South Africa’s tough road to Cup qualifier
Whoever coined the phrase that “Africa ain’t for sissies” deserves a pat on their back.
This is exactly the lesson this new crop of Bafana Bafana players are learning ahead of their encounter with the Black Stars at the Cape Coast Stadium, south of Ghana tonight.
But such experiences, like the treatment meted to them, including the long trip in a bus under paralysing hot and humid conditions, will make the boys tougher and stronger.
There’s hardly been any rest for the boys. After their 1-0 win over Zimbabwe late on Thursday night, the players were already at the airport the following morning to catch their flight to Accra. After strenuous six hours in the skies, another two tiring hours were spent at the Kotoka International Airport for Covid-19 testing.
As if that was not enough, another bruising four-hour bus trip was awaiting them from Accra to the Cape Coast, something that left Safa CEO Tebogo Motlanthe very unimpressed.
He believes it’s part of a deliberate strategy to destabilise Bafana’s plans. The only training session head coach Hugo Broos had with the players was last night. There are also questions around the condition of the pitch, both Zimbabwe and Ethiopia complained bitterly about the awful condition of the stadium’s playing surface.
“To be honest, why is this match not in Accra, where there are many hotels and facilities? Did you see how tired the players looked after that fourhour bus trip?” asked Motlanthe. “I think it is done deliberately to put us off.”
Even Broos is frustrated by the whole experience.
“It’s time Africa and Fifa sat down and looked into these situations. There are a lot of things that are wrong in African football. The whole fixtures in our group, like Ethiopia playing in Bahir Dar and then it’s no longer available,” said Broos.
“Also Accra having no proper soccer venue and us traveling six hours by flight and then four hours on the bus, that is too much. But we are ready for the match and the boys are well rested by now.”