Ted's 'no' to overseas stars
2006-01-31 21:30
Alexandria - What happened to South Africa?
Bafana Bafana were stunned by underdog Guinea, lost to Tunisia following a second half of suicidal defending and finally let Zambia prevail by botching a string of glaring chances.
After a week of games in Egypt, the Bafana Bafana conceded five goals, scored none, and exited the African Cup of Nations with little to cling to but coach Ted Dumitru's hard-to-explain optimism.
"I think we had very good matches in this competition," Dumitru said, adding that his young team's "very open and attacking minded tactics" bode well for future preparations to host Africa's first World Cup in 2010.
The Romanian-born Dumitru took over from Stuart Baxter, who quit in November after a failed World Cup qualifying campaign.
The 69-year-old Dumitru, dubbed the "professor" in his adopted country, is credited for his knowledge of the game and highly successful career in domestic leagues.
But he immediately ran into criticism for axing defender Nasief Morris from Greek club Panathinaikos and falling out with captain Aaron Mokoena, of Blackburn Rovers, who walked out in protest.
Develop own players
"I'm not convinced that teams with a lot of players in top European clubs will decide the outcome of this tournament," Dumitru said on Monday. "It's imperative that we start moving away from that concept ... let's develop our own players."
In Egypt, Dumitru failed to stop the slide of a nation that won the African tournament a decade ago.
Bundesliga player Sibusiso Zuma was South Africa's lone stand out during their three Group C matches and was dropped with other regulars in the last game against Zambia as Dumitru tested a largely reserve side.
His approach, Dumitru argued, is long term and "part of our attempt to create a new base of talent, a new platform of national team players."
He also complained of few opportunities to prepare the team.
"Our team played well in friendly match conditions and problems did not appear until competition matches with high pressure and rigorous marking," he said.
"The element of high pressure was not absorbed by the players. We only played one international friendly and had 19 days' preparation."
- SAPA