Shakes does the trick for Bafana again
Mashaba’s boys cruise to victory against Ivory Coast
BAFANA Bafana claimed the Nelson Mandela Challenge yesterday by beating the Ivory Coast 2-0 – but the biggest winner was coach Shakes Mashaba who grew his reputation as a classy tactician and an even better motivator.
Mashaba also extended his unbeaten record in charge of the national team to seven matches. He turned a match not many were paying attention to – especially some of the biggest PSL clubs – into a serious, full-blooded and enterprising contest.
On paper this was a Sunday league kick-about, but Mbombela was treated to a cup final. Bongani Zungu and David Zulu scored the winning goals.
You could be laboriously tugging a rickshaw but Mashaba would make you feel like you can take on F1 champion Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes around the Abu Dhabi track.
He is a coach so comfortable in his ability that he managed to eke out admirable performances from a squad assembled at the last minute, which had two days to train. He negated his own employers’ lack of thought behind the scheduling of this game.
When other coaches have moaned about the club versus country debacle, Mashaba saw this as a chance to strengthen the next conveyor belt of his selection pool.
But if you’ve been trying to predict his next move, stop right there.
Mashaba is a law unto himself, he’s the piper and we dance to his tune.
Do not, however, be surprised if the names Zungu, Zulu and Kwanda Mngonyama make it on the plane to Equatorial Guinea for the Africa Cup of Nations.Who else would have seen captain material in Thamsanqa Sangweni, a player who not so long ago was hauled over the coals at the career crematorium called Mamelodi Sundowns?
The more physical the game became, as it does against West Africans, the more willing Sangweni was to turn the midfield contest into a rugby scrum. Mashaba knew he would be up for a fight, so he gave him the gloves in the form of the armband.
Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan recently wrote of Australian coach Darren Lehmann: “His ability to make people view cricket as just a game is his strength. He makes a player, even during pressurised situations, feel as though he is playing for his club on a Saturday afternoon. He knows it is more important than that but he makes you feel relaxed.”
Vaughan may well have been speaking about Mashaba.
The eagerness of these players was astounding and at no point did they feel that they were given “fong kong” version of the Bafana jersey.
The teams fielded much stronger lineups than the last time they contested this challenge, which they shared after a 1-1 draw in Port Elizabeth in 2011, but this was a much more entertaining spectacle.
The players expressed themselves more freely and they took the defenders on whenever they could.
Zungu scored Bafana’s first goal with a sweeping finish in the 31st minute, during a move when the players stopped being individualistic in trying to impress Mashaba.
Less than 10 minutes into the second period Chippa United forward Zulu put right the ratio between onfield dominance and the scoreboard. It must have been a nice swipe back at his doubters for the player whom many never thought was worthy of a Bafana jersey.
He had waited long enough for this debut. He was patient, too, during the match and he waited for the opportune moment to strike. He never forced things, as one with a point to prove is wont to do.
Ivory Coast had a chance with 19 minutes remaining to set up a nervy finish to the contest when Sangre Ibrahim lobbed for Diomande Sory Ibrahim, who shot remorsefully into goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane’s palms.