COSAFA CUP IS NOT A FUTILE MISSION
Tournament serves up a few gems
NDOLA, Zambia – Some players just aren’t Bafana material.
Without making it too obvious, coach Gordon Igesund ’ s selection during SA’s Cosafa Cup campaign easily gave away his plans for the “four of five players” that he raved about since their opening match against Namibia.
Bafana missed out on a place in tomorrow’s final following a 5-3 defeat on penalties to hosts Zambia in the semifinals.
There ’ s a third place playoff against Lesotho, but Igesund has probably seen enough. Over the past nine days, the coach has been able to make up his mind about who’s cut out to be on the international stage.
“This is not a third- or fourth-string Bafana side,” Igesund cried before leaving SA with his side last week.
But the coach would never risk fielding even half of these players in a World Cup or Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
There are some that stood out, and that is what Igesund and his technical team can take with them.
“We were not disgraced in the way we lost against Zambia. For me, the better team lost,” the coach said.
“We wanted to be in the final and it is disappointing that we are not, but we were able to fight and make it difficult for Zambia during the match even though they are hosts and had the crowd advantage. ”
While Bafana as a team impressed in patches, defender Thulani Hlatshwayo stood out for the entire 120 minutes as well as against Namibia in the 2-1 victory in Lusaka.
And being able to play at either right back or central defence gives Igesund something to think about as the Bafana regulars are not getting any younger.
Hlatshwayo is 23, has played for all the junior national teams, and it would seem all he needed was this type of competition to put his hand up for the senior squad. Igesund described him as having a football brain and being physical without giving away possession or being reckless.
There are still question marks over Ruzaigh Gamildien, the Bloemfontein Celtic playmaker Igesund labelled “arrogant” – as a compliment. He came off the bench and changed the complexion of the game against Namibia, but was anony- mous in the defeat to Zambia on Wednesday night, even missing a glorious scoring chance.