Silver lining in the Bafana defeat

Well, that run of South African sports teams, or individuals, squeaking through to glory by the smallest of margins had to end some time. It happened this week to our Under-19s cricketers, when they lost by two wickets to India in the World Cup semifinal and it happened to Bafana Bafana on Wednesday night when they exited the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) at the semifinal stage.

The Bafana loss will, because of the fan base of the sport, have affected more people – and may well have cast a pall of gloom over most of the country. Yet, strangely, it isn’t so… and that’s because there is a silver lining in the Bafana defeat.

Firstly, they went down in an agonisingly close match… the Nigerians taking it in a penalty shoot-out after full and extra time left the sides level on 1-all. That in itself was an achievement for our national men’s football team, who haven’t played in any other Afcon semifinal since 2000 and, more importantly, have been written off by fans and experts not only at home, but across Africa, too. To push the Super Eagles to the limit proves we are back in top-flight football. Wednesday sent a message: ignore us at your peril. That boost to national morale is not the only positive to emerge from the Afcon defeat. Bafana’s players would have put themselves – and South Africa – on the radar of overseas scouts looking for African talent.

National coach Hugo Broos believes that the team’s performance at Afcon will have opened doors for local players in the European leagues, global football’s big-time.

At a time when many South Africans are depressed about their country – and for good reason – this is a timely reminder from Bafana Bafana that we can be as good as, or better than, the world’s best.