GORDON OUT! A night of record-breaking shame at Soccer City as Brazil give Bafana FIVE

THREE AND EASY: Neymar produced a hat-trick in Brazil's 5-0 win

IT was a night to forget. The shame of Soccer City. A night when South African football fans were praying for a bit of load-shedding long before the end of Brazil’s record 5-0 thrashing of Bafana Bafana.

There are excuses. Starting with the mediocre Thabo Nthethe and making him captain for the night was just one strand in the complicated mess that is South African football. Siyanda Xulu came on for an injured Bongani Khumalo but was clearly demotivated by his inxplicable relegation to the bench.

This wasn’t a defence. It was a shambles. Thabo Matlaba was AWFUL. Neymar must have thought he was playing against a pub team.

Everywhere we look, youngsters are passed over for veterans who have achieved little in the national shirt. And we had Andile Jali, Dean Furman, Khumalo and Tokelo Rantie starting for their country when they are struggling to get a game in the lower reaches of European football.

Yes, we must work on development. Yes we must find talent. But to pick THIS side on THIS night? No Oupa Manyisa when he dominates the PSL? Then bring him on at right wing? Ridiculous. We have no international scout to confirm internet rumours about our foreign-based players. We have no answers to the rampant favouritism which has dogged so many Bafana coaches.

It was awful. Brazil barely had to raise a sweat. Missed passes, poor control, general confusion. It was all there. Sports Minister Fikile "Bunch of Losers" Mbalula backtracked from his CHAN rant said: “We have good talent, we can build a formidable team. Of course the score was huge, but we gauged ourselves against the best.”

But he was as embarrassed as the rest of us, sitting next to President Jacob Zuma and watching a team pay tribute to the late, great Nelson Mandela with a performance of pure ineptitude.

The ankle injury suffered by goalkeeper and regular captain Itumeleng Khune had impact too, though it’s hard to blame SuperSport United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams for a display which saw Oscar score the opening goal – in a week of Oscarisms – and Neymar register a dynamic hat-trick.

Coach Gordon Igesund, already on his last legs and without a contract after the World Cup which he failed to qualify for, said: “We played against a very, very good team. It wasn’t a bad performance. But they were just so much better than us.

“Very, very clinical. Neymar was outstanding. We had a couple of young players out on the park who will learn a lot from this.

“I thought 5-0 was a bit tough. We tried to make a game of it, but you can take nothing away from Brazil, they are favourites to win the World Cup.”

Let’s for something a bit meatier. Mark Fish, from the more successful 90s, said afterwards: “This shows us where we are with our football. We can’t control simple passes, so how can we expect to play against teams like Brazil? It was a very poor performance.”

Fellow legend Doc Khumalo, also analysing for SuperSport, admitted: “We saw how the modern game was played. Brazil didn’t want us to breathe in our own back yard. We have to do things how other countries do it, the modern way.”

Many will talk about development and a general lack of talent in the coming days. And we all know Brazil, though only ranked ninth in the world, are quite a team, having won the Confederations Cup.

Bafana's much-hyped victory over world No1 Spain was simply an aberration. The Samba Boys were here to prepare seriously for a home World Cup… La Rojas were simply returning to the site of their 2010 World Cup win, on a bit of a holiday.

But we were fooled by that result, perhaps the only memorable result Igesund has produced in his torrid two-year reign, though the 3-0 win over CAR in Cameroon was fun until Ethiopia ruined everything.

Truth is, Igesund failed to achieve his mandate at AFCON, missing out on penalties on the semi-finals at home last year. He crashed out of the World Cup before the play-offs, losing to Ethiopia. And as I have said so often, CHAN earlier this year was simply embarrassing coming on top of friendly failures against Zambia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Who knows what SAFA president Danny Jordaan and his Technical Committee will make of this defeat, which shatters by two goals the record 3-0 home defeat suffered by Bafana against Uruguay during the 2010 World Cup?

