Football never sleeps and it is good that, with the DStv Premiership 2023/24 season coming to an end, the Nedbank Cup, then the Play-Offs kept us busy and entertained. Now we have the international football entertaining us, with all the World Cup qualifiers and the upcoming UEFA Euro 2024 promising to be a humdinger.
We have changed our focus to the international arena and our Bafana Bafana repre- sented us so well and made us proud in the two back-to-back qualifiers they played on Friday and Tuesday, against Nigeria and Zimbabwe re- spectively. We have collected four out of the possible six points from those two games and that's not bad at all. So let me take my hat off to coach Hugo Broos, the technical team and the players for a great job. Now we find ourselves sitting second on the log, tied on seven points with Rwanda after four games.
On the Nigeria game
I'm just curious to know how can we, as Africans, prove ourselves to be credible people in this game we all proclaim to love, football? Are we going to continue calling some teams good and others bad? Why are we not doing things the correct way? There is so much stuff that happens but doesn't add value to our football at both club and national team level. During our heyday, the treatment we received from most parts of the African continent was terrible, to say the least! To find that the same things are still happening to this day is really disappointing and heartbreaking. The reason I'm asking this is simply because our Bafana took almost 20 hours to get to Nigeria and they were travelling in groups. How is that possible? Can anyone explain the situation to us? All that we know which, unfortunately most of our people have no idea about, is that this could have been avoided had we done things by the book. My question is: When and how are we going to rid our football of these shenanigans? Why can't we operate like our European counterparts? There's no way France will be visiting England and experience the challenges that we faced when we went to Nigeria. It would never happen because the visiting team, despite the competitive nature on the field of play, will always get five-star treatment from their host. With us, it is sadly not the case. Anyway, who am I to try and understand or question why this is happening in our continent? I know, for a fact, that we don't do such things on and off the field. We treat our visitors with the same respect and love we expect whenever we leave our shores. Whether it is a club or national team match, we play fair and open our hearts to the opposition. It is only in the field of play that we become enemies and treat each other as such, not maliciously but competitively. We give everyone the best treatment when they come here but we don't always get the same in return. Anyway, let me focus on the game. Bafana Bafana, wow! I need to give coach Broos, Helman Mkhalele, the whole technical team and the players a round of applause for the way they handled the Nigeria game away from home. I really need to compliment them on a job well done. It is not easy to get points against Nigeria in their own backyard. Having said that, I have been really impressed with the attitude of a lot of teams in these qualifiers. Gone are the days of there being 'Big and Small guns' as everyone gives as much as they get. Who would have predicted that Benin would be on top of Group C after three games, with Lesotho also in the mix, when you have Bafana and Nigeria languishing at the bottom? Now, like I mentioned earlier, we have Rwanda on top and Nigeria is fifth. No one would've seen this one coming before the first round of games was played. Benin beat Nigeria 2-1 and, again, no one saw that coming. What does that tell you? It says only the big names are left in the continent, otherwise everyone is the same. We showed a lot of character in Nigeria and sent out a strong message that no one should look down on us. Our boys surpassed our expectations and I want to congratulate all of them, without singling anyone out, for a wonderful job they dished out.
You guys really made us proud. The goal we scored through Themba Zwane was a typical South African goal with a lot of skill and flair. Yes, we missed a couple of chances but the boys were still unbelievable. That point will go a long way in securing our passage to the World Cup and no one has done us any favours. We are all fully behind you so that you can realise the dream of playing at the FIFA World Cup. Looking at how the game ended, again, why are the referees not professional and neutral enough? If Bafana do one thing, they are booked but if the Nigerians repeat the same offense, it is treated differently. There was a serious foul on Percy Tau and the referee waved 'Play on' and that meant he saw nothing wrong with the tackle. Had the role been reversed, the ref would have definitely called that a foul. When is Africa going to be like Europe and change? We are no cry- babies, all we ask for is fairness! Can we just play and win games fairly, without being helped by the officials. Can we also do away with the hostile treatment of our opponents? I mean, if you look at the North Africans, if they take the lead, you will find the goalkeeper sitting down, faking an injury and killing time. However, when they are trailing, they want the game to continue without any unnecessary breaks. They even threaten the ball retrievers if they feel they don't give the ball back quick enough. We keep saying they are the best but when you look at how they win their games, there's always something wrong they are doing to the opponents. I don't think they always win fair and square. They even intimidate the match officials and that never makes sense to me. Why do something to other teams, yet you don't want to see the same thing happening to you? It is time for Africa to wake up and show character. Look at that Nigeria team, more than 90% of them ply their trade overseas and they played a draw against the same percentage of players playing in our domestic league. What does that tell you about our league? 'Sundowns' consistent participation in continental football shows in our team and their players are our spine.
On Percy Tau
For Percy to be playing for Al Ahly means he is exposed to top international football, which augurs well for our national team. However, there was a big debate somewhere about what Tau is doing for Ahly but not for Bafana. Some believe he doesn't give his all to the national team and hasn't showed up in a long time. They believe he is a totally different player at Ahly than he is for our Bafana. I don't understand why some people don't see the massive difference that Tau brings to Bafana Bafana. It really boggles my mind. His presence is always felt and something we benefit a lot from. Let us not be too harsh on our player because we still need the same Tau to be one of our best players for us to reach our targets. We have to remain positive and support our players and national team. It is so embarrassing to see our team playing in front of empty stadiums in our country, as if we are an away team when we are actually the hosts. You look at what happened in Nigeria, it was all Green and White but when you come to some of our matches, it is a totally different story. It is time for us to show our boys love.
On the Zimbabwe game
I must commend the people of Free State for the wonderful support they showed to our team on Tuesday night. In the morning of the game, I heard that 27 000 tickets had been sold already and that reminded me of the Bloemfontein Celtic days. I must say, it is clear that the people from that part of the country really miss professional football. The boys didn't disappoint the supporters and their country at all, with an important 3-1 win that oved them up to second on the log. This eases the tension and pressure on our team and we are on the right track. We still have to play Benin and Lesotho, who are two of the 'party spoilers' in the group and it will be imperative for us to continue with the winning momentum so that we finish on top of the log standings. I'm over the moon because we are doing well and my wish to see these boys at the next World Cup look realistic. I believe this will be a god send-off for some of our players, like Themba Zwane because he really deserves the opportunity to play at the World Cup before he retires. That's every player's dream and I don't think Themba should miss out on this opportunity. I'm not saying he should retire soon, not based on how well he's been playing for both his club and country he's just been unbelievable. He makes a huge difference and I'm really crossing fingers that Themba and other senior citizens will get that chance. That's all they really need. It was good to see Relebohile Mofokeng making his Bafana debut and how the whole team performed and handled the match. Iqraam Rayners scoring his third goal for our team and Thapelo Morena coming off the bench to score a brace and win the game for us was great to see. Thank you, Free State, you were unbelievable!
