/ 25 May 2010

Mexico a handful for Bafana

Mexico A Handful For Bafana

Beaten 3-1 by England at London’s Wembley Stadium on Monday night, a stealthy, skilled Mexican side did nothing to dispel the impression they will be a handful for Bafana Bafana in the much-anticipated World Cup opener at Soccer City on June 11.

Indeed, the ball-weaving Mexicans often had a more mundane England at sixes and sevens and the ultimate scoreline flattered the home team, if anything.

And, it should remain imprinted as forcibly as an indelible stain that England are far more formidable adversaries than the tough, but limited Bulgarians, who simultaneously drew 1-1 with Bafana at Orlando Stadium while Mexico were generally handing out as much as they got against England.

What is more, Mexico are rated more than 20 places higher in the Fifa world rankings than 39th-placed Bulgaria and provided tangible evidence for this superiority in status at Wembley.

However, if anything emerged to catch the attention of seasoned Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, and insert a degree of
satisfaction from the Mexican’s repertoire, it was the apparent difficulty displayed by the central Americans in dealing with high crosses — which cost them two of England’s three goals.

To capitalise on this, however, Bafana will need to unearth a striker with the heading ability of England’s Peter Crouch — while Parreira’s uncompromising dictum for Bafana, in any case, is to concentrate on carpet football instead of a stream of high balls into the goalmouth.

Significantly also, Mexico are due to follow up their game against England with further top-level away matches against the Netherlands and World Cup holders Italy — all three opponents featuring among the top 10 teams in the world and falling in line with coach Javier Aguirre’s calculated tactics to toughen up his players in more challenging environments than he expects in the World Cup opener at Soccer City.

Bafana, in contrast, have not come up against a squad of Mexico’s calibre in years while declining, in the process, to a
90th world ranking — taking into account that the Italian line-up that beat South Africa in their last outing was effectively their B-team — and most recent matches have been against mediocre opposition.

And any sportsman worth his salt is aware that coming up against a higher level of opponent for the first time can be an excruciatingly difficult proposition and challenge of both body and mind — no matter how willing the spirit might be. — Sapa