Why Shaky is going nowhere fast: the sad tale of South African football

Head man: Shakes Mashaba

ALL hope is lost. Well, just about. There is actually a complicated list of results which could still see battered Bafana Bafana get to AFCON 2017 in Gabon.

But it’s a helluva long-shot. Only Ghana managed to get through to Equatorial Guinea in 2015 with 11 points out of seven group winners. Everybody else topped their groups with 12, 13, 14 or even a perfect 18 points.

The most South Africa can get after their frustrating 0-0 draw against an unambitious Cameroon in Durban last week? NINE POINTS. 

Somehow, if Cameroon and Mauritania contrive to fall over before the line from here, Shaky - as he is now known - might still get through on goal difference if Bafana beat Gambia away and Mauritania at home.

So yes, Mr Mashaba, you’re right. “Our AFCON 2017 campaign is looking darker and darker” but there is a tiny loophole of light.

But it’s the way Shaky tells it that lacks a certain professionalism. A crass mixture of arrogance and denialism never did anybody much good. Ask our president.

Mashaba was waxing lyrical about his chances of making it to Gabon as one of two best runners-up in the group. Again, that will probably require 11 points. But when that was put to him at the press conference, Mashaba responded rudely, asking “who’s view is more important here, yours or mine?”.

The attitude is not new. Mashaba got his son Thabo to ask questions when his imminent failure began to become an acceptable topic last year. And then there was the time he told us: “I’m going to be rude — I think my colour is a problem here. That’s what I’m going to say.”

All patent nonsense of course. Gordon Igesund and a string of Brazilians took far more stick far earlier in their reigns. 

The problem with Mashaba is not his arrogance or his colour. It’s his utter failure to select in-form national squads, his inability to hold on to a lead, his blindness to quick substitutions and... well... South Africa’s general footballing demise over the past 18 months.

Going back to the 2-2 draw in Nigeria in 2014 - which capped off an unbeaten qualification campaign for AFCON 2015 - Shaky has presided over EIGHT African Cup of Nations fixtures. Of those, five were drawn, three were lost... and not a single one has been won.

We left AFCON 2015 with one point. Then came COSAFA and CHAN failures, bracketed by the Group M debacle we now find ourselves embroiled in. A home draw with Gambia was unexpected. Defeat in Mauritania simply unacceptable.

Though Mashaba started his qualifying campaign in 2014 by picking youngsters in line with SAFA president’s VISION2022 programme, by the time AFCON 2015 came around he was doing the usual Bafana boss thing: picking players suggested by his favourite agents, some of whom weren’t even playing for their clubs.

Ignoring in-form players - to the point where he actually accused our one few top-level regular European players he was "too heavy". Going for older and older players and ignoring the Vision2022 blueprint. 

Dennis Mumble, the curious little man who went from Team Manager to CEO at SAFA in the space of four years, insists after the recent qualifying debacle: “The judgement process is already underway. We do not want to react with a knee-jerk.

“We do have the option of telling Mashaba “listen this is not going to work” (before World Cup qualifying begins with the draw in June) but we still have confidence in our head coach.”

Sadly then, and this is a national trend, our leadership will stay intact despite obvious, critical failure at the highest level.

When Mashaba told us after failing at home against Cameroon: “If we play like this we will qualify for the World Cup” his shortcomings were revealed in a sentence.

When I was discussing Kamohelo Mokotjo's complaints in the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf today, I got four or five calls from interesting sources in the South African game talking about life under Mashaba.

One, an agent, told me Mashaba only deals with "local agents" and that he gets kickbacks for picking them in his squads. We've been there before. Hard to prove, easy to suggest looking at the continual selection of players who attend club games armed with cushions.

Then there was the former Bafana player revealing how Mashaba's training camps are "like amateur night" and that general chaos surrounds a call up to the South African team. Missed flights, team meetings where Mashaba is an hour late, the time in Latin America where the players stayed in bunk beds while Shaky flew home on the first flight to coach the Nedbank Keyona team.

Or how about the coach who said: "When Shaky suffered a few withdrawals before the Cameroon games, he didn't have any numbers to call replacements. They were scrambling about trying to find somebody, anybody.

"There is no communication with SAFA, there are international players who have not heard from Mashaba since he took over. Others who are called to the squad but just get ignored for a week. We've even had players called up... and then told not to come."

Then, from my mole at SAFA House, THIS: "A senior official told Mashaba to try to be more relaxed with the media. He just laughed. It was suggested he should stand aside for the World Cup qualifiers but he just shrugged his shoulders."

Reading between the lines of this morning's calls, it appears - like our president Jacob Zuma - there is NOTHING that would make Mashaba leave his lucrative leadership role.

With money coming in from SAFA, his expenses, Nedbank and so-called "other sources", Mashaba is earning more than our top PSL coaches for doing a lot less and achieving next to nothing.

