AFCON FEVER GRIPS MZANSI
Africa’s best talents will be on display and what is even more interesting is that there seems to be no clear favourites. The defending champions look nowhere near the team that conquered Africa a few years ago, and the hosts are still basking in the glory of their ‘golden generation’ with nothing to show for it. Morocco look like they left their form in Qatar and appear to be a shadow of the team that almost conquered the world in the last World Cup. Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria look good on paper,
When coach Broos announced his team for the tournament, I asked myself: Is this the right personnel that will do battle against the continent’s best national teams? I doubt, and it became obvious that SAFA needs to revise its approach if it is to retain its onceperceived integrity. Lack of squad depth spells trouble from the start and most of it can be attributed to Broos’ tactical inefficiencies and poor squad selection. After the 1996 Afcon victory, South Africa were known as a perennial powerhouse with an abundance of worldclass players, but the current squad doesn’t fit that description. Why? Because SAFA lacks a deep-seated love of sport and a national passion for the sport that surpasses others. And again, our technical team doesn’t have an aggressive system of identifying the correct players based on merit, like Clive Barker. Pitso and Benni are more than deserving to lead our national team, but the greedy, power-hungry lions are only there to enrich themselves, giving us more reasons to support any team that plays against Bafana Bafana. Are players getting the right support they need to meet their full potential? Sadly, probably not.
“Bhotsotso” Mkhize, Eshowe, Mpaphala, KZN
Big up to coach Broos on his Afcon selection and decisions that he stubbornly stuck to. Some members of the media and former footballers want to push it too far, forcing the coach to go with their opinions. Broos is not like that. He believes in his own decisions. Some at SAFA wanted their friends to assist the coach,
but he refused, sticking to the assistant coach of his choice, Mkhalele. I like that attitude because they decided against those coaches and opted for him. Broos is bold, he opted against selecting Chiefs players and told them straight that none of their players deserve a Bafana call-up. He left out the oneseason player Monnapule Saleng. Talk of a coach who is building our football with his truth. Without fear or favour, he took the risk of selecting a squad filled with Sundowns players. The so-called big teams must pull up their socks for the sake of our football and leave arrogance out.