Muted response to U-20s’ result irks Danny
Sy Lerman
An upset Danny Jordaan (right) enacted what might be termed a mini Donald Trump tirade on the media this week at Safa’s formal confirmation of Stuart Baxter as the new Bafana Bafana coach.
What upset the Safa president was what he interpreted as the obsession of the media on focussing almost exclusively on Bafana at the expense of all other national teams like the Under-20 side currently in South Korea preparing for their World Cup campaign.
After escorting Baxter into the conference chamber at Safa House where a considerable segment of the media had assembled, Jordaan announced in what he appeared to view a scoop of his own by declaring “we have just received the news that our Under-20 side have beaten Costa Rica 2-1 in South Korea in a preparation match for the World Cup”.
The lukewarm response from those present, whose attention was intently focused on Baxter, had Jordaan side-tracking to the importance of development and why this facet received scant attention in the media.
This is what happens worldwide where the attention to football at age-group level receives less attention than here and a country’s stature is based almost entirely on the performances and results of the national team at senior level.
That is why South Africa’s modest world ranking – currently standing at 64th – remains the main priority and why the media, for its part, keeps harping on it.
And once the sideshow was dealt with and the main function of the occasion came into focus, Baxter indicated that he had no illusions about the main function of his second appointment as the Bafana coach – namely to achieve impressive results above all else.
Initially the priority in this respect is to help Bafana qualify for the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
But the time is also now due for South Africa to come away from these pinnacle events with impressive results.
At the Under-20s in South Korea, success in the initial round against Japan, Uruguay and Italy will certainly be received with a much louder cheer than the muted one for the preparation win against Costa Rica that so disturbed Jordaan.