Rain halts Bafana plans

2005-12-29 18:04

Johannesburg - In many instances rain is a blessing but for interim Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru, a torrential downpour stifled his pre-African Cup of Nations plans in Johannesburg on Thursday.

With Dumitru's provisional side leading 1-0 through a 52nd minute goal from Lebohang Mokoena in their practice match against a PSL Invitational XI, the game has been temporarily called off due to the highveld thunderstorm.

It seems highly unlikely that play will resume again leaving Dumitru with only the January 6 fixture between these two sides, again, for the Romanian-born coach to select his final squad for the African showpiece to be held in Egypt.

What was designed as a Bafana Bafana practice game of three 35-minute sessions in preparation for the African Nations Cup was washed out after two segments on Thursday evening with the South African squad leading a concoction of PSL players 1-0.

A torrential downpour sent the players scurrying from the pitch and Bafana coach Ted Dumitru made the decision to terminate the proceedings with pools or rain threatening to transform the field into a mini-lake.

The only goal during what was mainly a tepid, ghost-like encounter with no spectators allowed, was scored from close-range by Orlando Pirates' Lebohang Mokoena in the 52nd minute after the PSL side had looked the more sprightly and cohesive unit in the early stages.

Great deal more to learn

In spite of what seemed a case of much ado about nothing, a drenched Dumitru expressed his satisfaction with the proceedings. "I learnt a lot," he added - and the consensus was that he still had a great deal more to learn with the Nations Cup tournament in Egypt only three weeks away.

Dumitru said he had selected three different line-ups for the planned three sessions of the game, with no significance as to what he considered his shadow team in Egypt.

"I thought the players performed with a lot of spirit in the circumstances," said the Bafana coach, "especially as they have had two tough training sessions each day this week."

The handful of onlookers focussed early attention on the recalled Pierre Issa, whose call-up by Dumitru has been accompanied by a great deal of controversy in view of the fact that the Greece-based central defender has not played for several months as a result of a contractual dispute.

Issa performed studiously as befitting a player of his experience and made a couple of telling passes, but at the same time he looked a little rusty and a little slow off the mark.

After dominating the opening 35 minutes, the PSL combination made a wholesale change in personnel and brought on 11 new players.

Bafana indulged in only five changes for the second period and their play showed marked improvement. But the overall impression was that a great deal still needs to be done during the next 20 days and the romp in the rain achieved little to produce a fluid, cohesive unit before the Nations Cup.

- SAPA