Bafana Bafana have been warned they will not get past the first round of the 2010 Soccer World Cup if they keep failing to score goals.
Speaking at a video press conference from Zurich on Friday, relayed to Johannesburg, Fifa president Sepp Blatter noted that Bafana — ranked 88th in the world — had failed to score against North Korea, who are ranked 105th.
“I noted that, again, Bafana Bafana failed to score in a 0-0 friendly draw in Germany last night [Thursday] with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“The bottom line is that no goals in the World Cup means that South Africa will not go forward [after the first round],” he said.
Bafana are in a tough group in the World Cup. They play against Mexico in the opening match at Soccer City on June 11, and then take on two former world champions — Uruguay and France — to complete their Group A matches.
Only the two top teams in the group will advance to the second round.
Bafana played poorly in their 0-0 draw against North Korea on Thursday evening. They lacked urgency and commitment, and head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira’s decision to bring back strikers such as Katlego Mashego and veteran Siyabonga Nomvethe appears to have backfired.
Both had little to contribute against North Korea when they came on in the second half.
Bafana have shown little progress, despite paying a reported R20-million for a month-long training camp in Brazil, and now in Germany.
Since Parreira replaced his Brazilian countryman Joel Santana last November, the team has played six friendly matches. Bafana have won one and drawn the other five, including three goalless draws.
‘Not helping Africa’s cause’
Blatter also criticised South Africa, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire for having changed their coaches seven months before the start of the World Cup.
“Like South Africa, both Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire have hired new coaches recently. Changing coaches at the last minute is not helping Africa’s cause.
“African players individually are more talented than even Brazilians and Europeans, but they lack continuity and good tactics,” he said.
However, he hoped that despite these problems one of the six African countries competing at the World Cup would reach the semifinals.
Blatter added that he expected the World Cup to act as a catalyst and help bring all the people of South Africa together.
“No other sport except football has the power to unite all the cultures in South Africa. My dream is to see [former president] Nelson Mandela at the opening game at Soccer City,” he said.
South Africa is ready
Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke told journalists South Africa would be ready to host the World Cup finals tomorrow if necessary.
“If the World Cup was to start tomorrow, South Africa would be ready to host it. There are still one or two issues to be sorted out, but overall South Africa, the stadiums and all the infrastructure are ready,” he said.
Valcke admitted that Fifa had made a mistake with their ticketing system for the 2010 World Cup.
There are 300 000 tickets remaining from the three million that went on sale at the start of the ticket sales.
A total of 200 000 were sold in eight days after over-the-counter sales were introduced.
“We thought by limiting sales of tickets to four a person, we were on the right track. We realise mistakes were made and we will change the ticketing process at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. We are flexible and have learnt from our mistakes,” he said.
At worst, 95% of tickets for the World Cup would be sold.
“We are still hoping to sell 100%, but at this stage we expect to sell at least 95% of the three million.
“The fact we sold 200 000 in eight days gives us hope we will sell the remaining 300 000 in the next 10 days,” he said.
Both semifinals and final are already sold out. — Sapa