Who are Central African Republic? Well, as a country the mysterious nation is never in the news unless there is a coup or rebel activity threatening a regime change. Today (21 March) for example, the only news from CAR came from the statement by the SELEKA rebel group, who said the concessions President Francois Bozize is currently frantically making are too late for his survival in power.
"All we ask is for him to now leave power," SELEKA spokesman Colonel Sylvain Bordas told international media. "If he does not do so, we will force him out."
The feint memory of CAR by most of the world’s adult population is the chaotic reign from the 1960s to the 1970s by Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who after forcing his way into power, declared himself Emperor Bokassa I. Apart from helping himself from the meager state coffers, Bokassa amused himself with big projects named after himself.
So, in the absence of war talk what happens there when it is “normal”? The usual struggles for survival by the poverty-stricken population, I suppose, because nothing bright about the society ever makes news, and that includes football. Well, on that score I could be mistaken because the Wild Beasts, as CAR national team is nicknamed, are in Africa’s top 10 according to current Fifa rankings – and South Africa is not.
Now that’s another mystery about CAR, because the Beasts have never played in the Africa Cup of Nations, let alone the World Cup. Their effort in qualifying competitions for both events over the decades include: “did not enter”, “withdrew”, “disqualified” or “did not qualify”.
The Wild Beasts are in Cape Town, to show South Africa why they are ahead of them in both Fifa rankings and the 2014 World Cup qualifying group. This is the biggest test coming Bafana Bafana’s way in recent years because if they fail against a team with so many odds stacked against it, then where on earth are Bafana Bafana going to achieve the kind of success they enjoyed in the now distant past.
There’s no professional league in CAR, and the national stadium in Bangui carries a capacity of just 30 000 – about the size of Rand Stadium in Johannesburg. Its players are spread out in African countries and some in Europe, including captain Foxi Kéthévoama, who is based in Kazakhstan.
It does not matter who the coach or captain of South Africa are, failure against the likes of the Central African Republic will not be justified, given the resources we enjoy. Failure in Cape Town on Saturday will be failure of South African in its entirety. That will mark the death blow to the little that is left of what once was a proud footballing nation.
I am not going to say “come on Bafana, make us proud”. The team knows the basic thing required of them; achieving on that they would have done themselves proud.
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