Rough road to Brazil
the Africa Cup of Nations show is over, there are still 10½ months of the footballing year left, with SA seeking to qualify for a fourth World Cup appearance.
Getting to Brazil is a tough process and even after being handed a dream draw, Bafana Bafana are making a poor fist of it.
There are three stages to the qualification process, the majority of which will take place between late March and mid-November.
SA skipped the first part, given a bye into the second group phase, made up of 40 contenders.
Bafana Bafana were also handed an easy group, from which only the winner goes on to compete in the final stage of the qualifying process.
The team was put with Botswana, Central African Republic and Ethiopia, all relatively tame opponents. This presented the potential for a morale-boosting romp through the qualifiers that would set the side up with enough ranking points to ensure a favourable draw for the last two matches in October and November.
That is when the 10 group winners — expected to be a formidable field — are paired into five ties, to be played
FINANCIAL MAIL
DECEMBER 20 1 2
MARK GLEESON home and away, which will determine who goes on to represent Africa in Brazil in mid-2014.
As things stand now, it is going to be something of a scramble from the SA team, which embarrassingly drew with both Ethiopia and Botswana in their first two group games in midJune. This precipitated the departure of coach Pitso Mosimane and the installation of Gordon Igesund in his stead.
The next qualifier, on March 23, is home to the Central African Republic — a totally unknown proposition but a country that has been rapidly rising up the rankings.
Then, at the start of June comes the reverse fixture in Bangui, where visiting teams are given cockroach-infested hotels, muddy patches to train on and a hostile reception that borders on the bizarre.
A week later it will be away in Addis Ababa in a tiny stadium with an atrocious bumpy pitch. Both games will be real tests of character and must-win affairs for SA, who have better playing talent but perhaps not as much desire and fight. The group matches end with a home fixture against Botswana in September.
Should Bafana Bafana top the group they then go into the draw for the last round. In that draw their Fifa ranking will be important to avoid a match-up with the likes of Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana or Nigeria.
These last two games are scheduled for October and November and will be a thrilling finale to a long qualification process.
In February, Orlando Pirates will attempt again to win the African Champions League, the top club prize on the continent, which they previously won in 1995. They remain the only SA club to have done so.
Pirates and SuperSport United, by virtue of winning the Nedbank Cup in May, are the only two SA clubs playing in pan-African competition in 2013. SuperSport compete in the African Confederation Cup, the second-tier competition.
The Buccaneers had high hopes of doing well in the 2012 Champions League as part of their 75th birthday celebrations. However, they were bundled out in the first round by Angolan opposition. SuperSport coach Gavin Hunt reckons SA sides can do well in the competitions because they are technically and tactically stronger than most but they struggle with the travel.