Shakes on the ropes
| Bafana Bafana mentor seems oblivious to the fact he has reached the stagnation phase in his tenure
in Mbombela THE sterility of South Africa’s performance in their 1-1 draw with Mauritania in their final 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifier was not pretty.
A side with lots of potential seemed incapable of changing gears.
Head coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba should know about the fickle nature of South African football.
Here are things he may need to consider: It would be ill-advised of the South African Football Association (Safa) to change coaches ahead of a crucial World Cup qualifying campaign that starts in Burkina Faso in just over a month’s time.
But Safa president Danny Jordaan’s disgust with the missed qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations and the side’s poor performance could indicate an impending coaching change.
Judging from his post-match comments, Mashaba is not worried about losing his job.
Maybe he should start thinking about it should they lose to Egypt on Tuesday.
The suits at Safa are notorious for drawing their daggers swiftly when coaching blood needs to be spilt. Egypt have qualified for next year’s continental showpiece, meaning that key players could be rested for a friendly. A lack of clarity in selections from Mashaba has seen him swing from youth to experience without batting an eyelid.
The under-23’s he has trusted have not let him down and it is only fair that they should hold court at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday evening.
They are the ones who will be the cornerstone of Vision 2022 if Mashaba gets to see out that plan.
Despite an admittedly weakened side with a patchwork defensive unit, Abbubaker Mobara and Aubrey Modiba form part of what looks like an exciting future if they are mentored properly.
The same goes for plenty of youngsters who are on the fringes of selection.
The template for the future is there. Whether Mashaba is the right person to mould the team remains to be seen. When Bafana Bafana have created fewer chances, they have had a tendency to score more goals.
That seems to have escaped Mashaba when he harped on about UNINSPIRED: SA’s Hlompho Aphenus Kekana, right, and Boubacar Bagili of Mauritania during Friday’s Afcon qualifier, which was drawn 1-1 the pleasure of watching his side creating chances.
Thamsanqa Gabuza’s missed penalty was one of many squandered opportunities but scoring goals is neither a science nor an art.
Mashaba often makes it sound like it’s a hybrid of the two.
It is all good and well creating chances but, as Mauritania showed, one chance is enough when it is converted. Friendlies do not count in this column, only competitive internationals. The last one South Africa won was back in November 2014 when an emotionally charged team playing in their first match since the passing of Senzo Meyiwa beat Sudan 2-1 in Durban.
A full two years will pass without Bafana winning a competitive match at home. That’s not the stuff that gets teams into World Cups but that is something that does not seem to register on Mashaba’s ticker. Senegal, Cape Verde and Burkina Faso will relish their South African trips if things do not change. National team coaches, or any coach for that matter, have to be a problem solvers.
While he may not be the genesis of South African football’s terminal goal-scoring reluctance, at some point he needs to take responsibility when his selected forwards do not do the job.
If they cannot score in their respective leagues, what possesses Mashaba to think they’ll be reincarnated into net blasters overnight when in national team colours?
Passing the buck smacks of the very same arrogance he recently complained about.
Mashaba must also remember the successful 2015 Afcon qualifying campaign is a thing of the past.
While he may not be the genesis of South African football’s terminal goal-scoring reluctance, at some point he needs to take responsibility when his forwards do not do the job