My big argument with Queiroz

On travelling with Bafana Bafana over the years

I was so happy when I received an invitation from SAFA to travel to Cote d’Ivoire for the Africa Cup of Nations. But this is not the first time that I have had this great opportunity to travel with Bafana Bafana – this is my 18th trip, if I’m not mistaken. The first trip was in 1992 when we travelled to Zimbabwe with the South African Football Supporters (SAFS) to watch Bafana in the Afcon qualifiers. At the time, we had just been readmitted into international football after spending so many years in international isolation due to apartheid. Zimbabwe beat us 4-1 at Harare Stadium and that was an eye-opener for me. Unlike now, back then there were no supporters’ delegations – you just had to get your own passport, make your travel arrangements and go on your own. I didn’t have anyone assisting me with travel arrangements, like now. Before, you had to go on your own. All in all, I have travelled to 12 African countries and six countries abroad. I also went to Egypt in 2006, 2013 and 2019 Africa Cup Nations tournaments, which was memorable. I’ve also been to Ghana three times and Zimbabwe four times. When we qualified for the 1998 World Cup, I was also part of the South African supporters’ delegation and that trip was organised by Castle. That was South Africa’s first ever World Cup. I had a great experience in France and I learnt a lot about how supporters from other countries behave during matches because you must remember that it was the first time that South Africa had qualified for the World Cup, and that is where I learnt that as supporters, we have to sit as a group. Everything about the seat numbers and where to sit the supporters, that is something I learned at the 1998 World Cup. You know how things are in South Africa, supporters arrive late at matches, some arrive during the match, at half-time and we normally move around because we don’t pay attention to seat numbers allocated to us. But there at the 1998 World Cup, people were very disciplined when it came to seat numbers and arriving early at the venue, so it was a new experience for me. It was also the first time I met President Nelson Mandela. He watched the first match when we lost 3-0 to France and spent some time with us just chatting about sport and life in general. That World Cup in 1998 will always be in my mind for so many reasons. Football can give you a chance to meet so many great people around the world, and for me to be part of it was very nice.

On the first Afcon he attended

The first Africa Cup of Nations that I went to was the 1998 tournament hosted by Burkina Faso, when Jomo Sono was still the coach. I remember very well that before the tournament, a lot of people were complaining that we would never go anywhere with Jomo as the coach. A lot of supporters were complaining that Jomo selected a team made up of too many youngsters. A lot of people didn’t believe in that team. There was Quinton Fortune, Benni McCarthy, Brian Baloyi and other youngsters. But we managed to reach the final and lost to Egypt. That was another good experience for me. But the Africa Cup of Nations tournament where I had a terrible experience in was the 2002 one in Mali, when Carlos Queiroz was the coach. I had a big argument with him because of some

This week we hear from Saddam Maake – Bafana Bafana supporter

things that were happening inside the camp. There was a lot of issues, like foreign players vs local players. There were also issues about which players the coach didn’t want to select for matches. So, one day, I was sitting with the players eating food, and coach Queiroz approached me in front of players and said people at home were saying that I was saying a lot of negative things about his team, and I told him that I was not the one who was saying those things. I tried to explain to the coach that it wasn’t me, it was the people back home who were talking and writing stories, and those stories were not coming from me. But the coach was upset and he said to me that I must never eat with the players from that day onwards! I first thought it was a joke, but then I realised that he was very serious. He was very angry and told me not to eat with the players again. But when I reported him to the SAFA officials, he changed his statement the following day. We were knocked out in the quarterfinal by Mali and, in a nutshell, that is the worst Africa Cup of Nations tournament I’ve ever been to. In the 2006 tournament in Egypt, we were knocked out in the group stages, but I managed to watch the final between Ivory Coast and Egypt. I enjoyed myself in Egypt that year. In 2019, we went back to Egypt and this time we reached the quarterfinals, where we lost to Nigeria. My most memorable game at that tournament was our match against Egypt when Thembinkosi Lorch scored the winning goal. I was so happy that we had knocked the hosts out of the tournament. It was another nice and memorable experience because we beat the hosts. After we beat Egypt, the local supporters changed and started to support us. But there were a few local supporters who were angry because they were not happy that we beat Egypt. One thing I will tell you about Egyptians is that they love their football. That was the best tournament. Our coach at the time was Stuart Baxter.

On the 2023 edition

The trip to this year’s tournament in Ivory Coast was organised by SAFA. We had a meeting with the CEO (Lydia Monyepao) and the SAFA President, Danny Jordaan, where it was decided that when Banyana Banyana qualifies for a tournament, Mama Joy would travel with the team and when it’s Bafana Bafana, I should go. But when there’s enough budget, the two of us can go together. That is why myself and Mama Joy travelled together. If we reach the knockout stages, they might bring some few (more) supporters, which are two to three to four depending on the budget. If we reach the quarterfinals, more supporters could join us, and that is great because we will be there getting behind coach Hugo Broos and the boys. We are in a tough group with Mali, Namibia and Tunisia. The first game is always very important. Against Namibia, I’m sure that we can get three points. When we play Tunisia in the last group game, that match we are either going to draw or lose. We have a good group of players selected by coach Broos, and if you look at our squad, there are no bigname players. We just have a group of young and hungry players. We have players who want to play and make a name for themselves. The players must not focus on the issue of money. This tournament is not about money. When we go there, we must play for the country. The players must not play for themselves because if they focus on money, they will lose their focus. They must play and the results will come naturally. We are behind the coach and we are going to support them. Those players have nothing to lose. They can surprise people. A lot of people are talking, saying that this is going to be a difficult tournament, but if you look at it closely, all the teams are at the same level. Nigeria is not the same Nigeria of old. We are going to be the surprise package of this tournament. We will go to the knockout stages because I believe that we have a good squad. Our squad is not so bad. People must not look at the result against Lesotho from last week, that was a practice match. Before that game, we had lots of injuries and the coach decided to give other players a chance. We must be united and support this team. We can’t look at the fact that there are no Kaizer Chiefs players selected and not support them. We have experienced players like Themba Zwane and Ronwen Williams.