Bafana aren’t playing for themselves

On SA teams in the continent

Let me take this opportunity to congratulate the South African teams taking part in the CAF inter-club competitions, especially those who came back with positive results, this past weekend. It has been a mouthwatering weekend for Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, although it was an unfortunate one for AmaZulu FC, who were booted out of the Champions League by Raja Casablanca following their 2-0 loss. Sundowns won 4-2 away to Al Hilal, while Pirates recorded a 2-0 away win to JS Saoura to book their quarterfinal spots in the Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively. Even though AmaZulu are out, I was pleased and impressed to read a statement from one of their opponents, who had nothing but love and praise for the way Usuthu hosted them in the country. That’s how we are as South Africans and we need to commend AmaZulu for continuing to hoist our flag by showing ubuntu (humanity) and that’s fantastic.

Isn’t it ironic that both Sundowns and Pirates finished and won their games with 10 men on the field, following the red cards suffered by the two teams? They showed character and resilience against all odds. There was an unfortunate incident in the Pirates game which led to Goodman Mosele’s red card. Look, I speak subject to correction, but his sending-off was not warranted. The boy got injured and went down,( but the referee seemed to think he was wasting time, which is why he sent him for an early shower even though he was on* the stretcher. When you follow the sequence of the action, you can clearly see that even his clearance wasn’t the best because he was really injured. The same leg he was complaining about couldn’t carry the weight of the ball. He limped a couple of times before he eventually went down, which goes to show that he was really injured. There was no wasting time there and if the referee perceived the incident to be such, why didn’t he stop the watch?

Look, we see this a lot, especially when playing against teams from the North African countries. It was really unfortunate for the poor boy and I wish him a speedy recovery from his injury. Congratulations to both teams for their wonderful wins and proceeding to the quarterfinals of the respective competitions. May they continue to lift our flag and I hope they go all the way to the finals and emerge victorious.

On Bafana international friendlies

We all know that domestic football will be on hold this weekend, thanks to the FIFA calendar. Our Bafana Bafana are out of the country to face

Guinea and France on Friday and Tuesday respectively. The squad has been selected and announced. From what I have read, Percy Tau and Thapelo Morena have been withdrawn due to injuries they suffered while doing club duty. Look, it is a big blow for us not to have them because we are playing against two top teams and it would have been great to have them in those games, but, unfortunately, there’s nothing anyone can do about the injuries..

I’ve heard people asking why we are playing these two games against these two countries. I mean, if we are not going to measure ourselves against some of the best in the world, who are we going to do that against? If you look at our national team’s history, we’ve always made it a point to use the international break to play some of the biggest teams in the world. This is where our team and individual players get the experience and confidence, from playing against some of the best players in the world. That’s why it is always important for us to have all our best players available for selection and that’s not because they don’t know anything, but playing against these top teams goes a long way in building their character. This is also an opportunity to showcase our talent to the rest of the world, so these games are very important and should never be taken lightly.

Yes, it is going to be a difficult game against France, who are the current World Champions, and coach Hugo Broos is on record saying he doesn’t want his team to be embarrassed by a big margin. I think, look, some people might misunderstand his point here and think he’s only going there to lose and that he already knows they can’t beat France. Honestly, that’s not what the coach says and we all anticipate a good match. For me, the two games will give our players an opportunity to test themselves against their European counterparts, especially the young players who hardly get such opportunities. These are very important games and a very good move by South African Football Association (SAFA) not to experiment but expose our players to the highest possible opposition. This is the only way for us to get better and people should never gauge teams because each and every game is important in the development of our players. There are a lot of countries who would love to be in our position right now, being able to organize international friendlies of this magnitude, but they can’t. So, we are fortunate to be where we are irrespective of the results. I look at this as an opportunity for our players and technical team to measure ourselves against top-quality opposition.

I just hope that there aren’t any more injuries that will jeopardize our technical team’s plans because we are all looking forward to these games. In my opinion, the results don’t matter, but the input of individual players and the growth of the team, collectively, will be vitally important. Having a big heart, showing character and composure is what is going to count the most because we saw how our boys stood their ground against Ghana when they played them away from home. We have top-quality talent and we have it in ourselves to remind the world of who we are and what we are all about. We can compete against anyone and this is an opportunity for the team and the technical team to asses themselves ahead of the qualifiers and other competitive games. Everybody should be ready to take their game to the next level and therefore elevate our national team. It is time now for coach Broos to achieve his goals and all of us to unite and rally behind our national teams. These guys aren’t just playing for themselves, they are representing us and therefore our support is very important to them.

I want to wish Bafana everything of the best and they must just go out there and enjoy the game. Once again, this is an opportunity for our team and individual players to show the world what we are all about.