One player told me this morning: "He barely talks to some of the squad, particularly the overseas players. He has his favourites. There are agents everywhere. The team talks are a joke, some of us can't even understand what he's saying. He makes references to Apartheid and the struggle, but we have no idea what to do when we go down the tunnel.

"Sometimes he just shrugs and says "I know nothing about the opposition" which isn't great 10 minutes before a vital game."

The clincher for me was from the SAFA House mole: "Mashaba appoints more and more people around him without even asking the Executive. He does as he pleases. He doesn't turn up for meetings if he thinks it's going to go badly for him.

"He doesn't listen when we offer advice, he says: "I know how this works. I know all about how SAFA works" then he simply walks away."

The suggestion - from a series of unsolicited callers/emailers which I obviously can't name - being: SAFA can't fire Shaky because he knows too much. He holds the power. Certainly sounded that way to me.

But it’s not just Shaky is it? We live in a nation where crowd figures and transfer fees are top secret. Three of our four representatives are out of continental club competition. Our referees are as poor as our strikers and Kaizer Chiefs, the nation’s favourite club, haven’t scored in five games.

Mumble himself has admitted SAFA is essentially bankrupt, spending R500m a year with an annual income of R300m - and then they turned to penniless national carrier SAA for help! Danny Jordaan has gone from telling me South African football was his one driving ambition to taking the mayoral role in Port Elizabeth and telling us: “Football is just a hobby for me.”

The only bright point? Zimbabwe, packed with PSL stars, SHOULD get to Gabon. At least we’ll have something to cheer about in 2017.

PROUD TO BE MR MASHABA'S MONKEY: Why BafanaBafana need more guerrillas, less yes men

MONKEY BUSINESS: BafanaBafana coach Shakes Mashaba

TODAY I am a monkey. A footballing guerrilla. One who sits on the back of our national coach, awaiting eviction. This is my tail.

As South Africa basks in the glory of a come-from-behind 3-1 win over Angola, Ephraim "Shakes" Mashaba did the talking for himself this weekend rather than relying on a series of questions from his son, as he did during a run of eight competitive defeats in charge of BafanaBafana.

To recap: There was the epic 2-2 draw in Nigeria, followed by three failures at AFCON 2015, then COSAFA penalty shoot-out defeats on home soil against Botswana and Malawi, followed by 0-0 against Gambia and 1-3 in Mauritania to kick-off AFCON 2017 qualifying. Tough times, by any standards.

There’s almost no point in mentioning CHAN, the competition for home-based players, where we crashed out to Angola last month, despite an away win in the second leg.

Clearly though, nothing is going to change. Selection will be eccentric, team talks will be confusing, flights to and from Bafana games will continue to be chaotic with barely an independent journalist making the trip to tell us what's really going on.

With SAFA president Danny Jordaan ruling Port Elizabeth and Technical Director Neil Tovey limiting his involvement to critical television performances, I decided to change tack.

I spent last week in #shakysupport mode (though I could never quite get it trending on twitter) despite the inexplicable absence of Kermit Erasmus and Keagan Dolly on the trip to Benguela and the inclusion of four injured players.

I stuck to #shakysupport even when Brilliant Khuzwayo refused to replace Itumeleng Khune in the squad (the Sunday Sun suggests he was partying in Umlazi rather than attending to family matters, but that’s another story) and wished Wayne Sandilands well when he was called up as the third goalkeeper.

When Jackson Mabokgwane of Mpumalanga Black Aces was named as captain, again, a public pat on the back. When Andile Jali got sent off after scoring from the penalty spot, there was no need to slam the man. Job done. The Moses Mabhida Stadium on Tuesday night should be one long celebration, Angola need a 3-0 win and they’re NOT going to get it.

No need for monkey business. So here’s what Ephraim Mashaba said when Bafana returned (on the same flight, remarkably) from Angola to the Maharani Hotel in Durban on Sunday: “I want those monkeys to sit on my back and I don't want them to jump off, please.

“The weight that they’re putting on me, it keeps me on my toes, because I'm also saying 'I've got to feed them, these monkeys' and how do I feed them? I deliver, that's all. Feed them by delivering.”

And of course, he’s right. No national coach deserves to escape criticism. Early on in his reign, the Sunday Times Sports Editor Dr BBK Shortarse claimed Mashaba was under scrutiny because of his “levels of melanin”. He has since been nominated for journalist of the year.

Mashaba did the same, claiming he is discriminated against because of his skin colour. Utter bunkum of course. Gordon Igesund has low melanin levels but got so tired of this monkey he tried to sue.

Truth is, like Gord and Pitso before him, Shaky DOES need monkeys on his back. His ability as a coach is completely unproven at any level, his tactical acumen is a little old-fashioned. His substitutions are eccentric, his eagerness to rotate captains and goalkeepers is legend. Clearly Tovey’s appointment, months later than Jordaan promised, has had no impact.

