Katlego Mphela’s goal — lashed in on the 71st minute of Bafana Bafana’s 1-0 victory over Denmark at Pretoria’s Atteridgeville Stadium on Saturday — was like a flashback to those black and white videos of South African football in the 70s.
It recalled this country’s supposed halcyon footballing days, when bursting township stadiums and their surrounds moved to the rhythm articulated on the pitch. And vice versa.
The moments after substitute Surprise Moriri placed a foot on the ball — bewildering the Danish defence in the split second needed to send a pass through to midfielder Reneilwe Letsholonyane whose glorious through-ball found Mphela racing on to finish — felt as if every sound, movement and emotion in Atteridgeville had been sucked into those simple footballing movements.
As if the township outside — which danced, smiled, fed and plied football fans of all races and ages from their homes, taverns and informal shish’nyamas before and after the match — had shared every lung-bursting breath made in the move.
The entire country
Only this time around the energy was coming not merely from the township outside Pretoria but from the entire country. As coach Carlos Parreira said after the match, the boys have “bought into the vision to play the ball on the ground, because this is our identity— The boys are ready for the World Cup and they are ready to make us proud”.
Bafana Bafana emerged from their final warm-up game before their World Cup campaign starts against Mexico at Soccer City on June 11 with growing reputations and ever increasing confidence: both in themselves and the nation’s belief in the team.
Denmark, as assistant coach Pitso Mosimane admitted, was an “extremely tough and physical team” and the game was “very close.
“Not pretty to watch, a real 1-0 game really, but a tactical game that coaches love,” he added.
And Denmark’s approach early on appeared to be centred on leaving eight men behind the ball with three attackers pushing up on the defence, especially out wide on fullbacks Siboniso Gaxa and Lucas Thwala.
Midfield duels
With the fullback’s pegged back, Bafana lacked attacking width but had the better of the midfield duels and the goal-scoring opportunities created through the middle.
The second half was as engrossing but not completely thrilling. Denmark attempted to get behind Bafana’s defence in the second half with more long balls but did not succeed in scoring — thanks in no small part to goalkeeper Ithumeleng Khune’s continued good form, which included two fine saves.
But Bafana held on to the victory in front of a capacity 29 000 — which was only half-full at kick-off as, yet again, transport problems and traffic congestion meant fans accessed the stadium slowly.
Bafana seemed particularly untroubled throughout the match — largely due to the fine physical shape the players were in. They ran non-stop at full-tilt, even seconds before the final whistle. Hearteningly, the boys were looking stronger than ever. They were never outmuscled off the ball from a very physical opposing team.
All of which augurs well for the boys in green and gold who as their coach Parreira suggested “are ready for the World Cup”.