WHAT AN AFCON TOURNAMENT!
When they say football can kill you, they’re talking about something like what we’ve witnessed at the 2023 Afcon. Firstly, when Ivory Coast went through to the knockout stages as one of the best third-placed teams, they were the worst of all. I mean, we’re talking about an African football giant here. However, with them finally making it to the Last 16, I knew something was brewing. Something unbelievable was about to happen and I even said to some guys at the petrol station that Ivory Coast would go all the way. But then, what happened with Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana and Egypt? What happened with Bafana fighting so hard and surpassing our expectations? All our players tried their utmost best, but had players like Tau done their very best in all the games, we could be singing a different tune now. Lastly, I’m very humbled and honoured by your feedback, Mr “Bhotsotso” Mkhize. You noticed one of the 57 Sundowns supporters attacking me for no apparent reason and stood up to call him into order. Guys, I go weeks without submitting a letter to Soccer Laduma, but most of the time it is due to space and time that I struggle to do something I love so dearly. However, I promise to be back next week to share with you how VeeJay’s column is shaping our football and, more importantly, what our players and clubs can learn from his musings. So, next week I will be your guest. Best you brace yourself!
Kwazikwakhe “Mapholoba” Ngcobo, Umlazi
I may not be an Ivorian (actually, I’m an authentic, patriotic South African), and much as I want to talk about the exploits of Bafana and Williams, I cannot ignore Ivory Coast’s performance. Suffice to say well done Bafana and Williams. I must take my hat off for the host nation. They were lying hopelessly in the ICU bed of the Afcon. Their hearts had stopped beating and all that was left was for the doctor to pull the plug. This is a team that had experienced all sorts of catastrophes. Red cards, defeats, penalties against them, their coach failing to survive the dreaded axe and, worst of all, being booed by their supposedly 12th man. In a miracle of Biblical proportions, they rose like a phoenix, eliminating defending champions Senegal en route to winning the Afcon trophy. Salute, the Elephants! To borrow from a Sunday publication: You are my Charmza of the Week. George Sithole, Honeydew
The best team won the Afcon. Congrats to Ivory Coast for beating the not-so-Super Eagles in the final. Truly speaking, sacking their coach while the tournament was in progress was a blessing in disguise. This was the luckiest country in the tournament. As hosts, the football gods were with them all the way. It’s not by fluke that their newly appointed coach won Coach of the Tournament. On another note, hats off once again to our evergreen goalkeeper for walking away with the Goalkeeper of the Tournament award and Bafana for winning the Fair Play Award. Ivory Coast were written off by pundits. Even Bafana, after the 2-0 defeat to Mali, nobody gave them a chance to progress. Against all odds, they really represented the Southern African region with distinction. Had we not left Mayo and inform Rayners out of the squad, we’d be telling a different story. Boitumelo Vanrooyen, Schweizer-Reneke
Congrats to the host nation for defying the odds. Nigeria can only blame themselves as they fell flat after Kessie’s equaliser. The Ivorians deserve this after they painted the stadiums orange at all their teams’ games. As for our national team, I see most of us are celebrating our appearance in the semis as if the world ends tomorrow. I can’t believe the semis are our best shot. Even worse is seeing our players and technical team members celebrating a third place play-off victory like that. We’ll run out of chalk with this ‘going back to the drawing board’ sentiment. We are celebrating mediocrity and that works against the progress of our football. It’s interesting that when Junior Khanye said our journey ends with Nigeria, everyone wanted to chop his head off, but history will tell you that the Super Eagles knocked us out. Our officiating personnel who were in Ivory Coast gave a good account of themselves. Let’s hope they’ll bring those performances back home and to rub off on those who were left behind. Lastly, I’m happy Nigeria didn’t win the final, otherwise Mpengesi and his Mammila were going to make us feel that they have a
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Thabo Matlaba - Royal AM defender