But hey, we beat Angola, and we’ll probably beat them again on Tuesday night. But hold on, Mr Mashaba, the monkeys won’t be going anywhere. Next up? The group stages of the 2018 World Cup. And because we have the disadvantage of being a CAF nation, only the winners go through from the five groups of four. At least, unlike 2014, there will be no play-off against a seeded group winner to follow.

The road to Russia 2018 is a long one, a cold one... especially for Africa, where only FIVE out of 54 nations can qualify.

So too is the road to AFCON 2017 in Gabon, where one point from two games leaves Bafana needing to beat Cameroon TWICE to stand any chance of topping the group.

Braver primates will continue to plague Mashaba, even after this fantastic win in Angola. The yes men, and there are plenty of them, will say he’s evolved beyond gorilla warfare.

Me? I’ll just carry on pointing out the rights and wrongs, with a minimum of gibberish. That’s the job. Right on the monkey.

Signs of improvement for Bafana: but Shaky needs to be less friendly

THE LOCAL VIEW: Mashaba arrives in Honduras
Picture: @bafanabafana

SUDDENLY, South Africa's football team is a "well-oiled machine" according to Bafana Bafana boss Shakes Mashaba. A nation "which should be among the top sides in Africa" according to Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas.


My take? ALWAYS APPLAUD SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT. That was my reaction to those who wrote off Bafana Bafana’s win in Costa Rica in the wee hours of Friday morning as “just another friendly”.

And that will be my reaction if national coach Ephraim Mashaba manages to rouse South Africa to a similar triumph in central America against Honduras as Tuesday becomes Wednesday at San Pedro Sula.

Yes, coach Shakes does love a friendly to hide his shortcomings in competitive games. But then we all know that. We also know he likes to pick players based on agent’s recommendations rather than the evidence of his own eyes.

We also know he got his own son to ask questions at his last major press conference in this country as we recovered from the shock of that 1-3 AFCON 2017 qualifying defeat in Mauritania. 

We know he makes dodgy substitutions when the pressure is on, I’m told his team talks are a joke and the man himself freely accepts he’s no tactical genius, “more of a motivator” in his words.

But the win against Costa Rica, a tiny nation of less than five million people, WAS significant. Though they had barely won a game since their epic progress to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Brazil last year, this was on their patch, in front of 25,000 enthusiastic fans.

Remember, Bafana didn’t have a real striker in their squad. It took them two visits to the airport to actually get the impromptu two-nation CONCACAF tour underway because their US transit visas were not in order.

And then there was that abortive attempt to fly three weary Orlando Pirates - Mpho Makola,  Thamsanqa Gabuza and Thabo Matlaba - to Costa Rica via Brazil as late reinforcements.

To be frank the whole trip looked like a waste of time and effort (though not funds, apparently the CONCACAF nations are paying for the whole thing) until Andile Jali’s first half goal gave us hope of an away win against a nation ranked 42nd in the world despite their recent slump in form (they reached a high of 13th after the World Cup).

And so to Honduras. As far as I know, no reinforcements have been shipped out. Tyson Hlatshwayo has flown home after the death of his uncle. Apparently Shaky is happy to continue his crusade without a striker after the withdrawal of non-playing Bournemouth “star” Tokelo Rantie with a muscle strain (that’s another story).

We will play Honduras, a nation of just 8m, ranked 89 in the world (South Africa are currently 73) with George Lebese, Thulani Serero and Sibusiso Vilakazi pushing forward from midfield, perhaps even Kamohelo Mokotjo will join in the fun.

Another win is quite possible. Honduras reached the last World Cup but while Costa Rica won their group unbeaten and sent England and Italy home, Honduras ended bottom of their group with no points and a goal difference of -7.

If Bafana do win, expect Shaky to tell us once more how we can compete with “world-class opposition” and how we can “beat anybody on our day” and who can argue?

But then the Bafana boss must return to competitive football. On Saturday at the Rand Stadium, his home-based CHAN squad - a team of likely PSL substitutes rather than brave youngsters - begin their two-legged epic against Angola.

Then we have the two REAL games against the same nation in World Cup qualification. And, in the coming months. the prospect of home and away clashes with Cameroon where two wins are imperative to revive minuscule AFCON 2017 qualification hopes.

Those are the vital games. Friendly results against Costa Rica and Honduras will count for nothing if Shaky goes out of the World Cup and AFCON.

But if he returns from the Americas with two neat away wins in front of hostile crowds, we have to accept THERE ARE SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT.

Hero or villain? How do we judge Shakes Mashaba after a rousing 3-0 win over mighty Mauritius?

