Those were the days!
On SA teams in CAF
Over the weekend, I was watching, among other matches, the Orlando Pirates game against Eswatini’s Royal Leopards. The ‘visitors’ gave everyone a shock when they scored two quick goals in the first 10 minutes of the game and I was like, “Wow! What a talented team!” because they clearly had a plan and it worked in terms of them getting an early goal. As the game progressed, I don’t know what happened, Pirates bounced back strongly and went on to score six goals. In that case, I’d like to congratulate Pirates for such a wonderful win. I also need to send a word of congratulations to Mamelodi Sundowns as well for beating Al Ahly for the first time in their own backyard, courtesy of a solitary Thapelo Morena goal. I thought the game was won from the bench and that’s credit to Sundowns’ technical team – well done, guys. I must also not forget AmaZulu FC, who continue to make a mark in the continent by winning their second game in the group stage, beating ES Setif 1-0. It was a great weekend for South African teams taking part in continental football. All our teams won and that’s great for our football because they were raising our national flag high, representing the country.
On foreign acquisitions
It has come to my attention that we no longer acquire players from countries like Eswatini, Mozambique, Botswana and Lesotho like we used to do back in the day. Our domestic league used to attract a lot of quality players from these countries, so much that you’d wish they were South Africans so that they could play for Bafana Bafana. Zimbabwe is the most dominant in terms of sending players to our different leagues, at the moment. Zambia and Malawi are also in the mix in terms of imports, but my focus for this week is mainly on the DStv Premiership. In the 80s and 90s there were a number of players from these countries plying their trade in the PSL. Eswatini brought the likes of William Shongwe, Absalom “Scara” Thindwa, Abel Shongwe, Ronnie Dube and, later on, Sbusiso Dlamini, among other players. There were Lesotho internationals like Lekoane Lekoane, Lehlohonolo Seema and Katleho Moleko, among others.
Remember the former Jomo Cosmos strong central defender, Helder Mano-Mano Muianga, and striker Tico-Tico Bucuane? These are two of the players to come from Mozambique, and then there was Dario Monteiro, Elias Pelembe and, more recently, Dove Wome. Botswana sent Dipsy Selolwane, Joel Mogorosi, Mogakolodi Ngele and Mogogi Gabonamong, among others. Ernest Mtawali and John Maduka are two of the best to come from Malawi. Then you ask yourself, what happened to our teams finding these gems from these countries? Yes, there are some players in the lower ranks, but I’m talking about the elite league. It was so unbelievable to watch these guys in action for their respective teams, but, for some reasons, it has been a long time since we last saw players of the same quality gracing our shores from these countries and one wonders what might have gone wrong?
You’d think that things are a lot easier and better now because we watch and play against teams from these countries in the CAF interclub competitions now, where we can easily identify players. I’m not sure whether we don’t find the right quality anymore or we are just not interested. In my era, at Kaizer Chiefs, I got exposed to the likes of the Shongwes, Scara and the late Dube, who was also a striker. When I look at Chiefs, for years there’s never been a player from Eswatini in the team’s books, for example, which goes to show what I’m talking about. Those were the days! I’m not criticizing anyone for their choice, but it is just an observation as I reminisce about the past and how neighbouring countries used to impact our game. We used to get a lot of top-quality talent from these countries and our supporters always fell in love with the players and, like I said, even wished they were from here so that they could represent us. That’s just how good some of these players were, but things have changed now and I don’t know why.
Could it be that those countries are experiencing quality problems in certain departments in their football? Is their player development no longer the same? I don’t have the answers or the insight, but all I know is that these countries used to send us players who made a difference in our game at the highest level. Most of them are still in the country because of the warm welcome they received and how much they made our people happy. They even earned the respect and admiration of opposition supporters because of their sterling performances for their respective teams. It goes without saying that we miss those days because these guys brought tough competition to our players and that elevated our football because our players were always on their toes. I know, for a fact, that our football-loving people embraced these guys and even adopted them as South Africans because of the impact they had on our game. It would have been great to see a continuation of such talent coming through to our country and football.
Look, football is a game of opin-* ions and I know some people might view this in a negative light, but that’s not my intention. I know for a fact that there are players from these countries in the lower ranks, but I’m talking about players that came here and pretty much walked into their respective teams’ starting line-ups and made an immediate impact. The players who had the killer instinct and were not just adding numbers. I’m not taking anything away from players in the lower ranks, but, like I said, my main focus is on players making a difference in the elite league. It would be interesting to find out from those different countries on why they have not been able to produce or export the same talent as they did back in the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s because we miss those days. Yes, the game has evolved and therefore a lot of things have changed, we all understand that.
While I’m pointing at these other countries, most of my fingers are pointing at me and my own country. The very same questions apply to us as well because we are not producing the same quality as we used to do back in the day. Now that’s a twist to the whole story. But let me not digress or dilute my point of discussion, which is about the countries I have mentioned above. There’s so much that has improved with our football and the league since we hung up our boots. A lot of new ideas have been introduced and they took our game to another level. Having said that, we still miss getting those quality signings from our neighbouring countries.
Adios, Mzansi. Doctor Khumalo.