God bless Africa… It is very sad that we find ourselves in the same situation again. It seems before any major tournament we find ourselves wanting. Bafana Bafana are not playing the most enterprising football at the moment.The recent games have been but a disappointment. It is so painful to watch Bafana Bafana it’s not funny. Our coach has a plan, which I hope is falling into place. It would not be fair for me to talk about Mr. Joel Santana’s track record with the team more so when I would be comparing it with some past coaches we had before, not at this time.
I would secondly shy away from the debate of a foreign coach versus a local coach. This debate is quite nice more so when the team is not doing well, and the local coaches are “reportedly” doing well. I tell you if the country was to vote on this issue, a local coach will win by a very big margin. Okay, again, this is not the time for such a debate because it would not help us win the games nor make us do better come next year.
I am a South African and I feel more pain when we (Bafana Bafana) lose, more pain than Joel Santana and Jaero Leal would feel combined. This is a fact, and having said that, it does not mean that our coach and the technical team feel nothing when the team is performing as they are. I do not honestly believe that we have (SAFA) employed people who do not have the best interest of South Africans at heart. So this issue of Carlos Perreira having failed us by recommending Santana, is something that would not help us at this moment.
Our coach has been very clear that we are building and learning from these friendly games. People were quick to point out that even huge buildings do come to a point where there is the roof. Well that is true and indeed we can’t build forever. But Mr. Santana was not referring to a huge building here. He was talking about building a team for 2010, in SA, where players see it growth to leave European teams to come play at home. Where the Championship winning team would rather field a B-side in the Champions League, because its not that lucrative compared to our PSL.
I am not in any way promoting mediocrity nor defending Mr. Santana. I am simply trying to be honest to the situation we find ourselves in at the moment. We have been down this path before, and Joel Santana was not there at the time. The man had a plan for the Confederations Cup, and the plan nearly came together.
Yes we beat the bottom team New Zealand. Yes we won one out of five, but the fighting spirit, the commitment and the kind of football we displayed at the time was something to be proud of in the first phase of the building process to a successful World Cup here at home.
I am not expecting miracles, but I know we have to do well cometh the World Cup, so does Ivory Coast, Ghana and any other two countries that will fly the African flag in the very first African World cup. I again look at the quality of all the other countries that are qualifying for the coming World Cup and I know that it’s not going to be easy. The battle that lies ahead is nothing we have ever seen. That is why we need to support our Bafana Bafana and the technical team during these trying times.
Firing the coach before a major tournament has never worked for us before, will never work, and let us not even make it an option.
I am confident of Bafana Bafana and our chances at the coming World Cup. There is simply so much at stake the boys will do us proud. They will be playing on home soil. The plan of our coach will be there for us to see.
The building process would have come to the point where the roof will be there. The learning will be put to the test. This is Africa, my mother land. The support, the drums, the Vuvuzelas, the spirit of oneness and the African soil will see us through to the next round.
God Bless Africa, its sons and daughters, its players and coaches, their World Cup and the LOC.
by Baile (Diskioff manager)
baile.diskioff@gmail.com
Email - Proffesor Khumalo
proffesor.khumalo.diskioff@gmail.com
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