GORDON IGESUND is ready to unveil his “master plan” with new
SAFA president Danny Jordaan – and he firmly believes he can put South African
football in the world’s top 20.
Currently ranked 61st by FIFA and cruelly forced out of the
World Cup by Ethiopia, Igesund was eager to appear on my football show
BOLLOCKZ! to reassure Bafana fans: “We are on the right track. It won’t happen
overnight, but we will reap the benefits.”
With detractors suggesting Puma had ended their sponsorship
of Bafana yesterday – they actually announced their termination on January 4
this year - Igesund insists: “It’s been a very tough year but the national team
has come on in leaps and bounds, we need to put things in perspective.
“When you really start looking at the whole situation, one
can see there’s been huge improvement. Over the last year we’ve restored pride
and passion in the team. A lot of commitment from the players.
“Previously it was just a static situation, the same group
of players playing every week for Bafana. We’ve introduced a lot of young
players to the squad, our technical team has worked hard to find them.”
Turning specifically to last Friday’s 1-1 draw against
Morocco in Agadir, where a packed house of 46,000 were celebrating the opening
of a glittering new stadium, Igesund pointed out: “Against a team with a lot of
good players from Spain and Germany, people who play against players like
Ronaldo and Messi every week, we put up a performance.
“Passion, commitment. It makes me happy. We had two
20-year-olds, two 21-year-olds. It wasn’t actually a well-drilled team, it was
our first match together. Playing for your national team should be the ultimate
for any player.
“Now I’m getting emails from South Africans all over the
world. Players who play in the Scottish Second Division asking me to keep an
eye on their performances.”
Appointed last year after disappointing World Cup Group A
draws against Ethiopia at home and Botswana away, Igesund – the only man to win
the domestic PSL title with four different clubs – reflects: “Overall it’s been
a great year. Very positive things have happened. It’s not easy to go to
Morocco, they were desperate to win. My centre-halves had never played together
before. These things take time.
“There were five or six players who had never played
together before. There was a period when we were playing the ball around, their
fans starting applauding us.
“We’ve got a new identity now. The same style, philosophy,
we want to attack teams. We’re scoring goals. I’m happy with the way things are
going but there is an awful lot of work still to do.
“The big problem is development. Imagine if our youngsters
had played in Under 17, Under 20 teams. Some of these guys? It was their first
taste of international fooball at any level
“We need to develop players for the national team. They’ve
had to come straight in to the Bafana line-up.
“Our Under 17s and Under 20s aren’t active at the moment.
But we’re working on that. We need players coming through who know how to
react, know their role. It’s not easy but we’re getting there.
“We need to make sure our players are involved in FIFA
competitions, play in Europe, play the German Under 23 team. Gain that
experience. That’s what’s important.
“That’s all going to happen. The announcement of our new
Under 17 and Under 23 coaches will happen in the next couple of weeks. We want
a youngster of 21 to have played 30 games for Bafana.
“We acknowledge things haven’t been done properly in recent
years. We have to stop the quick-fix. Look for long term solutions. But it
takes time.
“The structures are all in place, we just have to make the
announcement. Kagiso Nthle is only 19. He needs to grow up playing against
players like Ronaldo, Under 15, Under 17, eventually they get to the senior
national team and THEY KNOW. They can mark him, they can do this.
“It’s all very exciting but it’s not going to happen
overnight. In five or six years, we’ll see the benefits. There’s another group
of players out there we don’t know about. Players who are going to be the
superstars, as we’re talking, 20 youngsters of 15 or 16 with tremendous
ability. We have to develop them.
“We need top quality coaches, the school football, the
amateurs at grass roots level. Even from nine years old. Real Madrid have just
beaten Barcelona to sign a NINE YEAR OLD! That’s what we need to be doing.
“Time flies. He’s NINE now, but in five years he’s a
professional signing for a club. We were isolated for many years, now we have
to find these players.
“I can talk about it with you for hours and hours, but we
have to put it into practice, which we haven’t done for years.
“Every player who plays for Bafana HAS to come through our
structures. Our AFCON and COSAFA squads? We had 17 players who had NEVER played
for Bafana at any other level.
“Our football will be among the best in the world. We have
the players, with touch, mobility. They need good coaching. They need these
structures. But it’s not going to happen overnight. We have to start the
process now. This is why we are where we are right now.
“When I read the Sports Minister’s comments, I was very
pleased about this. Everyone can see the national team has come on in leaps and
bounds. I enjoy criticism, football is about opinions, but reall and truly, we
are on the right track now.
“We’ve got tough times ahead of us, but after that, our
country will benefit. We’ll be in the top 20 in the world, the top three in
Africa.
“Sometime in the future there has to be an African winner of
the World Cup. Why can’t that be South Africa?”
BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 9am. See the Ballz channel on www.YouTube.com for our growing collection of interviews with the big names in South African football.
You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za.
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