will ultimately prove our undoing, I believe. Yes, it is a costly exercise, but perhaps if some of the money that finds its way into Safa’s bank accounts, and then out again on the most trivial of things, were used to fund such an exercise, it would not be such a blow to the country’s coffers.
What happens at the moment is that one has youngsters at clubs — as well as more experienced players — who get zero competitive game time, sometimes for an entire 12 months or more, because they are deemed surplus to the first team and are, for whatever reason, not loaned out.
Playing friendly matches does not equate to a competitive environment in whatever sport you play. By having a reserve league, with pride, prestige and perhaps some cash up for grabs, the young stars would get the chance to develop their skills against players their own age as well as seasoned veterans who would no doubt teach them a thing or two.
Every major soccer-playing nation in the world has a reserve league of some description, yet Safa continues to ignore this need here and rather focuses on its short-term objective — making money.
The additional focus on our national teams from Safa is welcome, but it will die down again once 2010 has come and gone. What we need is long-term, sustainable development that will take our football to another level.
Nick said is editor: special projects for Kick Off magazine