It was perhaps a positive thing that Bafana Bafana did not attain Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification in Polokwane on Wednesday night.
With Shakes Mashaba’s squad teeming of a young breed, such instant success would perhaps have led to some inflated heads – a problem that has cost the country’s football dearly many times before.
Booking a ticket to a big tournament with two matches to spare is the stuff of dreams, achieved rarely by some special teams. And should they have done that, this Bafana side would probably have thought of themselves as such despite not yet really being tested.
So as it is, the likes of Rivaldo Coetzee and Sibusiso Khumalo must have got the idea of just how tough the game on the international stage can be. And that can only serve to help them not to take things for granted.
What the goalless draw with Congo-Brazzaville did for South African football is to show that a lot still needs to be done if we are to return to the top of the ladder on the continent.
And Danny Jordaan, the president of the South African Football Association (Safa), knew only too well how bad a state our national team were in when he mandated Mashaba to rebuild for 2022 instead of setting a ridiculous mandate of immediate qualification for Afcon 2015.
Granted, it appears that for the first time since 2008 we will participate at the biennial, continental soccer showpiece having made it through a qualification process. That feat, though, would have been achieved through some serious toil, the failure to win any of our two home matches an indication we shouldn’t get too carried away yet.
Yes, there can be no denying that Bra Shakes has reignited the senior national team’s spark – Bafana Bafana now playing with some verve and finesse missing in recent years.
But you need much more than that to be a giant of continental football. For one, any player who dons his country’s shirt has to be able to handle the pressure that comes with carrying the hopes of millions of fanatics.
At the post-match conference on Wednesday night, Mashaba spoke of how hard it is for the players to play at home – Bafana having won twice on the road and drawing the same number of matches in their own backyard.
The coach reasoned that when they play away, his players are free to solely concentrate on preparing for the game away from media reports and comments from fans at home.
Fair enough, but any player worthy of representing his country must be strong enough not to allow pre-match hype to get to him. Or else he should be able to use it to inspire him to a greater performance.
Bafana hardly looked inspired last week, despite the positive mood that prevailed country-wide following their great win in Pointe Noire last weekend. In fact, it appeared as though the looming qualification was weighing heavily on them, such was their disjointed display that lacked in spirit.
They are yet to lose, though, and the fact that they have not conceded a goal tells a fantastic story of a good thing in the making.
And fortunately, Mashaba is wily enough to know that he still has a lot of work on his hands before anyone can say Bafana Bafana are continental giants.
That he spotted the fact that his team lacked the maturity and experience to improvise on the field when the plan he set for them didn’t work tells of a coach not easily swayed by his own success. And that can only mean Bafana Bafana are in good hands and on the right track for Safa’s Vision 2022. - Saturday Star