Sport Matters

Joy for Bafana. . .  Happy scenes for South Africa fans might not amount to any significant success on the soccer field if the local football fraternity continues to isolate itself from the rest of the continent. The leaders of African football are in South Africa for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations draw later today. Under normal circumstances, the gathering in Durban by CAF and FA executives from across the continent should not look odd in one of Africa’s premier cities, if South Africa was not at odds with the fortunes of football in Africa. The South African football public normally does not care about the events on the continent. I don’t have to go far back to cite the most recent example for my argument. This past weekend when in South Africa we were immersed in the affairs of domestic questions, this time via the Telkom Knockout, the focus of the rest of the continent was on the conclusion of CAF Champions League’ semifinal programme. For the record, Esperance de Tunis and

You have a chance. . . this is the message new Bafana Bafana coach Gordon Igesund has been preaching to South African players where they are in the world. Two of South Africa’s major sports are managed by two new coaches – Heyneke Meyer for rugby’s Springboks and Gordon Igesund for soccer’s Bafana Bafana. But being new in their jobs, and the fact that both got the hot seat after being overlooked in the past, about sums all that is common between the two coaches. It is incredible that while Igesund is generally seen to be Bafana Bafana’s saviour by the football fraternity, after years of underperforming by the team, Meyer carries himself as Sprinboks’ messiah. He was however brought down to earth with a thud in his first championship in charge – the recently ended Castle Rugby Championship. Arrogance in team selection proved to be Meyer’s Achilles heel. The resounding victory over a disjointed Australia at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld was about the only highlight in the series