Booth: It is a little disappointing

Tomorrow, 11 June 2020, marks 10 years since the opening game of the 2010 World Cup. Time really does fly. The global football showpiece was the first to be held on this continent and, against the predictions of many naysayers, Mzansi went on to stage a successful and memorable tournament, although sadly Bafana Bafana bowed out in the group stages, thus attracting the unwanted record of being the first nation to do so in World Cup history. Matthew Booth, who elicited screams of “Boooooooth!” whenever he was in possession of the ball, much to the bemusement of the touring contingent of fans, who thought he was being booed, was one of the privileged 23 men who was part of the squad. In this column, the former centre-back relives the occasion and reflects on the legacy left by the tournament…

On marking 10 years after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa

It was a proud moment to be part of the Word Cup. It was a great journey for all of us involved. For me, personally, it was a six-year journey because I played in Russia and, at the time, I was not getting any Bafana Bafana call-ups. That was the reason I came back and joined Mamelodi Sundowns and, fortunately, I was selected for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. I had a good Confederations Cup and that is how I got selected to the World Cup. We camped a lot leading up to the World Cup and, with the changes in coaching, I think I was very lucky to make the World Cup squad. It was a good experience, a World Cup on South African soil.

On whether our football has improved since then

I think we have to look back at 1996 and, looking at the results, I think we’ve had a steady decline since 1996. You could tell from the fact that in 2008 we failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time. I think that was a big wake up-call for South Africa, two years before hosting the World Cup. Since the World Cup itself, I have seen some nice little moments, but I do not see any signs of our national team reviving and getting back to our 1996 glory. I strongly believe that we have to institute some sort of long-term plan. More importantly, though, we not only have to draw up the plan, but we have got to execute it, implement it properly, which I don’t think we have ever done.

On what the 2010 World Cup did for SA football

Look, as a player, leading up to the World Cup, obviously I wanted to be part of it and I was selfish in that regard. However, looking back now at what it has left, I feel that the positives are that we now have football-specific stadiums and our football industry doesn’t have to beg and borrow from rugby or cricket anymore. We have football-specific stadiums which are built for us. And also, there was an opportunity that was given to us to make use of, but unfortunately, we have not made use of that opportunity because there was a huge football euphoria in South Africa. Unfortunately, our football authorities did not take full advantage of that. There was a big opportunity for them to do that, but they didn’t. I also question what happened to the Legacy Fund because I am a stakeholder in the game and I have two young sons who play the game, and I am afraid I have not seen any benefits from that Legacy Fund, if I am to be honest.

Those are the two big negatives for me. However, there definitely were some positives, like the experience for South Africa was fantastic, the chance to unify the country was there, we have these great stadiums. But if you look at Russia, as an example, they have these fantastic stadiums that were built for them and the clubs now are filling those stadiums because they are marketing their clubs properly and they are making use of that post-World Cup euphoria and their league has grown enormously from a following point of view and from a fan point of view. As South Africa, we have not taken advantage of that and it is a little bit disappointing.

On SAFA and PSL being at loggerheads

The two bodies not seeing eye-toeye at times is a big problem. Even now with the COVID-19 disaster, the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture (Nathi Mthethwa) wants to go to parliament with one report (on when football can resume or start) with everybody on the same playing field, but he is caught between a rock and a hard place because SAFA is saying one thing and the PSL is saying another thing. That is just one small example of where things can be difficult. You need everybody to be on the same page, to be specifi,c and I am afraid that is not the case at the moment.

On the joint liaison committee

I hope that the joint liaison xommittee will come up with a solution in as far as the resumption of the league is concerned. Hopefully, football will resume with all the safety measures taken, of course, because nobody, not even Kaizer Chiefs fans, wants the league to be handed over to them. They would want to celebrate it on the field of play first by winning games. Even the Chiefs players want to play for it and win it fairly. Let’s hope the committee will come up with a positive solution.

Matthew Booth, Former Bafana Bafana defender