Bafana Bafana and coach Hugo Broos came under heavy criticism after their 2-0 loss to Mali in the opening match of the Africa Cup of Nations, but in the second game, the 1996 Afcon champions beat Namibia 4-0 in one of the best encounters of the tournament so far, one-sided as it was. In this interview with Soccer Laduma's Zola Doda, former South African international defender Bongani Khumalo shares insights on the tournament so far and discusses the big victory. The TV analyst also has a word or two on Percy Tau after he copped criticism for a missed penalty against Mali. Important to note, due to our print deadline, this interview was conducted before the game against Tunisia on Wednesday evening.
Zola Doda: Bongs, what did you make of Bafana Bafana's performance against Namibia?
Bongani Khumalo: We had to win. Look, being a former player as well, for me it doesn't matter how you play, as long as you win. Just win. You have to win, this is tournament football. You lost the first game, you conceded twice – it doesn't matter how you play, just win and get the result. I mean, what are you going to do? Play well and then say, 'Ah, we were unlucky, we lost or drew the game'? It's tournament football, you need to get out of the group. If you have one point going into the last game, you have a lot of things that need to go your way, but now at least we have three points going into the last group match against Tunisia. The job is done. 4-0 is a convincing scoreline, let it boost confidence, let it boost belief. Our next opponent Tunisia are a mixed bag, you are not really sure what you are going to get. In the first game (against Namibia), they didn't really turn up. In the second game against Mali, they turned it on a little bit and got better. They are a threat. In the third game, they will go there with a point and thinking that they still have a point. For South Africa, three points and a 4-0 win against Namibia… but the job is not done. We still need to get the result in the last game. But in terms of confidence and belief more importantly, that is what we needed, and I'm very pleased that we got it. Percy Tau showed mega character after getting criticised in the first game against Mali. He showed a big character to step up and take responsibility and that's huge and massive respect for him for doing that. I can tell you now that many players wouldn't if you consider the pressure. But credit to the guys, they did what they had to do and may they grow stronger and stronger.
ZD: Is there anything that impressed you specifically with the way the boys played?
BK: It differs from person to person, but for me, the most important thing is that we won. It doesn't matter how we played. If we win the Afcon, 10 years from now no one is going to care who dribbled who or how we played. People will look at who won. I will give you an example… When I played for SuperSport United, I was 20 or 21 years old when we won the league and people were saying we played long ball, they were criticising us. But if you look at the champions record in 2008, 2009 and 2010, what is it going to say? SuperSport United. That's tournament football. Tournament football is about winning. Getting across the line is the most important thing. Everything else is an extra. You know, playing well and all that, that is for the league, your club level and friendlies, when you play friendly internationals and all that. But tournament football, with the trophy at stake, just get across the line. There are many ways to skin a cat, it doesn't have to look glamourous. Just get it done. Get the job done, and that's what happened against Namibia. Obviously, we can go and look at the goals. The first goal was a penalty.
Great. The second goal, it's well-worked – ball over the top, wonderful ball by Thapelo Morena on the floor. But to ping a ball into the box, not cross but a proper pass into the box, flat, no bounce, nothing, ball coming in flat in a pace, it helps the finisher in terms of making contact and (scoring) a goal. But if the ball comes in bubbly, it becomes difficult to finish and sometimes it gets skyed. But that kind of finish to keep it on the grass, all that Themba Zwane had to do was to redirect it. All the power is there. The third goal was individual brilliance. Good pressing on the side, good squeezing, doubling up, we regained possession… bang, goal! Zwane is not the paciest of players, but he is not slow. He has great technique, great manipulation of the ball, little stop-starts with easy footing. Pure class. This is the confidence I'm talking about going into the next matches. But don't be fooled, tournament football is about winning. It doesn't matter how well we played, just win and get across the line.
ZD: What changed then from the first game to the next?
BK: Look, let's be honest, Namibia don't have the greatest quality. They managed to get a good result in the first game, but if you're honest, there's not much quality there. Their central defender plays for Cape Town Spurs and when was the last time they won a game? Besides Deon Hotto and Peter Shalulile, if you look at their back four, there's not much there. You can get a good result in the first game and credit to them, but the longer you are in tournament football, that is when your quality shows and when your quality shows, you will get exposed on the day. To do it week in and week out… and tournament football is every three to four days and you need to reproduce the results. That is when real quality, the real cream starts to show because not everyone can handle that intensity and demand to show up at the highest level. But, to be fair to them, they had two to three chances before we scored. They could have gone 1- or 2-0 up and if they had scored the first goal, it changes the dynamic completely. We had to win the game and all they needed was a draw. If they had scored first and we were under immense pressure, psychologically it does things to you. But the best thing that happened was us getting the first goal. That was the best thing. It gave us a little bit of confidence to work our way into the game and once we scored the second goal, we were in full control.
ZD: Would the same have happened if we scored first against Mali?
BK: I really can't say, I really can't say. You must remember that I can talk about this Namibia match because I have data. At the end of the day, Mali are a quality side. If we had scored, they could have come back. They are fighting. I can't apply the same logic to the Mali game because they have quality. They have also shown more quality and resistance.
ZD: What do you make of the Africa Cup of Nations so far?
BK: I think we've seen some incredible goals. We are so spoilt for goals, top-quality goals and the last few games have been played at great intensity. Just speaking to Carol (Tshabalala), who was in Ivory Coast, she was telling me that even people from Ivory Coast are saying the climate has been hot and humid. So, the first game of each matchday, the pace and intensity won't be the highest, but we are still seeing quality within those fixtures. But certainly, once it becomes evening, nighttime, the intensity gets better and the quality is shown by a lot of teams. All in all, it's been quite an entertaining Afcon so far. Very, very exciting. The defending champions (Senegal) in the first two games and other big nations, like Egypt and Cameroon, had a slow start. But you know this is tournament football, it's all about getting through, getting out of the group and from there to keep growing and growing and growing. Those nations already have experience and you can never leave them out. They do know how to go about their business and they do have players that are experienced enough to get the job done. Whether we will have another surprise package towards the last stage, we just have to wait and see. But all in all, it's been a really top-quality tournament, and credit to Ivory Coast, the arenas are really beautiful. We have seen some beautiful stadiums, wonderful broadcasting and the fans are certainly supporting it. The first game (of the day) starts slow and the fans start coming in to the stadium as the day progresses and certainly in the last two fixtures (of the day), we have seen more people in the stands. It's been a wonderful tournament.
ZD: Teams and players who have impressed you the most?
BK: I think Cape Verde has impressed. Certainly a nation with not a lot of people, their population is really, really tiny, but they are showing good discipline, good quality and they are strong. They are resilient. They stay in the game, they keep working, they keep grinding. As we saw with Bebe… I mean, they do have a lot of quality. Bebe scored from almost the halfway line, which is quite incredible, and what is even more mind-blowing is that he did it twice. The first time, he hit the crossbar and the second time, I said, 'There's no way', but he went and scored. It's been that kind of a tournament. I mean, absolutely brilliant! But certainly, Cape Verde have been surprising. Mohammed Kudus of Ghana, coming back from injury, he looked a little bit rusty at times, but that is obviously being hypercritical. But the goals that he scored, they were incredible. I mean, what a player! Kudus has been fantastic and the quality has been fantastic.
