Bafana misses out yet again

IT has been eight years ago when South Africa were in awe at the prospects of witnessing the soccer World Cup on its doorstep. It was a moment of great pride for a nation who wanted to show it can organise the prestigious tournament as good, or even better, than those who staged it over the past century.

The excitement that the 2010 World Cup generated was palpable with millions of South Africans virtually praying, and hoping, Bafana Bafana would not let them down.

There was a perception that some ‘miracle’ would be afoot if only Carlos Alberto Parreira’s side would advance to the group stages – if they did then it would be game on.

That did not happen and the disappointment was caked in the faces of the ‘Rainbow Nation’ who would not have their 1995 moment when the Springboks won the Rugby World Cup and a year later the African Nations Cup, which pleased Nelson Mandela no end.

Since then it has been an uphill battle to get anywhere near those awe-inspiring moments in our sporting history.

It has been such a downhill trajectory that even this week we saw Madagascar, comprising a team of amateurs, and whose football achievements have been virtually nil, beat Bafana Bafana in the Cosafa Cup. Coach Stuart Baxter made all the excuses a man in his position would make: the players were young, untested and lacked the experience. But it is the Cosafa Cup for goodness sake. At least we should’ve done better then now competing in a Plate final.

Bafana have been seen as a lost cause and it will indeed take a ‘miracle’ to get us out of the current malaise. Next week the World Cup kicks off in Russia and it is a painful reminder how far the SA national team has lost its way since the halcyon days of 2010: we will not be in Moscow.

This year’s World Cup should be as exciting as previous one’s have been and with the likes of Brazil, Germany, Spain and Portugal tipped for the big prize.

Africa’s interest will be titillated by the five nations – Senegal, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia – who carry the hopes of a continent who way too often have played second fiddle to the sport’s heavyweights.

There is another dynamic to consider – the fear the yobbos may inflict their racial abuse by taunting black players at their matches.

Fifa is very much aware of these insulting occurrences and have taken a bold decision to empower its match officials to abandon matches if the thugs persist with their racism.

Top Fifa official Fatma Samoura said the world governing body wants “a discrimination-free environment at the World Cup” and have put measures in place to ensure it does.

Whether it will avoid all the ugliness is another question.