Mphela: Bafana has regressed since 2010 World Cup
KATLEGO Mphela has acknowledged that he knew that experience would count against him in the 2010 Fifa World Cup but he embraced the pressure that came with leading the striking contingent.
It’s been a decade since South Africa hosted the first global showpiece on home soil and such was their belief that they could actually compete, considering they had a No 9 who was lethal in domestic football and 2009 Confederation Cup.
The then Mamelodi Sundowns’ striker, Mphela, had scored 17 league goals and registered five assists, thus scooping the top goal scorer of the season award. A year before that same ‘Killer’ had a decent campaign in the Confederation Cup, scoring two goals in two matches.
So, with such an impressive record in local and global competitions – which included friendlies – building up to the main event, it was safe to say that the host nation, Bafana Bafana were in capable hands when it came to their scoring department, right?
“I think for every match that I played, there’s always been pressure. It was not easy to lead the country in such a tournament. There’s always been big expectations, especially if you are taking over from people such as Benni Mccarthy,” Mphela admitted.
“But I think my chance to be in the squad was already there based on the preparations that we did before the World Cup. If you look at the previous tournament and the season I had at club level, I was always in line to compete.”
He continued: “I felt good coming to the tournament. Yes, the pressure was there but you have to embrace it and try to represent your country.”
As Bafana crashed out in the group stage of their own party, Mphela started all three matches – the opening match against Mexico, the second match against Uruguay and the last game against France.
Given that the South Africans drew 1-1 with Mexico, Mphela had a chance to wrap up all three points but his late effort came off the upright, there was not much he could do in the 3-0 loss to Uruguay, while he scored in the 2-1 win over France.
“I think coming to the tournament, I didn’t have much experience. So, playing in the first game against Mexico, I had a difficult chance and could not make a proper contact with the ball. It was on my left foot, but I tried because I hit the post,” Mphela explained.
“Against Uruguay, the red card that was conceded by goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune changed everywhere. I don’t think we played as we had hoped to. But that was a learning curve for us. I think in the last game we still had a chance to qualify but we didn’t make the most of it.”
Since staging the global showpiece 10 years ago, South Africa have failed to qualify for the last two editions that were hosted in Brazil in 2014 and Russia in 2018 respectively. And according to Mphela those misfortunes are a reflection that there hasn’t been consistency since South Africa hosted the biggest footballing tournament.
“I think players in the last Afcon (in 2019) were much better in progress. I saw a bit of progress but I don’t think consistency is there,” said Mphela who scored 23 goals for the national team during his 50 appearances.
“Sometimes, we don’t keep the same team. But immediately after the World Cup, I think things further went south. So I haven’t seen big improvement or progress if you look at where we were 10 years back.’