Former Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, now Brazil’s technical coach, was far too kind: “Bafana were not that bad. Put your heads up, you did your best.” Nonsense.

But in truth, he has to be nice having helped South Africa become the first World Cup hosts to fall at the first hurdle four years ago. And he got paid quite a lot for the privilege.

The immediate problem is Igesund, with his curious selection processes, lack of an international scouting network and obvious/oblivious favouritism of certain players.

He must go. He should have gone immediately after this record-breaking embarrassment, he should have gone after CHAN. But he won’t. He has a couple of months left to serve. SAFA must get rid of him NOW. Pay him off. Those reports about Carlos Queiros returning to Bafana after he’s taken Iran to Brazil must be worth following up.

It’s time to start again. The new-fangled R40m ABC Motsepe League (the revamped third division) will help, as will SAFA’s “Vision 2022” development program backed by that near-mythical FIFA Legacy Fund. Let Shakes Mashaba, Clive Barker or somebody similar take Bafana through the pre-World Cup friendlies against Australia and Iran… things can’t get any worse.

And let Queiroz make a new start in August with the qualifiers for AFCON 2015 in Morocco. After what we saw at Soccer City, there is no choice. As Mbalula said so recently: We cannot wake up to this again.

BOLLOCKZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

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Response to Gordon Igesund's legal threats: look forward to meeting you in court, Gord

Legal threats: Gordon Igesund

GORDON IGESUND has finally gone a step too far. The Bafana Bafana head coach's fate will be decided on Thursday when he delivers his CHAN report to “Iron Lady” Natasha Tsichlas and her SAFA technical committee.

This morning I received a warning from Igesund’s lawyers saying I can no longer write about their client (the letter can be found at https://workspaces.acrobat.com/?d=74OueIF9mywUN0tZqFigcA). Obviously, these words indicate just how I feel about that. In 40 years of journalism I have never been accused of defamation, let alone warned to keep my opinions to myself. I have only ever written what I feel is in the best interests of the game. ANY game.

On Thursday, Igesund will have to explain just how hosts South Africa managed to fail at the first hurdle in a tournament restricted to home-based players only; how a tournament in which he promised "to go all the way" ended in abject failure.

Throughout the first year of Gordon's reign I was the great supporter; I initiated the oft-trending hash tag #ingordwetrust  in June 2012 and we talked long and hard about that opening game in Brazil, which was narrowly lost 1-0 in Sao Paulo.

In his first public appearance after his appointment in June, 2012, Gordon and I shared a sneaky cigarette at the Sandton Convention Centre as we talked about whether his late assistant Thomas Madigage should wear his famous ZCC hat on the bench for Bafana Bafana.

The ups and downs came thick and fast after that, with his two mandated tasks – reaching the AFCON semi-finals on home soil in 2013 and qualifying for the 2014 World Cup – both ending in failure.

Throughout stinging criticisms on the social networks I stood by Igesund. He was doing his best, I thought, he was looking everywhere for players who could rescue the nation’s ailing footballing reputation.

But then came the Thulani Serero affair. Igesund threw the Ajax Amsterdam midfielder – our highest performing star following Steven Pienaar’s international retirement – out of the team hotel when he complained of groin pain after a long-term injury during training.

I came out in support of Serero – and Igesund spent an hour haranguing me on the telephone. He insisted: “Do you know who I am? I am the head coach of South Africa…” and to my eternal shame I wrote this http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2013/09/thulani-serero-putting-barcelona-ahead.html after that conversation.

Shaken by Gordon’s response, I then spoke to various people about the Serero incident and wrote this http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2013/09/thulani-serero-other-side-of-bafanagate.html in an attempt to redress the balance.

From that point on – September 2013 – the relationship with Igesund was broken. I had helped Gordon publicly at every turn on several different platforms and dug hard on the Ethiopians losing points for fielding an ineligible player, backed him to the hilt, but we no longer talked; even after the sensational friendly win over World No1 Spain.


