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Shocking: Shakes Kungwane
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SHAKES KUNGWANE described South Africa’s abject 2-0 defeat
against Nigeria on Wednesday night as “sad, shocking and embarrassing”.
And the widely-respected Kungwane believes Bafana Bafana
head coach Gordon Igesund is running out of time if he doesn’t make wholesale
changes to his experienced squad - something he will be forced to do at the Nelson Mandela Sports Day on Saturday.
Igesund will take on Burkina Faso without his foreign-based internationals today - Tokelo Rantie and Dean Furman have flown back to Europe to play for their clubs this weekend. But Kungwane remains concerned about Bafana as they prepare for a double-header at Soccer City which also features the nation's rugby Springboks playing Argentina's Pumas.
The former Kaizer Chiefs star with the cultured left foot
carries huge weight as an analyst in South Africa and he too believes it is
time for a fresh start.
Khungwane told me on my football show BOLLOCKZ on Thursday: “It
just sums it up, comparing England with South Africa. England stick with
Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney. We still hang on to Tshabalala, YeYe, Parker.
“Does the coach have a mandate or is he just hanging on for
his CV? We played against the No1 side in Africa and we had withdrawals but in
our last World Cup qualifier against Botswana we have to do something.
“Igesund has failed on his mandate to qualify for Brazil.
What happens when the new SAFA president comes in and says: “What happened to
your mandate to reach the last four when we hosted AFCON earlier this year?”
“We are moving one step forward, ten steps back. When Gordon
took over, we had hope. But now that hope is gone. We need to start afresh.
“Let’s forget about players who have 50 or 60 caps. Look at
the team that went to COSAFA? Only two or three of them were there at the Moses
Mabhida.
“We’re not going to qualify for the World Cup, let’s be
honest. We still hanging on to memories of winning the African Cup of Nations
in 1996 like England hang on to 1966.
“At the moment we’ve got an assistant coach who used to be a
technical director for SAFA for donkey’s years. Now he is Gordon’s No2. Are
there not any better people to go around and look for 19, 20 year olds who can
play for Bafana?
“Instead we have Shabba. Again. Come on guys. Gordon
believes in experienced players unfortunately. But we have players in Holland, Belgium, Sweden and England,
George Maluleka at Chiefs… we must start fresh, everything new. And move on.
“I’ve been coached by Gordon. It’s such a good excuse for
him to have players withdraw. Then he can say he doesn’t have better players.
“You get a player like Nomandela… he touched the ball two or
three times. We’re living on false hopes.
“Come on Nealy, we went to England, Holland, Brazil, we went
all over for help. Why can’t we have our own models, one South Africans love
and want to see.
“There’s a lot of talent in the country, unfortunately it’s
all about winning, about rankings. We need fresh ideas, not people who only
worry about getting their salary every month.
“We couldn’t even score goals. Let’s not beat about the bush and say we’re improving.
Ten out of ten? We’re on about three.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place, but we need the
courage to start afresh. We need to say listen: You did your best guys. We’re
starting again.
“Are we still learning with Shabba, KG, YeYe? Shocking
performance from Dean Furman, I think he’s over-rated too.
“Honestly speaking, the only way to sort this out is to wait
for the new SAFA president to take office. He will want to impress. He must
decide whether to keep Gordon.
“For me, we start afresh, we have nothing to lose. Most
African nations hate us, we have everything going for us. Everybody wants to
beat us. We must have our own model, our own way of doing things.
“We can’t play like the Spanish. We can’t play like the
Germans. We must play OUR way.
“Beat Burkina Faso? Trash Botswana? Come on!”
Trenchant critique from Shakes was followed by equally strong words from Nigeria-based BBC World Service
football correspondent Oluwashina Okeleji, who was equally scathing about
Igesund’s Bafana.
Okeleji questioned whether South Africa’s head coach is
enjoying his job – and also suggested a “clear-out” of established
interationals, saying: “Nigeria’s worst side can beat Bafana’s best, yet you
have the best-run domestic league on the continent.”
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