SUPERSHAKES: Bafana coach Mashaba

LOOK! In the sky above Dobsonville! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's SUPERSHAKES! All hail an emphatic 3-0 win over mighty Mauritius hours after half his squad had deserted him. What powers, what magic from our much-maligned Bafana Bafana coach.

But there will be no comic book adulation for Ephraim Mashaba here. Sadly, we cannot abide quite that level of hero-worship after putting three first half goals past the side beaten 7-1 by Ghana a week before.

Yes, Bra Shakes had to cope with a mass withdrawal of players just 48 hours before the game and yes, he had only one training session with this makeshift side before the CHAN qualifier.

But hold on a minute: Bafana played reasonably well with only one dose of Mashaba. Perhaps that's the way to go. Announce the squad a couple of hours before the game and send them out and let them play.

Experienced players who have played under Mashaba say the same as they did when Gordon Igesund was in charge: the training sessions are uninspiring, the team talks are less than adequate. No wonder they wanted to go back to their clubs.

A brief examination of why Orlando Pirates, Bidvest Wits, Orlando Pirates, Ajax Cape Town and Mamelodi Sundowns pulled 12 players out of the squad reveals a deeper malaise than simple club v country politics.

The root cause of last week’s Bafana crisis lies in Mashaba’s insecurity. He chose to keep his strongest squad together after the awful 0-0 home draw against Group M minnows Gambia in an effort to beat Angola in Tuesday’s friendly.

It worked, of course. After endless goalless minutes, Shaky Bafana won the friendly 2-1, ironically on an own goal, though Ayanda Patosi's cunning lob deserved better than that.

But when the players, already in camp for a week in Durban, moved from Cape Town to Johannesburg, everyone knew the big players were supposed to return to their clubs for pre-season, just as we knew Tokelo Rantie would not turn up for the Gambia game after his wedding.

South African football is guilty of poor communication, mismanagement and a first qualifier which will make qualifying for AFCON 2017 tougher than ever with Cameroon and Mauritania to come. We won’t even mention the scramble to find players on Friday and the fact that three of them turned up without passports and were thus rendered ineligible.

So it’s very hard to get too excited about a 3-0 win over Mauritania. Especially when the coach comes out afterwards and complains that his players “need to learn to unlock teams like this, they must be able to score against a side parking the bus”.

But of course, in order to do that, they have to have leadership and tactical guidance from the coach. And of that, there was little sign after a rousing first half in front of a worryingly empty Dobsonville Stadium, right in the heart of Soweto.

Yes, we can celebrate a rare romp against an island nation currently ranked 176 in the world, and as Mashaba rightly said: “We are not scared of them, we do not fear the away leg in two weeks.”

But throughout a week of crisis and turmoil, Mashaba and his media men have failed to explain the full facts of a crisis which left South Africa without a team barely a day before a match scheduled for months.

We were left with a stony silence from Danny Jordaan – the SAFA president who now doubles up as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay – or PSL chairman Irvin Khoza. Nobody explained why the players returned to their clubs or why the planned use of “fringe players” for CHAN wasn’t implemented until the final hours before Saturday’s game.

In truth, with one point registered at AFCON and first hurdle failures in both the COSAFA Cup and Plate, our game is rapidly sliding backwards. The same old problems are cropping up but most are too scared to explain them away.

Yes, it was great to be 3-0 up at half-time – perhaps even better escape Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula’s ill-judged hype which we were subjected to twice during coverage of the Angola friendly.

And we can celebrate the emergence of two-goal Siphelele Ntshangase and Marc van Heerden - both still officially NFD players with Black Leopards and AmaZulu - as well as the enduring, unbeaten brilliance of captain Itumeleng Khune.

But the truth is, that 0-0 draw against Gambia at home was the important result for Bafana in a turbulent eight day period. Friendly wins and CHAN qualifiers are of no importance. Vision 2022 was what we were promised, but I see no vision at all. Just a blind scramble for available players at the last minute.

I hate being the Grinch who stole CHANmas, but that simply cannot be the way ahead.

Goalless and distinctly Shaky: we can't blame Mashaba for missed chances but for everything else: AAAAAARGH!

LAUGHABLE: Mashaba and Jordaan

THE smallest nation on the African continent? Gambia. Even smaller than Swaziland. Population? Under two million. They don’t even have a professional football league at home.

But somehow South Africa’s 55 million must live with the frustration of another goalless draw at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday against the side currently ranked 160 in the world.

And all this after those appalling 0-0 draws with Botswana and Malawi at the COSAFA Cup, which BOTH ended in penalty shoot-out defeats. Guess who was hosting that one. Three home games, no goals. Urgh.

And before that? One point at AFCON 2015 after an impressive qualifying campaign under Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba. We haven’t scored since the first half of our last game in Equatorial Guinea, where South Africa left with the equal-poorest record in the tournament.