And even when I was forced to shave my head when Gordon lost in a friendly to an amateur Norway line-up http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2013/01/hair-today-gone-tomorrowhow-i-was.html I had kept the faith. But still not a word from Igesund.

At around this time I became aware of various problems within the Bafana camp. There were allegations of favouritism – as there were surrounding his predecessor Pitso Mosimane – and I touched on the subject, only to be harangued by Mike Makaab, the man who represents both Igesund and Mamelodi Sundowns centre-back Thabo Nthethe.

I was particularly aggrieved when Igesund publicly berated Russian-based defender Siyanda Xulu, 22, over a single pass during training and dropped him from the starting line-up, keeping Nthethe, 29 at the back.

That simmering resentment continued during CHAN, when Nthethe was the only member of a creaking back four to keep his place throughout the tournament. This led to threatening phone calls from Gordon’s son Grant at 2am and demands for an apology from Makaab. Throughout this, Gordon refused to take my calls.

Makaab insisted that I apologise for suggesting he influenced Igesund’s selection. That apology appeared here http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2014/01/bafana-bafana-apology.html and it’s true, I can’t prove anybody sways our national head coach BUT IN MY OPINION certain players are favoured and nobody disputes that Makaab and Igesund have long maintained an agent/client relationship.

Makaab said an apology would end threats of legal action. He thanked me for doing it publicly on twitter - but this morning the legal letter arrived.

On Wednesday, January 22, as the furore over CHAN failure swept football-speaking South Africa,  I told a national radio station that an agent had visited the team hotel before the Spain game. I argued again that some players are favoured for their affiliation rather than their talent.

SAFA president Danny Jordaan, also appearing on the show, responded: “This will be investigated” and Igesund’s lawyers are angry that their client now appears to be “under investigation”.

Of course, since then, further allegations have arisen against Igesund. On January 26, several Sunday papers suggested Igesund was behind a pre-CHAN bonus row that nearly resulted in a strike. Obviously, Igesund IS "under investigation" and rightly so.

I have no idea what will happen on Thursday. Perhaps Igesund will talk his way out of trouble, pointing out (rightly) he had a sub-standard squad and not enough time to prepare. Or perhaps he will work out his contract and a new regime will begin after the World Cup. Perhaps he will even do the honourable thing and resign for failing to achieve his mandates.

Close shave: Gordon and I after I was
forced to shave my head after
Bafana's Norway defeat

But it is my opinion that South Africa would be best served by not renewing Igesund’s contract – which runs until July this year. He failed – narrowly – to reach the AFCON semi-finals on home soil. He failed – despite Ethiopia’s points deduction – to reach even the play-offs for Brazil 2014. And he failed – utterly – at CHAN.

I also believe Gordon’s selection process throughout CHAN was flawed. He chopped and changed in all positions, leaving players confused and uncertain. Though Gordon described his training sessions as being “like World Cup finals” I heard different, from several sources.

He also promised he would go out to win in the final Group A clash against Nigeria, where Bafana needed just a draw. Instead, he fielded a lone striker and was forced to make a first-half substitution when the Super Eagles took an early 2-0 lead.

There is plenty more that could be said here. But I’ve had enough. The late night phone calls. The threats. The prospect of a first appearance on a defamation charge in 40 years of journalism does not phase me. I should just shut up and apologise, as I did before.

But I have a right to my opinion, based on what I read on the social networks and what I hear from those involved in Igesund's turbulent reign. I have a right to change my mind about Igesund, who won the domestic PSL title with a record four different clubs.

I will not be silenced. I have nothing to lose. I earn less than R7000 a month. I do not own a home and I drive a third-hand Citroen C2. I have no other assets and I certainly can’t afford a lawyer to defend myself.

