Polokwane – Bafana Bafana are on the brink a new and glorious dawn. Well, at least the signs are there that the national team is slowly trying to stand up off the canvas and wipe the blood off its collective face.
But the scars of failure are still etched there for all to see.
Not qualifying for any major tournament outside South Africa since 2008, and not bringing through enough quality youngsters are just some of the blots on their stained copybook.
But it seems that Bafana finally have a coach, a team and a formula that can stitch and repair these gaping wounds properly. And at 10pm tonight we will know if the first part of the reconstruction surgery is complete.
Bafana go into tonight’s 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo at the Peter Mokaba Stadium (kick-off 8.05pm) with a chance to gain back their respectability and qualify for next year’s continental showpiece in Morocco.
A win against the Red Devils should be enough to book a flight to North Africa, as CAF favours a head-to-head tiebreaker when teams are deadlocked in the group stages.
The Shakes Mashaba, revolution has been swift and relatively painless. But not even the coach himself thought he would be in a position to qualify out of Group A with two matches to spare.
Away victories in difficult conditions in Sudan and Congo, and a hard-fought draw against African champions Nigeria in Cape Town have given Mashaba the platform to complete his first objective.
“We are actually also surprised, because we didn’t think we would get this far so quickly,” Mashaba told reporters at the team’s hotel yesterday.
“We are all controlled by Safa’s ‘Vision 2022’ and we sat and looked at players who will take us through this journey. But they are showing that they are here and are ready to play, and that is why we are getting the results.”
Fortune favours the brave, and Mashaba has been fearless in giving his youngsters a chance to show their mettle in hostile conditions. And those youngsters have rewarded him with top performances during the qualifiers thus far.
The 17-year-old Rivaldo Coetzee is an example of the faith and the trust Mashaba has put in these boys, and he has given them the authority to express themselves on the field.
It’s much easier to play for someone who believes in you. And these youngsters will improve even more, and will hopefully develop into world class players.
“In whatever you do, be it in business or something else; you just have to go out there and make people feel responsible. You have to make them aware of how important they are in the whole thing,” Mashaba said.
“So if you look at the all the players, the way they are playing, they are showing so much commitment. We did indicate that every player who plays football has got a chance to play here. But we are looking at certain values, like respect, discipline, commitment and especially patriotism.”
Over the last couple of days since Saturday’s victory over Congo in Point-Noire, Mashaba has had to balance praise for his players with a few stern warnings to not underestimate the Red Devils.
Congo are second in Group A on six points, and will overtake Bafana again if they can pick up three points under the floodlights of this magnificent stadium.
South Africa definitely have enough quality to see off their group rivals. But they will have to be mentally in tune to finish the job they started when they came together for these two qualifiers in Rustenburg last Sunday.
“Unfortunately, complacency is something psychological and not something physical that you can easily get rid of,” Mashaba said
“We are busy dealing with that, because if you look at the dying minutes of the previous game, there were already signs of complacency were already evident.
“We are facing a wounded tiger. They are going to come spitting fire, and not as sheep to the slaughter.
“We are preparing ourselves to defuse the avalanche of attack we are going to be faced with. They will be pumping a lot of ball in our attack area, so our boys at the back have to be alert all the time.” - The Star