Bafana Bafana returned to action after the 2010 World Cup Wednesday night with a deserved 1-0 win against The Black Stars on a cold night at half-full Soccer City. Katlego Mphela (in photo) scored the winner in the 42nd minute.
Pitso Mosimane, Bafana’s new ‘local-is-lekker’ head coach, said: ‘Mphela was frustrating me by missing two good chances early on. That was why I called Mphela over to the touchline in the first half and told him what I wanted and he produced the winner.’ No need for Madiba magic, now we have Pitso magic.
Speaking of spiritual forces, Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac (sort of) joked that Soccer City may be cursed: ‘This was the third match we played here and we have lost all three’ (to Germany, Uruguay and now SA).
Overall, a useful friendly for Mosimane’s debut at the helm of South Africa as they begin 2012 African Nations Cup qualifiers at home next month against Niger. Phambili!
4 replies on “Bafana 1, BaGhana 0: Phambili!”
You clearly weren’t at the game. What I saw was an uninspiring, pointless friendly with very little point. In a freezing cold, half-empty stadium, there were attempt to reclaim the spirit of 2010 but this failed dismally. A combination of high ticket prices, a pointless match, cold temperatures and a mid-week evening kick off all conspired to dampen the atmosphere.
The slick presentation of the World has truly disappeared. It’s business as usual.
If Mphela scored a goal that is commendable…though I still believe the South African team’s biggest problem is that it has only had one reliable striker, who unfortunately couldnt feature in the recent World Cup because….because…well they say he was unfit, overweight, etc…this is why with an extra man on the pitch and playing against a team that was right in the thick of a mutiny, they couldnt score enough goals to see them through the knock-out stage of the tournament!
I would not waste my time or money to attend this match. But for Mosimane it was important to record a victory, so as to not pollute the atmosphere too much leading into the qualifying campaign.
Thanks for the article and the discussion. 45,000 is still a big crowd, no? And it’s still winter in Joberg, right? Maybe it’s too early for too much doom & gloom re: Bafana and the state of S.A. football post WC