But if it’s a court battle Igesund wants, bring it on. My only motivation is to improve the standing of South African football. To weed out corruption and favouritism. That is my story.


Full text of the legal letter from Igesund's lawyer can be found HERE:

https://workspaces.acrobat.com/?d=74OueIF9mywUN0tZqFigcA

Time to support our Bafana Republic. Three against Swaziland is fine. Anything less than a stuffing against Spain will do me

The face of Mr Price: Thabo Nthethe was captain for the
night in Swaziland - and scored his first Bafana goal

Let's get this clear from the start. I have a  problem with pessimists in our Bafana Republic (isn’t that what Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula called us last week?).

Just for starters, how about those twits calling for Kaizer Chiefs coach Stuart Baxter’s head less than half a season after he became the first foreign coach to win the PSL (and he added the Nedbank Cup double).

They want Baxter out despite making the inspired subsitutions (George Lebese and Lehlohonolo Majoro) to clinch a tricky encounter against Gavin Hunt's Bidvest Wits last week.

And then there are those whinging about Roger De Sa, preferring to focus on Drawlando rather than celebrating the presence of a South African club in the African Champions League final for the first time in a decade. Nonsense. It's not like there are any great contenders to replace the boss at EITHER of the Soweto giants.

And then we come to Bafana. It started within five minutes of the kick-off on the plastic surface of the Somhlolo Stadium on Saturday night.

Our national coach Gordon Igesund was accused of EVERYTHING from a lack of imagination to a one-eyed selection policy. After months of agreeing not to choose pre-occupied Pirates, he filled his squad with Buccaneers and STILL nobody was happy.

It’s madness guys. As Manchester United fans will tell you, keeping faith in a coach is a vital part of any successful football set-up.

I tweeted frantically “keep the faith” though I too was surprised by some of the selections, particularly Thabo Nthethe, playing for leaky Bloemfontein Celtic but made national captain for the night. Apparently it has something to do with his new role as “The Face of Mr Price Sport”.

But after a dreadful first half, Bafana changed things. Igesund said afterwards: “We wanted to start strongly but they parked the bus, put a lot of players behind the ball. We had a chat at half-time about how to get behind them, it worked.”

It sure did. Two goals in as many minutes from Reneilwe “YeahYeah” Letsholonyane and young Bongani Zungu were followed by a well-struck goal from Nthethe himself, his first in national colours.

Could we have asked for anything more? Gordon admitted: “We did want to go for a 4^th, 5^th and 6^th but overall I’m happy with the way we played. We pushed it about, we kept the ball.”

A bit of loyalty, a bit of belief wouldn’t go astray when it comes to Igesund, who capped his 90^th player in just over a year on Friday night as he shuffled the pack for the home-based CHAN tournament early next year.

And of course it’s all change at Soccer City on Tuesday night when World and European champions Spain return to the site of their 2010 World Cup triumph.

Gordon points out: “I’ve got the overseas contingent coming to join us, there will be changes. But I may bring in another one of those who played tonight. I’m worried about Thabo Matlaba's injury. I’ve got two left-backs out now, with Tsepo Masilela – but Nthethe can play there too.”

Swaziland, ranked 183 in the world, may prove a tad less tough than Spaniards, ranked at No1 since 2008. But Gordon remains hopeful. Just wish the rest of our football-speaking nation would join him. Anything less than a stuffing would be okay by me.

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 in www.thenewage.co.za.

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One mediocre question for Mike Makaab: Who best represents the future of South African football: Thabo Nthethe, 28 or Siyanda Xulu, 21?

Getting shirty: ProSport International CEO Mike Makaab

MEDIOCRE. Definition: Moderate in quality; ordinary. See synonyms at AVERAGE.

[French médiocre, from Latin mediocris : medius, middle; see medhyo]

Thank you Mr Dick Shunary. So when I said last Saturday that I was shocked the “mediocre Thabo Nthethe” had been selected to play for South Africa ahead of Siyanda Xulu, I was a little miffed when THIS turned up, publicly on my twitter  timeline from Mike Makaab: “I'm surprised at your comment about Nthethe Neal!”

