I’m
confident that Bafana Bafana will reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)
2013, but I’m not definite if they will walk away with the biggest and
prestigious African accolade. I scrutinize the Bafana pathways towards the
final. After perusing it, I concluded that Bafana have the most difficult
pathways to reach the finals.
According
to the observed pathways, if Bafana wallop Mali, they will meet either the West
African pretenders Super Eagles (Nigeria) or AFCON 2013 tournament favourite
The Elephants (Ivory Coast) in the semi-final of AFCON 2013 at the slaughter
house Moses Mabhida Stadium whilst Cape Verde from the same Group A will either
face the Togo or Burkina Faso in the semi-finals if managed to get a victory against
the Black Stars (Ghana).
I
have strong disbelief that the dark horse of the tournament Blue Sharks (Cape
Verde) will cause a continental upset against the shining black stars but
football is unpredictable sport.
Super
Eagles have quality players who hold a key of success in this tournament. The
game plan of Super eagles is around only four key players namely Michael Obi
who already controlled the engine room with distinction, Vincent Enyeama who
already made brilliant saves to keep Nigeria in the game, Victor Moses who is
bringing unbelievable pace upfront together with the burly and ruthless striker
Emmanuel Emenike who has sharp eye for the goal but in the absence of Michael
Obi, Nigeria will lose a backbone to defeat Ivory Coast this Sunday.
There
is a huge possibility that if Bafana beat Mali they'll meet the Elephants (Ivory
Coast) in the semi-finals. Ivory Coast is the tournament most balance team with
world class quality players such as Copa Barry, Emanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure,
Souleymane Bamba, siaka Tiene, Didier Zokora, Yaya Toure, Gervinho, Didier Ya
Konan, Max Gradel, Didier Drogba, Cheick Tioté and many more. Ivory Coast is
beatable team if playing against any team with effective wing play.
To
beat Ivory Coast, the opponents should circumvent to play inside the field kind
of football by playing at the wings. It is dangerous to compete with Zokora and
Toure in the middle of the pitch.
As
for Bafana, there is no need to worry about either Nigeria or Ivory Coast. Now
the focus is Mali and thereafter we shall start preparing to meet any next
opponent. To be the best, we must beat the best.
However,
Bafana Bafana will only reach the finals if the Gordon Igesund sorts out the
leaking and vulnerable combination of Siyabonga “Mr. Goals” Sangweni and
Bongani “Model C” Khumalo. The
communications between Sangweni and Khumalo have to improve for the sake of
saving the nation from pending humiliation. The coach must also sort out the
toothless striking force. Our strikers haven’t scored any single goal in the
AFCON 2013 after 3 games.
We
have striking force crisis but on the 10th February 2012, the national anthem
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" will be reverberating in the National Stadium at
19h50. Bafana is ready to emulate the class of 1996 which conqueror the Africa
football.
In
Bafana, I believe!
By Owen Mundalamo
