Genius needed to pull Bafana from wreckage
EPHRAIM “Shakes” Mashaba’s dismissal right at the end will dominate what was a mixed bag for Bafana Bafana in 2016‚ a year though where the national team continued to show signs of their emergence from a 10year slump.
The failure to qualify for next month’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon‚ which was more a consequence of poor results suffered in 2015‚ and Bafana being in a strong position to qualify for their first World Cup other than as hosts since 2002‚ were other notable features.
A fourth was the continuation of the trend started in 2014 and 2015 of an emergence in the national side of some real‚ well-coached talent produced by the improving development structures in South Africa.
Bafana’s 2-1 Russia 2018 World Cup qualifying victory against starstudded Senegal in Polokwane on November 12 – helped by a penalty refereeing decision‚ or not – reinforced two points that had been becoming clear in 2016 and throughout the Mashaba tenure.
Firstly‚ that South Africa does now have a pool of players who have replaced the disappointing generation of the 2010 World Cup‚ and who are capable of mixing it with the best in Africa.
Secondly‚ that so long as Mashaba remained a powder-keg waiting to explode then‚ as much as he had displayed throughout his three Bafana tenures that he could produce results‚ he would be a potential hindrance to South Africa’s Russia 2018 campaign.
It all seemed convenient that Mashaba’s rant aimed at Safa president Danny Jordaan – for a perceived lack of support – ahead of his post-match TV interview in Polokwane gave Safa ammunition to sack the coach in the consequent disciplinary hearing.
But that was not Safa’s fault. Mashaba had made himself no friends with his rants and tantrums‚ generally aimed at the SA media. So he earned little sympathy from that quarter once he was gone‚ even if he retained some public support.
Mashaba’s nonsensical defensiveness in the face of criticism had started in 2015 when his tenure hit its lowest point – the 3-1 defeat against Mauritania in Nouackhott that the coach returned from admitting he had not known SA would play on an artificial surface.
That Mashaba could even entertain the idea that he should have been exempt from criticism over that clanger displayed arrogance and a disregard for accountability.
Fast-forward to early 2016 and Bafana’s 2-2 draw in Cameroon – where Hlompo Kekana’s goal from inside his half should have come closer to winning Fifa’s Puskas award‚ for which it was shortlisted – and 4-0 thrashing of Gambia could be no more than consolations.
Keagan Dolly’s two long-range goals against Gambia in Bakau signalled the arrival of another Bafana star. One who‚ like Sibusiso Vilakazi in 2015‚ possessed not just the skills and talent but also the technical attributes and intelligence gained from being nurtured through a good youth system at Ajax Cape Town.
Jordaan’s post-match TV criticism of the performance in Bafana’s final 0-0 2017 Afcon home draw against Gambia signalled Mashaba was on thin ice with his bosses.
The coach took a shadow SA U23 team to victory at the Cosafa Cup in Windhoek later that month in a form of a comeback‚ where again the talent and quality of an emerging generation were evident.
The coach’s ability to produce big results was confirmed with a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou‚ in a good start to Bafa Russia 2018 campaign. The Senegal win advanced that.
Had Mashaba simply kept his calm‚ we might well have been going into 2017 with the same Bafana coach‚ who would have stood a chance of silencing his detractors in a big way by reaching a World Cup.
That he did not prompted his Safa bosses to believe this was not the man for the job.
The early part of 2017 will be dominated by the search for a new coach‚ with time on Safa’s side with Bafana’s next back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Cape Verde Islands only to be played in late August and early September.
Gavin Hunt will be speculated on. Pitso Mosimane‚ whose meticulous research of the opposition guiding Mamelodi Sundowns to being the first South African continental club champions since 1995 stood in such contrast to Mashaba’s reluctance in that department‚ will too.
Jordaan has been known to favour foreign coaches. Safa has the time to wait for Herve Renard – who has won Nations Cups with Zambia and Ivory Coast – to complete his job of taking Morocco to Gabon 2017 in January and February. But the Frenchman’s prickliness with administrators and players might not necessarily make him quite the ideal candidate he appears to be.
Guus Hiddink has been out of a job since coaching Chelsea on an interim basis in the second half of 2015-16. The Dutchman’s track record with not just superstar sides‚ but also smaller national teams – taking South Korea as hosts to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup and Australia to the second round in 2006 – has had him touted as the man to improve Bafana’s fortunes on a global stage for some time.
Could cash-strapped Safa afford him? Perhaps the association will just have to make a plan. — TMG Digital