Crisis? What crisis?
WILL Smith was a lanky, skinny, silly young man when he portrayed the fictional character of the frolicsome teenager Will “The Fresh Prince” Smith.
That was in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Yeah. I know. I’m ancient.
Now a mature movie man but still lanky, Smith is a battle-scarred actor who plays the seasoned con-man Nicky Spurgeoolder in Focus .
He is also taking up real-life causes like boycotting the snow-white Academy Awards sometimes known as the Oscars. Ancient and current. Wink. An Oscar display is what Bafana Bafana must dish out this month. Not once but twice as they meet Cameroon in back-to-back qualifiers for the 31st edition of the African Nations Cup, the biennial Confederation of African Football competition Gabon will host in 2017.
Given the precarious position of their qualifying chances — they are tailenders in group M with one point after a draw with and a loss to world-beaters The Gambia and Mauritania respectively — Bafana are in desperate need of a Fresh Prince.
Fortunately no search party is needed to find the prince in question. He is in location in Cape Town. They already call him the Prince of Ikamva.
Arise Prince Nxumalo. Assume position for the nation is calling on you to transform your red-hot form for Ajax Cape Town to Bafana.
The accuracy that has seen him bang in 11 goals to become the second-top sharpshooter in the top-scorer’s standings is desperately needed to save a national situation that is teetering on a state of complete ruin.
That we must beat Cameroon on March 26 in Limbe and March 29 in Dur- ban is non-negotiable.
Goals win matches, which calls on us to do some due diligence on the goalscorers.
Tokelo Rantie last played on January 9 — feels like the Stone Age — and limped off with a problem on a leg.
Bongani Zungu’s knee is knackered. Sibusiso Vilakazi is Zungu’s companion in the casualty ward with the same ailment.
The Hawks have launched a manhunt for Thamsanqa Gabuza’s misplaced scoring boots.
Given that the above quartet is a source of goals for the squad — the picture doesn’t look rosy ahead of the sixpointer against Africa’s first World Cup quarterfinalists.
Add Itumeleng Khune to the list of crocks and the fact that Dean Furman is growing a rapid allergic reaction to being on-form with every game he plays for SuperSport United, and it is natural for comments around Bafana to amount to a chorus of crisis.
Crisis, what crisis? me asks. There comes a time in the course of doing his work that a coach must show why he is the brains behind the team.
That time is now for Shakes Mashaba. Any player with a green South African identity book and on form will be selected. It is as clear as the nose on my face that Nxumalo selects himself.
Furman’s absence should finally allow Kamohelo Mokotjo to be given room to show the star quality many believe him to possess.
It is also a role Hlompho Kekana, the unassuming heartbeat of Mamelodi Sundowns whose heroics aren’t drowned by the destruction caused by the offensive trio of Leonardo Castro, Khama Billiat and Keagan Dolly, can also fill with aplomb.
Dolly would have deserved a nod too had it not been for a clash of commitments with the under-23s going away to Brazil around the same period. Challenges like the one against Cameroon will tell us whether we have warriors or wimps. Mashaba and Bafana got themselves into this dwang. Crush Cameroon twice and the Mess in Mauritania will never be mentioned.
The Hawks have launched a manhunt for Gabuza’s misplaced scoring boots