Some insect species have lived an etire life-time, born, married, had kids and taken a pension since South Africa last won a competitive football match under the guidance of the man who insisted we would win AFCON 2015 and might still win the World Cup in 2018. Bollocks of course.

Sadly, in his lucid moments, the man now known as Shaky is also forced to repeat the same dull mantra tried endlessly by his predecessors. “We should have scored three or four in the last 15 minutes. If we’d done that, we’d be talking something different after the game.”

Yes Shaky, you’re right. But we’ve been saying that for years now. Mashaba goes a step further: “It’s not just a national team problem, it’s a South African problem, no team in the country scores goals.”

That’s simply not true. We cannot blame Mashaba for the glaring misses from Thabo Matlaba and Thuso Phala on Saturday, but we CAN ask about his selection policy.

After taking a look at the PSL’s top scorers Moeketsi Sekola (Free State Stars, 14), Lerato Lamola (Bloemfontein Celtic, 13) and Puleng Tlolane (Polokwane City, 11) and NFD goal-getter Phumelela Bhengu (22 for Thanda Royal Zulu), Shaky went in to the opening AFCON 2017 qualifier with a whole new forward line.

Inexplicably, Bonginkosi Ntuli, Vuyisile Wana and Gift Motupa were suddenly elevated to stardom, alongside Tokelo Rantie, who got married last Saturday.

Predictably, Rantie – who played 128 minutes in TOTAL for promoted Bournemouth last season, never turned up. The honeymoon was clearly too good to cut short. Kermit Erasmus, with 15 goals in all competitions for Orlando Pirates this season, went public on twitter to tell us he wasn’t a back up player. And he was on holiday in Holland.

So Mashaba plumped for Thamsanqa Gabuza, who scored three times for Pirates in the Confederations Cup against some outfit from Gabon after the season closed. During the actual PSL season, Gabuza failed to score a league goal while Erasmus and Lehlohonolo Major netted 18 between them.

And when it came to match day, Mashaba promptly ignored the other strikers chosen in the squad and plumped for Gabuza.

It makes no sense to do that. It de-motivates the players picked for the original 23 and leads mischievous journalists to believe some players are only slipped in to the squad to please certain agents.

It’s not just up front that Mashaba dithers. It's all over the field; often he calls up players who haven't even been playing regularly for their clubs, often on the advice of a friendly agent. Oh, and he likes to rotate goalkeepers and captaincy too, insisting: "What does a captain do anyway except toss the coin at the start of the game?"

Just look at the lack of leadership on Saturday, the lack of drive, urgency. But it's more. His substitutions on Saturday, as Gambia ran out of steam in their first competititive match since being banned for U20 age cheating in 2014, were laughable.

He whipped off Gabuza, the only real striker, and shoved on Thuso Phala, who promptly put a glorious chance straight in to the arms of the Gambian goalkeeper from six yards.

In the end, man of the match Thabo Matlaba had the best chances from left back, one well saved, the other fluffed high in to the Durban night sky.

Shaky says international selection has to be about consistency and form. But he leaves FC Twente’s Kamohelo Mokotjo – picked as the central midfielder in the Dutch Ere Divisie’s team of the season – at home, while picking Ayanda Patosi and the “banned” May Mahlangu.

It’s inexplicable. It’s obvious. This is a man who laughs off preparation, insisting he doesn't like spying on future opponents. This is a man who admits he's a motivator, not a tactician. A shouter not a thinker. 

But I've said all this and nobody listened. And the truth is, we have to give Shakes some breaks. SAFA are far too busy with the current FIFA allegations to deal with another Bafana Bafana coaching change. And Dean Furman, Tower Mathoho, Tefu Mashamaite and Rantie made last week pretty difficult.

We keep the faith. Group M has a long way to go. Cameroon and Mauritania will be touge than Gambia. The friendly against Angola could be disastrous. Yet we must believe in our coach and his unusual, often eccentric methods.

But please, Shaky… just this once. Let’s pick our strongest players FROM THE START. 

It's not a disaster! But it was an injustice. South Africa 1, Mali 1 - and a draw against Nigeria on Sunday will do nicely

The deadly elbow: Bernard Parker

Imagine, if you will, the scene in downtown Bamako earlier tonight. Dad and sons sitting in front of the television, kicking the dog and shouting in French: “We wuz robbed! Merde!”

Come on, you know it’s true. South Africans must put themselves in Mali’s shoes tonight. Itumeleng Khune’s rash ninth-minute challenge on the impressive Abdoulaye Sissoko WAS a penalty. On SABC1, former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Deshi Bhaktawer admitted: “He was two weeks late, nowhere near the ball, penalty for me.”

Not 15 minutes later, at the other end, PENALTY GIVEN as Lindokuhle Mbatha, making his full debut, was hauled down JUST OUTSIDE THE BOX.  Souleymane Konate found himself booked and Bernard Parker crashed home the penalty, as he does. Bhaktawer was spot on again: “It was outside the box, and he didn’t make much contact. No penalty.”

