Something brewing for Bafana

2008-09-06 20:04

Rob Houwing

Cape Town - Have your reflex, derogatory chuckle if you are a terminal Bafana Bafana cynic and that is simply what you do.

Then let the rest of us weigh up South Africa's now guaranteed absence from the 2010 African Nations Cup in Angola and objectively ponder whether, based on available evidence in Port Elizabeth on Saturday, just a seed or two of hope has been sown for a rather more humungous festival of football that very same year.

The EPRU Stadium is a venue not exactly immune to provincial heartbreak in a different sporting code over the past decade or two, and on this occasion it turned wretched arena for our national soccer.

For as much as there is no reversing the cruel 0-1 score-line in the Afcon qualifier, Bafana had the better of continental powerhouse Nigeria in virtually all other departments and could do worse than lift their dejected heads to turn those crumbs of comfort into some credible form of confectionery for the World Cup.

On many other days, after all, South Africa would have prevailed, given the sort of appetite and purpose - if not front-of-goal composure or fortune - on display from them in the Friendly City.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves: they wouldn't exactly have run a Spain or Brazil off their feet, but they might have upset a very healthy bag-load of workmanlike nations presently eclipsing them on the FIFA rankings.

Twice on the trot

That said, it remains a big blow to national pride, not to mention national team planning, that we will now host the 2010 World Cup without having even cracked the ticket for the African showpiece. (Bafana's non-presence means an array of unsatisfactory friendlies will doubtless have to suffice in the lead-up to the greatest show on earth.)

But it is twice on the trot now - the other was the 2-2 recent London outcome against Australia - that the national side have at least not produced the sort of clueless, structure-shorn and lethargic performances we have all witnessed way too many of.

Yes, we can't be sure whether the food they'll serve up henceforth is going to become increasingly more palatable, but at least it seems someone has got the pots out of the cupboard and defrosted the chicken.

If it's any consolation, as the "never beaten Nigeria" jinx retains its lengthy stranglehold, even the Super Eagles themselves might concede they got dead lucky in the Eastern Cape.

Most mortifying of all was that the Ike Uche goal which scuppered the Tall Ship Bafana came (out of the blue in the 70th minute) immediately after a 15-minute spell of thrilling, near-unrelenting bombardment by the home team which had their supporters unusually cooing and dancing in the aisles - so sure were they that Fortress Nigeria was but one bolt away from being stormed.

During that period, South Africa had exploited the full width of the pitch on both sides, raining in shots and fruitful crosses as the likes of Siyabonga Nkosi, Kagiso Dikgacoi and Benni McCarthy came within whiskers of seizing the Sunday sports-page headlines for themselves.

Audacious efforts

Key statistics over the 90 minutes served further to indicate Bafana's dominance and superior desire: they boasted 19 shots at goal to Nigeria's six, and had a 4-1 edge in corners. Territorial mastery was a no-brainer, too.

And it was not even as if you could point fingers at any truly disgraceful misses: it was more a case of heaps of audacious efforts flashing just wide or, on occasion, the bumpy and threadbare surface frustratingly foiling surest contact with the ball.

Nor was the Bafana defence necessarily caught snoozing for the killer goal: Uche's approach work was deft and his near-post finish decently placed.

Indeed, central stopper Nasief Morris had one of his most composed outings in recent times and MacBeth Sibaya was a beavering, never-say-die link between the back four and Bafana?s more attack-minded arsenal.

If there was one area where Nigeria did hold sway, as expected, it was in their collective muscularity; it stood them in good stead in the duel for 50-50 balls and they were not slow to bash around light-limbed Bafana customers like Siboniso Gaxa and Teko Modise.

It seems strange to be doing all this salaaming for a losing outfit. But truly, on Saturday, Uche's strike was a little like the cops arriving to turn off the music at midnight on a throbbing bash because a granny had complained...

- Sport24