Yup, five days after the event, Makaab chose to chew me out because I’d described Nthethe as average. Born in Bloemfontein, the 28-year-old is a seasoned PSL defender for Bloemfontein Celtic with 15 caps for Bafana Bafana. I have no beef with Makaab’s client or his enduring role with the Siwelele.

I explained the tweet was aimed not at damaging Nthethe but to illustrate my surprise at the decision not to use Siyanda Xulu at centre-back, given that – like the controversially expelled Thulani Serero – he had been flown in (business class, at a cost of over R60,000) from Russia for what might have been a vital World Cup qualifier against Botswana.

Against Nigeria, the centre-back pairing of Nthethe and Tower Mathoho had been picked apart. Xulu hadn’t even had a call from Bafana for that high-powered Madiba birthday friendly, I spoke to him on my Ballz radio football show BOLLOCKZ and Siyanda was mystified by the lack of contact.

Xulu is 21, he moved from Mamelodi Sundowns to FC Rostov last year. At the end of last season he was voted man of the match twice as his unfashionable riverside outfit survived relegation in the high-powered Russian League.

This season, Rostov are sharing second place and a month ago Xulu marked the world’s best-paid player Samuel Eto’o out of the game in a 1-0 win over Anzhi Makhachkala, the oil-rich giants from Dagestan.

Xulu told me how “Sam looked a bit frustrated about not getting a goal” and was roundly praised for his performance in a match which ultimately led to the dismantling of Anzhi’s multi-billion structure and the departure – on a free transfer – of Eto’o to Chelsea last month.

So when Xulu arrived in Durban to find he was consigned to the bench (along with Kamohelo Mokotjo, 22, from Dutch Eredivisie leaders PEC Zwolle) I was fairly surprised. Hence the "mediocre" tweet.

Curiously, Makaab’s ProSport International clients featured. Nthethe - whose Celtic have conceded 10 goals in four games this season - and goal-scorer Bernard Parker both took their places in the side with Parker captaining a VERY mediocre Bafana against Zimbabwe four days later.

Makaab, still in public on my timeline, then pointed out that Andile Jali, another of his clients, was also omitted from the starting line-up. But of course, the Orlando Pirates midfielder came on as a substitute, neatly fulfilling the needs of any player hoping for a move to the UK, where work permits are only handed to those who have played 80 percent of their nation’s competitive fixtures.

And I remember my surprise when Gordon Igesund, another of Makaab’s clients, picked Thamsanqa Gabuza from Golden Arrows for his first squad to play Brazil last year. And there was another of his men, Thanduyise Khuboni from the same club, who appeared a permanent fixture for Bafana during Pitso Mosimane’s turbulent reign.

Unfazed by this apparent good fortune, Makaab - who I respected as a player, coach and agent until this point - then asked me: “Are you suggesting something about selection of the team? You say you're not afraid to speak, so say it - I have nothing to hide.”

 So there it is. Makaab himself has asked the question: does South Africa’s biggest agent play a part in the selection of the Bafana Bafana team? I made no such suggestion. I would never dream of doing so having supporting Gordon Igesund throughout his topsy-turvy, mandate-mangling reign in charge of our beloved Bafana.

Igesund has enough problems on his hands without his agent getting involved in “putting journalists right” for passing mild opinions.

My question (and one you should feel free to answer on www.twitter.com/nealcol or by commenting below) is this: Does the future of Bafana revolve around the 28-year-old Nthethe from Bloemfontein Celtic or the 21-year-old Xulu in Russia?

I think I know the answer to that one.

I have asked Mike if he will appear on BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za this week, it airs every Thursday from 10am-noon. He has my number. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday inwww.thenewage.co.za.

 

BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice!