 |
| Scorer: Ayanda Patosi |
A 1-1 draw against the Socceroos is not going to spark a
hero’s parade at Oliver Tambo International but with New Zealand to come this
week, it wasn’t a bad result given the circumstances.
Blitzed by withdrawals and heading towards the end of his
contract, South Africa’s head coach gave Australia the worst possible send-off
to the World Cup next month. They are drawn in something of a Group of Death
with Chile first up, followed by the Netherlands and champions Spain, who
haven’t lost a major tournament in three attempts.
If they can’t beat Bafana, with Thabo Nthethe and a grieving
Tower Mathoho at the back, they are unlikely to get much out of that trio.
At this point, a special mention for Mulomowandau “Mouth of
the Lion” Mathoho. While his multi-capped Kaizer Chiefs team-mates chose to
take a holiday rather than representing the nation, our Tower chose to travel
to Australia and when his cousin died he stayed to play in Sydney – he will
return home today for the funeral.
That takes some guts. And Mathoho showed plenty of that as
the Australians dominated the early exchanges. Senzo Meyiwa – watched by
habitual No 1 Itumeleng Khune (he confirmed as much to me on twitter) – made
six saves in the first 20 minutes and the Orlando Pirates stopper was excellent
if unorthodox throughout.
His one mistake came just after Ayanada Patosi’s excellent
curling goal for Bafana. Caught by a looping cross, he forgot just how high
little Tim Cahill can jump. Bang, 1-1. Everton will confirm Cahill can confound
with his head, despite his lack of height.
There was barely time to take a breath between the two goals
which marked this final friendly for Australia. But there was plenty of time to
take stock of Igesund’s new-look Bafana.
The stupid row with Igesund over Thulani Serero’s injury
appears to have been forgotten. The Ajax Ere Divisie winner flew all the way
Down Under and shone in midfield, where he will anchor South Africa’s engine
room long after Gordon departs.
With Thuso Phala of SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns
title-winner Hlompho Kekana quiet, Serero got through a lot of work – and took
a look of heavy challenges – but emerged unbowed.
Igesund said: “The journey starts now. This is a competitive bunch of players, they will go places.
"SAFA’s vision is to be No 3 in Africa and among the top 20 in the FIFA world rankings and these boys will play a major role in the realisation of that dream.
"This tour will mark the beginning of a new era in South African football.
“I am very excited with what I have seen from them in the few days we have been together. They are eager to learn and want to leave a lasting impression.
“I now hope to take this momentum to New Zealand and if they produce the same form, we will enter the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on a high. I have massive belief in this squad. The players have the right attitude, are talented and they know what they want.”
But let’s not fool ourselves. This was a good result for
Bafana but not a great performance. Too often the ball was wasted in midfield,
possession was lost far too easily – and despite the muscular efforts of
Bournemouth’s Tokelo Rantie, there was no sign of a revival up front for South
Africa’s blank-shooting strikers.
What we did see was that the great “legends” of Bafana – who
spectacularly failed to achieve qualification for the World Cup despite
Ethiopia being docked three points during qualifying – are not badly missed.
There is depth in South African football. And we have young
talent like Siyanda Xulu at Rostov, Peterborough’s Kagiso Nthle and AmaTuks
Buhle Makhwanazi still to come.
So there is light at the end of the Bafana tunnel, whether
Igesund departs when his contract expires in August or not. But for Australia?
I won’t be betting on them in Brazil!
No comments:
Post a Comment