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Bafana's 'new look' jerseys
15/11/2007 16:25 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Playing for the first time in new three-quarter-arm length jerseys, Bafana Bafana will be seeking to restore a somewhat tarnished image to a level of respectability when they take on world 18th-ranked United States in the Nelson Mandela Challenge game on Saturday afternoon.
And while the new, predominately yellow strip - which truthfully does not differ greatly in appearance to the old one - was launched by leading global football brand Adidas amid a great deal of razzle dazzle and musical contortions at the Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday and proclaimed to be designed with innovative "ForMotion technology", it's not the sartorial appearance that is likely to make much difference when the heat is on at a steaming Ellis Park cauldron.
Also, it might be termed a little ironical that while modern trends in sport are moving towards shorter sleeves and even no sleeves - something which Fifa banned when Cameroon came up with the idea - South Africa are going in the opposite direction with three-quarter length garments - which hopefully is not a foreboding warning that Safa may again be moving in the opposite direction to prevailing trends.
And, perhaps, an encouraging sign is that while the marketing moguls were over the moon over the new strip at the high-profiled launch, the Bafana players themselves could hardly disguise their indifference and even boredom over the event as a whole.
The United States game, in contrast, will be immersed in a good deal more urgency, with time beginning to run out for 83rd-ranked Bafana to lift themselves to a position of genuine contenders before the advent of the home-based 2010 World Cup.
Not ingredients that pop out of the ground
And while canny Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira continues to blast the message that anything that happens before 2010 is incidental and even coincidental as long as the Real McCoy is in place for the World Cup, morale, confidence and cohesion are not ingredients that pop out of the ground overnight like magical blooms.
In the meantime, The US game seems an ideal opportunity for Bafana to jump onto a winning bandwagon again against the highly-respected Concacaf title-holders.
Like a boxing journeyman, who concentrates on his limited strengths and does not give opponents the openings to vent their skills, the United States are more in the mould of a side who are difficult to beat - rather than one who take the proceedings by the scruff of the neck and impose themselves forcefully on the proceedings.
And, in the circumstances, it will be interesting to note whether Parreira deviates somewhat from his entrenched 4-5-1 formation to implement a more adventurous 4-4-2 formation and utilise two genuine strikers.
He seems to have the complement for such a move in the enigmatic, but potentially dynamic pairing of Benni McCarthy and Sibusiso Zuma.
But Parreira is a conservative pragmatist, if nothing else, who will not overlook the fact that Zuma has had little match time of late with German club Arminia Bielefeld and throwing him into the deep end at this juncture might not serve his "building towards 2010" projection at this time.
- SAPA
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