And that, my footballing loving friends, was that for the first half. Though out-played and out-muscled, Bafana got to half-time 1-0 up.

Ibrahima Sidibe’s second half equaliser was inevitable, exposing South Africa's defensive frailties. Well taken though. And just.

So how do the Malians feel? And any neutrals? Remember, South Africa has done little to dispel the match-fixing cloud raised by FIFA after those dodgy pre-World Cup friendlies in 2010. Suspensions were handed out, then rescinded. The great Presidential Inquiry appears to have been forgotten. Nobody has been punished.

And Mozambicans may feel Parker’s penalty on Saturday, which put Bafana back in the game at 1-0 down, was unjust too - as was the spot kick in their 4-2 defeat against Nigeria last night.

Essentially, a 1-1 draw against higher-ranked Mali (exactly as I predicted) was a good result for the hosts. They can afford to finish with a draw against Nigeria and no matter what the vastly superior Malians do against pointless Mozambique, the hosts will go through to the quarter-finals. Probably in second place.

With Sissoko hitting the woodwork and Bloemfontein Celtic’s Thabo “Mr Price” Nthethe showing once more how far short of international class he really is next to young Buhle Mkhwanazi, Mali ended the game as it had begun: putting pressure on the home goal.

Itumeleng Khune, eager to move to the European big-time, appeared over-anxious. The highlight of his game, apart from a couple of rash rushes from his goal, came just before half-time when he tried a cheeky shot from all of 60 yards that dropped just over the Mali bar.

The midfield pairing of Hlompho Kekana and Matthew Pattison struggled. Kekana, scorer of a match-changing scorcher in the opening 3-1 triumph over Mozambique on Saturday, had one mighty shot which bent wide but failed in his task to replace the injured Reneilwe Letsholonyane as a box-to-box midfielder. Pattison was forced to become a poor man’s Dean Furman, breaking down attack after attack, unable to move over the halfway line or create anything vaguely constructive.

Up front, Bernard Parker found himself outpaced by the athletic Malians, with little or no support – especially when Gordon Igesund left him on his own up front, removing second striker Edward Manqele, who had been warming up before the 54^th minute Mali equaliser. Weird that. It looked like going with one up front was a “park the bus” concept ruined by Sidibe’s well-taken leveller. But Igesund carried on with the substitution anyway.

And then, with Mali pushing for the winner, we had to endure the arrival of Lerato Chabangu as a replacement. Another Igesund favourite. His first task was to completely miss a volley just outside the box. How do the rest of the 23-man squad feel, watching replacements of that calibre?

But for all the critique of Igesund’s methods, a point represents something of a triumph. Only defeat against Nigeria in Cape Town will put South Africa out of the quarter-finals and given the talent on show from Mali last night, that’s not a disaster.

But if I were Cameroon referee Mal Souley Mohamadou, I’d probably avoid holidays in neighbouring Mali for a few lifetimes.

 BOLLOCKZ! my own football show on www.ballz.co.za, restarts after the Christmas break tomorrow at 9am. Supersport United coach Cavin Johnson will be on, explaining his loan signing of Bafana strike Dino Ndlovu. See the Ballz channel on www.YouTube.com for our growing collection of interviews with the big names in South African football.

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The usual suspects: Africa's World Cup hopefuls head for the last 90 minutes of qualification with the "Big Five" favourites for Brazil

Brace yourself: Nigeria's Emmanuel Emenike

Nearly four years and an Arab Spring or two after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, it’s the usual suspects who are looking likely to qualify for Brazil 2014.

Nearly four years on, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Algeria – the five sides who qualified with hosts Bafana Bafana in the last global footballing saga – are once again the favourites to fill Africa’s ‘big five’ qualifying spots after the first legs of CAF’s unjust qualifiers.

Favourites Ghana don’t take on riot-ravaged Egypt until tomorrow night, when they play their first leg in Kumasi but Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast and African Nations Cup champions Nigeria cruised to their expected first leg victories over the weekend.

Former Chelsea veteran Drogba scored the opening goal for the Elephants against Senegal with Lamine Sane then providing an own goal before another Chelsea old boy Salomon Kalou made it three in the 50^th minute.

Newcastle’s Papiss Cisse pulled one back for Senegal but it was Arsenal’s unwanted Gervinho, now playing in Italy for Roma, who pulled the strings for the Ivory Coast, playing a part in all three goals and setting up Africa’s top-ranked nation for qualification with a two-goal cushion.

The Cote D’Ivoire have gone 20 games without defeat in World Cup qualifying – they’ve won 14 and drawn six since a 3-2 loss against Cameroon in September 2005.

