HEAT AND POOR PLAY HIT BAFANA
AFANA Bafana’s performance against Mauritania was concerning to say the very least.
Shakes Mashaba and the team knew all too well that their Group M opponents were not to be underestimated, but I have to ask if that was just lip service and if they had actually gone into that Afcon qualifier believing the match was already won?
Mauritania are ranked 114th in the latest Fifa World Rankings while SA are ranked 72nd, and even though rankings aren’t much to go by, we would be inclined to think that this should have been three points in the bag. Perhaps if we’re being really generous we could factor in the heat and away conditions, but if you actually looked at the team’s performance, it was poor.
Suffering a 3-1 defeat gives Mashaba and his entire team plenty to think about, seeing as SA is now at the very bottom of Group M with a single point from two games, and our next assignment, although only scheduled for March 2016, will be what I expect to be a much tougher challenge against Cameroon.
These are worrying times for our national team who failed to make a memorable impact in Equatorial Guinea earlier this year – they managed a single point in Group C, which was admittedly a tough group that featured Ghana, Algeria and Senegal.
There is no way to spin this one – we were simply not good enough, and a review of the match will indicate all of the team’s shortcomings that desperately need to be worked on for upcoming qualifiers if we are to participate in the 2017 showpiece in Gabon. MUCH has been said, both positive and negative, about Durban being awarded the rights to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and while I can understand the concern with regards to finances, I think we should actually concentrate on what should theoretically be a massive boost for our sport, athletes and federations.
If there wasn’t urgency before, there very well should be now to get our house in order! Potential gems should be identified, athlete high-performance programmes should be put into place, and our facilities need to be upgraded so that we present our city proudly in terms of infrastructure, and are fully representative in as many codes as possible with good (not average) medal targets set.
In recent years, the Commonwealth Games has lost some of its appeal and prestige among the world’s best athletes, but make no mistake – this is one of the biggest multidiscipline events in the world and should (on paper at least) hold us in good stead when we eventually go big – and bid for the Olympic Games.
That will be many years from now and we unfortunately won’t have the opportunity to see some of the current best athletes in the world competing because they would have retired by then, but there will be new young mega global stars from various parts of the world, and that is an event I don’t think any of us would not want to witness first-hand.
So despite all the negativity and naysayers, I would just like to say kudos to Durban! This year is officially a writeoff for Rafael Nadal and I honestly can’t hide my disappointment, because I really thought he would come back strong this year. I’m concerned that he has taken a big hit psychologically, confidence-wise and in terms of performance, and something has to give.
I understand his loyalty to his uncle Toni, but I think a fresh new perspective is needed. He’s still playing good tennis and is an absolute pleasure to watch, but unless major changes are implemented in his team, I’m not sure that he has it in him to replicate his previous dominating form.