German lessons for Bafana
Brad Morgan
7 September 2009
South Africa were beaten 2-0 by an impressive Germany in an international friendly in Leverkusen on Friday night. Bafana Bafana Coach Joel Santana said the game had given his team "exactly" the kind of experience they need in their build-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
Speaking to Kickoff, German playmaker Michael Ballack said it "wasn't an easy match. South Africa have a lot of very strong players in midfield, and there was always a physical battle. They created a number of chances; they came close on a few occasions."
Asked whether he felt Bafana Bafana was up to taking on the world's elite teams in 2010, Ballack responded: "Yes, I think so. I saw them play at the Confederations Cup and they put on a great show. I was impressed. That's why I'm saying tonight's match was just a friendly."
'Great to have that competition'
South African captain Aaron Mokoena said: "It's great to have that competition, and it showed us that when we have the ball, we cannot afford to lose it easily when playing against these teams."
And that, in a nutshell, was South Africa's main problem in Leverkusen: Germany dominated possession.
From the start, the home team looked comfortable on the ball. The only area that was not entirely satisfactory for them was finishing. Having said that, had it not been for goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez – a member of Arminia Bielefeld and thus familiar with German conditions – the margin of victory might have been bigger.
Conservative game-plan
Some critics have pointed out that Bafana Bafana seem to adopt a more conservative game-plan against the top teams in the world; this may be a valid criticism.
While South Africa hasn't suffered any big losses to those teams, they haven't really challenged them, apart from during the Confederations Cup, when they produced admirable performances in losses against Brazil and Spain, the current top two in Fifa's world rankings.
Germany took the lead in the 36th minute of Friday's contest when Bayern Munich striker Mario Gomez struck from close range.
They then had to wait until the 77th minute to double their lead and secure the victory. Werder Bremen midfielder Mesut Özil, playing only his third international, netted after being put through by Lucas Podolski.
Podolski, who plays for Köln, failed to add to his 33 goals in 64 internationals. He scored a hat-trick the previous time the teams met in September 2005.
Close but no cigar
The closest Bafana Bafana came to breaking through the notoriously stingy German defence came courtesy of defender Arne Friedrich, who almost put the ball past goalkeeper Rene Adler for an own goal.
Despite Germany's dominance, Bafana coach Joel Santana said: "It was a good match for us. We gave a good account of ourselves, and I'm happy with the performance." The question South African fans will be asking is: when are good performances going to result in victories?
Matters are not about to get any easier for Bafana Bafana, as captain Aaron Mokoena acknowledged after the game.
Irish challenge
Mokoena, who has been playing club football in England since 2005, believes the pace and intensity of Ireland's British-based players is going to provide a different and tough challenge for South Africa at Thomond Park in Limerick on Tuesday .
He says Bafana will need to rise to the physical challenge the Irish will pose.
The South African team will, however, not have to face some of Ireland's top guns – including Robbie Keane, Richard Dunne, Shay Given and Kevin Kilbane – who were given off after Ireland's 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over Cyprus on Saturday.
source: http://www.southafrica.info/news/sport/football-070909.htm
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