Nigeria coped reasonably well in Addis Ababa against South Africa’s Group A nemesis Ethiopia. The loudly backed home side, desperate for a first World Cup finals appearance, dominated early on and – after a goalless first half - deserved to go ahead in the 57^th minute through Behailu Assefa.

 But it was that man Emmanuel Emenike – who played for two years in South Africa five years ago with Mpumalanga Blacks Aces and FC Cape Town – who silenced the Walya Antelopes with an equaliser followed by a last-gasp penalty to secure a narrow away advantage before the return to Nigeria.

Game of the weekend came in Ougadougou where Burkina Faso saw off Algeria but gave away what could be two decisive away goals in a 3-2 win over visiting Algeria. The Burkinabians, finalists at AFCON in South Africa earlier this year, went 2-0 up through Jonathan Pitroipa and Djakaridja Kone.

Sofiane Feghouli and Carl Medjani made it 2-2 before Fortunate Dusseldorf-based Aristide Bance, who had a first half penalty saved by Adi Mbolhi, scored the winner from the spot after a highly-controversial 86^th minute handball decision. Algeria remain in pole position despite defeat though Stallions coach Paul Put insists: “We will go to Algiers with every intention of qualifying.”

Tunisia, only in the play-offs because upstarts Cape Verde fell foul of the rules, gave Cameroon a tough ride in Rades but couldn’t find a way past the Indomitable Lions’ French-based goalkeeper Charles Itandj.

With Chelsea’s experienced on-loan striker Samuel Eto’o returning for the umpteenth time after international retirement, Cameroon nearly snatched it through Peirre Webo. This one might be the tightest second leg of the lot, but Yaounde should be celebrating when the second legs are played in mid-November.

And what of South Africa? Held 1-1 by fellow-non-qualifiers Morocco in Agadir on Friday night, this from Dean Furman on Twitter sums it up:  “Solid showing for Bafana last night against a strong Moroccan side. Congratulations to the young boys making their debut. Hopefully the start of big things in the future.”

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.

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

THE WORLD CUP DREAM IS ON: As predicted, Gordon Igesund's Bafana leave rusty CAR with three punctures. And he found time to call me afterwards!

THREEDOM: Gordon Igesund

GORDON IGESUND. Bafana Bafana. We salute you. A 3-0 win over the Central African Republic keeps our World Cup hopes alive on the day Nelson Mandela, the father of the nation, finds himself back at death’s door.

Gordon knows that. Right after the huge Group A qualifying win in Yaounde he said: “How can we talk about football when Nelson Mandela is in hospital? We have to wish him well first.”

The man has all the bases covered. He called me  at 6.54pm to say: "Mate, they f***ed us about this week. We were tired. But we did it. NOW FOR ETHIOPIA! I loved the Rambo stuff. The boys have been so good here. Put up with everything they threw at us."

When I told him the SABC were unable to air the first 40 minutes, Gordon was shocked: "What? No man! We started so well! But I need to thank everyone for their support, it's been brilliant. I loved the Rambo picture in the Star!"

Before the game, after the expected problems with travel and training facilities in “neutral” Cameroon, he promised: “We have turned the negatives in to positives. I am confident. We will play an attacking game.”

And he did. Despite “technical problems caused by rain” which meant viewers missed most of the first half, Bafana were live and dangerous for the full 90 minutes.

Kaizer Chiefs striker Bernard Parker opened the scoring after 26 minutes, poking the ball under the advancing goalkeeper and blasting home with his left foot to make it 1-0.

Just before half-time, another of the AmaKhosi double-winners, Siphiwe Tshabalala played a nice one-two with Tokelo Rantie to surge through the “Centrafrique” defence and make it 2-0 to “Afrique du Sud”.

A quieter second-half was capped by a brilliant third – Orlando Pirates play-maker Oupa Manyisa et the full-back and stood up an inch-perfect cross for Moroka Swallows’ PSL top-scorer Katlego Mashego to nod home. Boom. The 3-0 scoreline I predicted on eNCAnews on Friday night was complete.

At half-time, I sent Gordon an SMS suggesting: “Just stop at 3-0, let’s save a few for Ethiopia next week.”

Afterwards, Rambo Igesund grinned: “I was very happy with our game plan. We went for a very offensive team.  I told you we would.

“We trained once in the week really, so it was a great achievement when you think about it. I was a little bit disappointed because we sat back in the second-half a bit.

“We looked a little scared, but I was telling them we could have got four or five really.

“Look, we haven’t spoken about it much but it was a very tough preparation for us. All the travelling problems and stuff. A very tough week it’s been, but we got through. We got the job done.”

With Botswana narrowly failing to take points off table-toppers Ethiopia in Gaborone earlier, Bafana MUST now win in Addis Ababa, a town around a kilometre higher (7,546 feet) than Johannesburg (5,793 feet) in terms of altitude.

