This feeling was even more real when I watched Germany playing Argentina last week. What an exciting 2-2 draw, but more than just the goals scored, it was the style of football displayed by these giants of European football that caught my eye. The way they spread the ball around, moving from one side to the other without any kick-and-rush approach was beautiful to see. The way they switched play from right back, to the centre-back and then to the left back, before a pass to the midfielder that looked to set up the attackers. It was beautiful ball retention at its best. Both teams gave a great account of themselves and entertained not only those at the stadium but everyone who was watching.
While enjoying the game, before I could get carried away, I then realised that this was nothing new. They didn't just invent this brand of football; in fact, it is something South African football has always been about. This is the way we used to play the game until we conceded an own goal by adopting outdated and below par foreign influences that turned us into robots. All of a sudden, the skill and flair that have always set us apart from the rest of the world are now forbidden in our game. Isn't that giving away your advantage to the opposition? You then expect to dominate them? Instead of enhancing our game, we have decided to do away with what made us who we are. The Europeans would give anything to have what we have, yet we are desperately trying to be like them. Funny enough, we've seen some foreign coaches coming to South Africa and embracing our unique style of football more than some of our very own, who are hellbent on playing destructive football.
Our skilful players like Doctor Khumalo, the late Shakes Kungoane, Zane Moosa and many others would not get as much recognition and opportunity today as they did back then. You look no further than the tragedy that has happened to one of the most talented footballers we've had in recent times, Mark Mayambela, to understand my point. In almost 10 professional teams that he's played for, not even a single coach has been able to get Mayambela to fulfil his potential and get him to make his team tick for a long time. Now on the wrong side of 30, such a talent is yet to make any contribution to Bafana Bafana. Mayambela is one of the closest examples of South African football identity, yet he's not being appreciate because he doesn't subscribe to the robotic way of doing things. He wants to express himself, enjoy football and, more importantly, make the supporters happy in the process. Instead of capitalising on his talent, almost everyone is looking to turn him into a defensive machine that he will never be.
Now people find joy and happiness watching the MultiChoice Diski Challenge games than most of the elite league's matches. That's simply because most MDC teams play with the raw flair and freedom. However, that's only until the players get promoted to the senior team where they will be turned into robots.
With the new dawn of technology, we have lost our identity so much we have opened ourselves up to everything foreign. One of the biggest tragedies of our football is exactly that, forgetting where we come from and ignoring what made us who we are. The gap between the clubs and supporters has also widened. Our stadiums are relatively empty because, for the longest time, the supporters have been alienated by the same teams they pay their hard-earned money to support. The demise of the PROs has also not helped at all as we now have glorified media officers who are obsessed with the limelight more than getting the information out to the public. They've now ascended to the celebrity cult and have little to no time for the supporters, the very same people who put food on their tables. Supporters are informed via social media with little to no physical contact with the masses, while millions of our supporters are not on social media at all and still prefer face-to-face communication. Then you wonder why people are not going to the stadiums anymore.
A typical example is the recent Bafana Bafana v Mali Nelson Mandela Challenge in Port Elizabeth this past Sunday. A decent crowd ascended to the Nelson Mandel Bay Stadium, but with proper planning, a capacity crowd would have been possible. This was the first time in ages that Bafana were in town, but the 46 000-seater venue wasn't packed to the rafters for such an important game. I can bet that there are people in the same metro who didn't even know there was such an important game right in their own backyard. That's because football people are no longer in your face like in the past. These are all little things that add up to the bigger problem we witness daily.
There's also a growing trend of some supporters also developing a celebrity status because everything is now about the limelight more than serving the Beautiful Game. People go to the stadium just to be on television more than watching and supporting the game. This is all thanks to the social media that has consumed our people. We need to find ourselves by going back to what made us who we are before it is too late.
