The prospect of playing in next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals now looms as a fait accompli for South Africa — but not without Bafana Bafana coming back to earth with a rude bump in Sunday’s 1-1 qualifying draw against Congo in Pointe Noire.
In a nutshell, Bafana were outplayed by a more inventive, spirited and motivated combination and only avoided a humiliating hiding through the home team’s generally inept finishing.
And there were no valid mitigating circumstances either for the listless display, with the artificial grass surface not a detrimental factor in producing imaginative, clinical football — as the sprightly Congolese demonstrated in ample fashion.
The referee, too, was conspicuously fair throughout and rightly desisted from awarding the home team a penalty in the closing stages when many other officials would have been fooled by a Congolese ploy to manufacture an infringement.
Never mind the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Bafana on Sunday looked ill-equipped to compete on level terms with the likes of Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria, among others, in next year’s tournament in Ghana, with the players’ attitudes suggesting the ”taking candy from kids” victory over mediocre Chad was sufficient evidence the seeds of a revival had already been firmly planted.
Fortunately, Bafana’s down-to-earth, experienced Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has his feet planted firmly on the ground and has consistently cautioned amid the heralded ”triumphs” against Chad that ”a great deal of hard work, planning and commitment” is required to be done before the 2010 World Cup.
Blood, sweat and tears is all Parreira has promised in as diplomatic fashion as he can — and the Congo game has confirmed the difficulties that lie ahead.
Raising his hands continually towards the heavens in Pointe Noire like the conductor of a symphony orchestra imploring the ensemble to increase the tempo and rapport, Parreira’s exhortations went mainly unheeded. — Sapa