Zulu happy with Bafana debut despite red card
SIYABONGA Zulu was shaking when he heard that he would be in Shakes Mashaba’s starting lineup for Bafana Bafana’s 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Mauritania last weekend.
The Platinum Stars left back had always dreamt of representing his country, but when that chance came it turned out to be a nightmare for the 22-year-old, who probably would not have been thrown in the deep end if Kaizer Chiefs’ Tsepo Masilela was available to play.
Zulu was sent off early in the second half for denying a charging opponent a clear goal-scoring opportunity as Bafana lost 3-1 to leave their qualifying campaign in tatters.
However, Zulu, who struggled to deal with the pace and trickery of Mauritanian right winger Ismael Diakite, was still happy with his performance and is hoping to get more opportunities to play for the national team in future.
Zulu had only featured once for Stars this season before the Bafana match.
He started ahead of Mzikayise Mashaba, who had played four matches in all competitions for Mamelodi Sundowns.
“I was happy to find out I was in the starting lineup, but I was shaking,” Zulu said.
“But I told myself it’s not the first time I play football. You saw in the first 10 minutes I was a bit slippery. But all in all I think I played well. It was a nice experience. It’s everyone’s dream to play for Bafana. I wish I can play more games.”
Zulu’s football journey started when he went for trials at Orlando Pirates in 2004.
“[Ernest] Botsotso Makhanya was staying in the same township I stayed in. He was coaching at Pirates and he got me to go to the trials. I played at Pirates [development] until 2010. I got promoted to the first team and then they loaned me out to Sivutsa Stars.
“I went back to Pirates and then they loaned me out to Chippa United [last season]. That’s where my career started because I started playing some games at Chippa. I gained more experience there.”
Zulu was at Chippa for just a season before Dikwena came knocking on his door. He signed for the North West club this season and is hoping he can win trophies with the side. BAFANA Bafana coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba put his team’s video analyst’s credibility on the line by claiming that “internal matters” had prevented him from being part of his technical team in the debacle against Mauritania.
Following the shock 3-1 defeat, Mashaba has had to fend off heavy criticism about why Bafana not only did not have Tiro van Rooyen with them in Nouakchott, but also failed to get their hands on footage of Mauritania in action.
The result was that even though they were playing lowly opposition – Mauritania are 114th on the Fifa rankings – going into the game blind meant they had no idea what to expect and played like it.
In a radio interview on Monday night, Mashaba cited unspecified internal matters as the reason captain Itumeleng Khune had revealed that players had to fend for themselves by trolling the internet in an attempt to obtain footage of their opposition in action.
The idea of players having to find YouTube clips of opposition has led to the general public thinking Bafana’s video analyst department is not up to scratch.
However, SA Football Association communications director Dominic Chimhavi said Van Rooyen, who did not travel with Bafana to Mauritania last week, was being used as a scapegoat.
“We only have one video analyst [for all the national teams]. I wouldn’t say he is inept. He is a very young man who went with the under-20s to Russia and did a brilliant job,” the Safa spokesman said.
“Whenever a team loses or is on the back foot, people will always punch holes in the team’s performance.
“If we had won, all these things would not be coming up. To me, our video analyst is one of the sharpest minds and we are very confident in what he does.”
In a radio interview on Monday, the Bafana coach said he had not used Van Rooyen’s services because he had been occupied elsewhere.
Van Rooyen is in Tunisia with the U23s, who scheduled two friendly matches against the North Africans in preparation for their Olympic qualifiers in November.
Chimhavi did not explain why Bafana was not prioritised as the team with which the analyst had to travel.
Attempts to reach Mashaba were unsuccessful.