The final game against Botswana at home should be a doddle, but Ethiopia finish with CAR, who looked broken down and rusty yesterday. A draw in Addis Ababa will NOT be enough given Ethiopia's two-point lead in the group.

In World Cup qualifying, unlike AFCON, goal difference counts first, then head-to-head. But that might only help if Ethiopia end with a draw. As Gordon says: “We’ve got massive four games now to get to the World Cup.”

While fasionable nations in CONCACAF, Oceania and Europe cruise to perpetual World Cup qualification, South Africa have a two-legged play-off against ANOTHER group winner to survive even if they do finish top of CAF Group A. That can’t be right. Or fair.

But on current form, who’s betting against Rambo being on target for Brazil 2014?

FOR the prediction: see last paragraph of this http://neal-collins.blogspot.com/2013/06/rambo-igesund-turns-negatives-in-to.html and follow @nealcol on twitter!

BAFANA: Khune; Ngcongca, Mathoho, Nthethe, Nunes; Mahlangu (Ntshumayelo 80), Furman, Letsholonyane, Tshabalala; Parker (Mashego 63) Rantie (Manyisa 57).

Rambo Igesund turns negatives in to positives. There'll be no World Cup CAR crash in Cameroon.

GOOD GORD! Igesund as Rambo from the Star back page today

GORDON IGESUND told the assembled journalists in Yaounde yesterday: “The facilities have been good. Training has been great. We have no complaints.”

A few hours afterwards he laughs: “Not quite true of course. But that’s what I want the Central African Republic to hear!”

It’s typical Gordon. South African football’s head coach is a tough bloke, right back to his days as a no-nonsense striker in Durban in the 1980s, where defenders feared to tread on his toes. Bulletproof like Rambo, as the Johannesburg Star illustrated today on their back page.

Day one of Bafana Bafana’s trip to Cameroon – allegedly neutral territory but in truth the lad of Issa Hayatou and his Francophone football clique at CAF – started badly and got steadily worse.

On Wednesday afternoon at Douale, the commercial capital, South Africa’s 34-strong travelling party for the crucial World Cup African Group A qualifier were told their flight to Yaounde, the legislative capital, had been cancelled. Something about tyres on the aeroplane.

Pitch battle: The stony training ground in Yaounde,
from Robert Marawa's facebook page today

With no relief in sight, Gordon ordered a bus. They made the five-hour trip through Cameroon by road, with one member of the party revealing: “It was a real eye-opener.”

Arriving late with one training session already abandoned, Igesund’s men then found the training ground they’d booked in preparation was “unavailable”. Another delay while a new ground was sought. It turned out to be the facility pictured on the right.

Igesund laughs: “It was unbelievable. Rocks everywhere, holes, even the goalposts were a mess. So we found a corner with a bit of grass and did some warming-up excercises. I didn’t want to risk injury.

“I was angry, of course I was. The whole thing was a disgrace. I’d love to know the full story behind the cancelled flight. But I had warned the players to expect this sort of thing. They’re not fond of us in these parts.

“I told the players afterwards, on Thursday night, they can throw as many obstacles in our way as they like, it only makes us stronger. And to be fair NOT ONE of my players made a single complaint, you know? They were good as gold.

“Today (Friday), we finally got to train at the stadium itself. It’s not bad. It’s a big pitch, plenty of grass on it. There are a couple of bumpy patches but really, in African terms, it’s like Wembley.

“Tokelo Rantie (who arrived from Malmo in Sweden after last week’s 2-0 friendly win over Lesotho on the astroturf at Maseru) looks sharp. I’m even considering playing three up front!

“Yeye and Shabba (from double-winning Kaizer Chiefs) are looking good, the team is shaping up. The centre-back pairing (Tower Mathoho and Thabo Nthethe) are looking solid and I’m very, very confident. I want to pick up from our home game, where we beat CAF 2-0.

“If we can do that again, we’ll be well on our way. And then we’ve got Ethiopia in Addis Ababa next weekend. Win that one and we just need to beat Botswana in our final game to top the group.

“And don’t forget, Ethiopia have got Botswana tomorrow – our neighbours drew 1-1 with Egypt last week, they could do us a favour, couldn’t they?

“Look, we know it will be a tough, tough game. They’re a physical side (the latest FIFA rankings show CAR at 59, South Africa at 60) but so were Lesotho (155) and if we can keep the ball, use our talented players, I’m confident.

“I can promise you we won’t be under-estimating them.

“But I have a very good side, despite the injuries. We have a good squad, Itumeleng Khune is a great goalkeeper, we will take these problems we’ve had and use them. We’ve turned the negatives in to positives.

“We know the nation is watching. Thank you for for your support Neal. I hope your 3-0 prediction (made live on South Africa's eNCAnews tonight at 7.45pm) doesn’t cost you your hair again!”

With thanks to Gordon and Robert Marawa on Metro tonight.