Bafana Bafana squad to represent South Africa at the AFCON in Morocco photo supplied
It is refreshing that we soccer enthusiasts will spend the Christmas festive season watching African football.
Thanks to the Africa Cup of Nations football tournament which will run during the festive season.
Many soccer fanatics are already used to watching English football during the festive season but this year they will enjoy their braai vleis, drinks and music while in the process keeping a keen eye on the AFCON tournament.
Let me state upfront that I don’t watch English football for the simple reason that they (the England citizens) don’t watch ours.
I wish our Bafana Bafana players would do the same.
But the reality is that those Bafana players watch English football ardently and actually hero-worship players who ply their trade in that League..
These Bafana players admire the skills of those English football players with awe and when it eventually happens that they should play against the said English League players that they hero-worship in a country vs country match, they get so overwhelmed to the extent that they get happy to having been beaten only 3-0 or 4-0 by the national team featuring their English club hero heroes, citing the fact that other national teams received a much heavier score line from the team featuring their England-based heroes.
To the Bafana Bafana players my advice would be that they must go to the AFCON tournament with arrogance and show no respect to any or all the players that they have seen plying their trade on TV in the English Premier League.
Now it won’t be enough to just tell Bafana Bafana players to go there and do their best.
We must be specific regarding what we want them to do, which is to dribble the hell out of their opponents and score goals.
Playing “direct football” won’t help because opponents can deal with that easily.
My biggest concern is that Bafana Bafana struggle to score goals.
It’s either our strikers are goal-shy or are not fed enough goal-scoring opportunities by the midfielders.
Be that as it may, as a South African compatriot I can only hope for the best as I sit in my arm chair doing what I know best, namely to criticise poor performance by any team at the tournament, including Bafana Bafana.
Bring it back home Bafana!
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