Time for redemption
Mashaba is hellbent on proving that he’s not on borrowed time
WHEN Bafana Bafana assemble at the Milpark Hotel in Johannesburg at seven o’clock tonight, they will have to begin anew.
A new approach and a new thinking, peppered with an understanding of what is expected of them, will be paramount.
This is redemption time for the men’s senior national side who must leave no room for error as they embark on the road to Russia 2018.
The point of departure is the Stade Du 4 Aout in Ouagadougou, for a date with the Stallions of Burkina Faso.
Stade Du 4 Aout is a venue the South Africans have visited three times without success.
Eighteen years ago under Jomo Sono, Bafana fell 2-0 to Egypt in the final hurdle of the African Nations Cup.
They returned, this time coached by Carlos Queiroz, to the West African country in 2001. Sibusiso Zuma’s goal gave them a 1-1 draw in a qualifier for the 2002 South Korea-Japan World Cup.
The two countries’ paths crossed once more in 2005 for another World Cup qualifier. The Burkinabe beat a Stuart Baxter-stewarded Bafana black and blue.
Zuma was again on target, but his goal was scant consolation in a 3-1 beating that put paid to South Africa’s dream of reaching the 2006 World Cup hosted by Germany.
This time Bafana return to the scene of the crime with Mashaba at the helm, and with a noose around the coach’s neck.
The Bulldozer, however, is hellbent to prove he is a man not living on borrowed time.
Bafana have the beating of the Burkinabe.
They have won four, lost one and drawn two of the seven previous encounters.
That, though, is on paper and Bafana have been paper tigers of late.
It is an image of themselves they need to change at lightning speed.
The coaching staff need to start showing they have dumped the dimwit thinking of ignoring immaculate planning.
This is no time to leave it to chance and hope for the best.
The players have done little to cover themselves in glory in the colours of the country.
Winning the Nelson Mandela Challenge does little to satisfy the hunger of long-suffering fans.
Around their necks hangs the albatross of underwhelming underachievement. They must prove their mettle. The pressing question arises whether they have the appetite, let alone the appreciation, of removing the tag of also-rans that the public associates with them.
The more pertinent question is whether they are aware that the vultures are circulating above the head of their coach.
He is unwanted by Danny Jordaan, the South African Football Association (Safa) president. Jordaan seems to have his focus firmly on Safa matters now that the Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral chain has gone blue.
Mashaba has dug in his heels and has come across as a man confident that his job is not under threat. He’s fooling himself if he thinks all is hunky-dory.
Anything less than finishing at the summit of Group D, which also comprises Cape Verde and Senegal, will see Mashaba jettisoned.
He must do his talking on the pitch. It is all or nothing.