South African football has been on a downward trajectory in the last decade or so, despite our domestic league remaining one of the best in the world. Apart from Banyana Banyana, who have literally been on a completely different spiral to their male counterparts, there has really been very little to celebrate about SA football. Something is definitely "off" about our football because even qualifying for top international tournaments is no longer a foregone conclusion!
These days, we find ourselves celebrating Afcon qualification against lowly Liberia, who made us sweat for our spot at next year's biennial tournament. No one could have written the script that Bafana Bafana would play to a 2-all draw against the Lone Stars and go into the second leg on tenterhooks, desperately needing to win the game to secure our place. Thankfully, coach Hugo Broos' charges did exactly what needed to be done to secure maximum points, albeit with an underwhelming 2-1 win. Now Bafana can finally heave a sigh of relief as they are mathematically through and confirmed their place, joining Morocco, whom they are scheduled to play in June, out of Group K. In the past, teams like Liberia would be a walkover against our mighty Bafana Bafana, but those days are a distant history now. In fact, our Bafana would have been just like Morocco, take care of business from the word go to send a strong message against everyone, especially against a team like Liberia. That's how you build confidence and ensure that you are going to the competition to fight for honours, not just honour the fixtures. Those were the days!
We are a country of more talk than action. We plan but never get to execute. We continue to make unfulfilled promises, term of office after term of office, like political service delivery or lack thereof. If you listened to previous manifestos, they all sound the same as the next one you will hear, full of promises that never materialise. How many "Vision" plans have we had since the dawn of the new millennium? What has come of them? Now we are talking "Vision 2030" and already two of the main deliverables of the "Vision" have failed remarkably! Those are our U23 Afcon qualification as well as securing a spot to the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics. What is going to happen with the failure to achieve these two fundamental objectives? Absolutely nothing! Life will just carry on to the next "Vision" because we let bygones be. What were the consequences of the previous failures? Nothing! So, expecting anything different this time around would be naïve at best and stupid at worst. We move on, swiftly, because it is not the end of the world as there is the next "Vision" to look forward to and work towards, already. Maybe we need a serious and honest conversation about our football because, if you look at our group, with all due respect to Liberia, we should be competing with Morocco for the summit and not just be content with finishing second! Now it looks like Zimbabwe's FIFA ban was a blessing in disguise for Bafana because one shudders to think what would have happened had the Warriors participated in these qualifiers.
One wonders how many South Africans can boldly say we'd have made it through coach Joey Antipas' charges, they wouldn't even stand a chance against us. Morocco sent a strong message with their qualification and proved that they are going to the West African country to compete for silverware, while we laboured through against Liberia and created a perception that we are only going there to add numbers. Something is just "off" about South African football and one just can't put a finger on it.
When you look at our domestic elite league, there are a number of individually good players that you feel could go on to form a strong and successful national team. Are we not calling up the right players to the national team? Are we not on the same page with the senior national team coach and his junior counterparts? Do we expect success when they are on a rebuilding phase? Is lack of South African football identity the main problem for our football, which sees different teams playing different styles of football? Is the national team coaches' job of putting a team together made impossible by players coming from different philosophies that need longer time to be untaught and merged into one united system? Is the problem with the influx of foreign players, some of whom have become regulars in key positions in our teams, at the expense of local talent?
You look at the junior national teams and lament coach David Notoane and his team's failure to qualify for the U23 Afcon and ultimately the Olympics. But when was the last time you saw that team and the U17s play, for instance? Why don't we have permanent junior national team coaches and think our teams will progress? Is the DStv Diski Challenge our only scouting point for junior national team players as a shortcut rather than as part of the bigger development system?
Truth be told, without permanent junior coaches, we are not going far at all because part-time coaches will not have all the time to criss-cross the length and breadth of the country or even go abroad in search of untapped and deserving talent as their other jobs will be top priority. Do we even have a scouting database of all the junior South African players who qualify for our respective national teams? With coach Notoane having stepped down, is there a technical report to guide us with his findings so that we don't repeat the same mistakes and correct the shortcomings that he may have experienced that led to our failure? Is there a way to ensure that the current crop of players doesn't fall through the cracks like it happened in the past and that there will be a gradual promotion of some of these players to the senior team, thanks to the co-operation between the senior and junior national team coaches?
For as long as we disrespect development, there will be no hope for our game, unfortunately! At the moment, one doesn't know whether we are coming or going because there's no consistency when it comes to team selection right across and there seems to be no plan in place. Player for player, we are world beaters, but it is in putting those players together to form a team where we are falling short.
Before we go, does anyone account for our failures? Mamelodi Sundowns supporter, Robert "Mzekezeke" Nkosi, summed it up perfectly in last week's edition when he said the difference between the Chloorkop-based club and others is that they are a project with short-term and long-term objectives, while others are just professional football teams. When these objectives are not met, something happens. When a project fails or hits a snag, there has to be accountability and then you work on those shortcomings, but if everything continues as if nothing happened, then surely something is not right. Can we say what is happening at Sundowns is the same thing happening at South African Football Association? For instance, coach Notoane's resignation is not going to solve our U23 team's problems because he wasn't the main cause of them. Surely it is not too much to ask for accountability when objectives are not met. We can't carry on like this and expect things to change, never!
On a separate note, we continue with our partnership with City Press and Absa, where we give you a chance to claim your financial freedom through the City Press Money Makeover Challenge. Please turn to page 9 for all the necessary information and make sure to jump at this opportunity. Good luck. Let us all enjoy the Easter weekend and stay safe on the roads. We need to all come back in one piece next week. Happy Easter holiday!
Cheers,
VeeJay
