Bafana hit a new low
Brad Morgan
10 September 2008
Many South African soccer fans took heart from the quality of Bafana Bafana's performance against Nigeria on the weekend, despite the 1-0 loss. But there was little consolation in Atteridgeville, Pretoria on Tuesday when Bafana lost 1-0 in a friendly international against Guinea.
With the Fifa 2010 World Cup approaching quickly, South African supporters are concerned that the country's national team might not be competitive in soccer's showpiece - and their concerns are not difficult to understand. Since taking over, coach Joel Santana has compiled a record of one win, two draws and four losses in seven matches.
The problems, however, appear to run far deeper than the choice of coach, if he is in fact part of the problem at all.
South Africa's national team has been in a prolonged slump for many years now, and it appears as if it is caught in a quicksand of mediocrity from which it is struggling to escape; from time to time good performances raise hopes of a turnaround, but all too often they are followed by head-scratching losses, like the one against Guinea on Tuesday.
Rankings
Guinea is admittedly ranked far higher than South Africa in the Fifa rankings; the West African nation is in 41st place, while South Africa languishes in 70th. Given that the South African Premier Soccer League is the seventh most lucrative league in the world, the performances of the national team should be of a far higher level.
One needs only to look to England to see the massive impact that money can have on the success of teams. The big four – Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal – have greater financial resources than the rest and so they dominate the Premiership.
Chelsea's rise came after the infusion of money from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Now, with Manchester City having been bought by investors with deep pockets, they will no doubt improve. Why a similar thing isn't happening in South African football is puzzling and worrying.
Changes
Coach Santana made a number of changes to his side for the friendly against Guinea, including a start for Matthew Booth, the captain of Russian club Krylia Sovetov Samara.
Booth previously played for Mamelodi Sundowns, which meant he was familiar with the Super Stadium and the crowd, with whom he proved to be a favourite. His performance was a plus for Santana as the big defender was voted man of the match.
Despite a change of personnel, the most glaring problem for Bafana Bafana remained the same as the team's finishing let it down once again.
Under Santana, South Africa has, at times, played some sublime football between the two goal boxes, but the poor finishing has been an obstacle that no amount of excellent build-up work can undo if a goal is conceded to the opposition.
Disallowed goal
Bafana Bafana thought they had scored an early goal against Guinea when Booth found the back of the net after 12 minutes, but referee Joshua Bondo disallowed the goal by ruling him offsides.
To add insult to injury, not long after that Guinea took the lead through Yady Minka Camara. He let rip with a rocket-like drive from 20 metres that rattled the back of the net and left SA goalkeeper Moneeb Josephs with no chance of stopping it.
Against Nigeria, South Africa had excelled in the midfield with fluent and creative play; against Guinea they struggled to passes together as the Syli Nationale played the better and more constructive football.
Surprise Moriri created an opportunity for midfielder Lance Davids, but the midfielder fired over the crossbar. Moriri was then guilty of a glaring miss midway through the half when he had only goalkeeper Toure Youssouf to beat, but shot badly wide.
Second half
After the break, South Africa performed better as Teko Modise, Daine Klate and Siboniso Gaxa were introduced as substitutes.
Klate headed narrowly wide from a good cross by Gaxa, while Modise headed another chance straight at the goalie.
Bafana Bafana then had goalkeeper Josephs to thank for some decisive and effective defending when he rushed out and saved from Ismael Bangoura after he had been sent clear on goal.
With time running out Klate had the ball in the back of the net but, for the second time in the contest, what appeared to be a South African goal was ruled out because of offsides.
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