ARMCHAIR CRITIC: NOW GO AND KILL THE PHARAOS BAFANA!

Bafana Bafana squad that represent South Africa at the AFCON in Morocco photo supplied

I think we must congratulate Bafana Bafana for playing their hearts out to beat a stubborn Angolan national soccer team whose intention was apparently to secure a draw against us.

The over robust Angolans were simply there for the taking and in my opinion Bafana should have buried them under an avalanche of 4 or 5 goals.

And Ronwen Willliams was silly to allow himself to be beaten at the near post after the Angolans improvised a free kick near the penalty box to score.

I am concerned that Bafana didn’t show enough aggression in the game while the Angolans showed unbridled intention to bulldoze us out of the pitch.
I must commend Orlando Pirates duo Mbekezeli Mbokazi and Tshepang Moremi for their sterling performance against Angola.

It is a pity that Mbokazi’s left-footed pile-driver hit the post and if it had gone into the net, then it would have been rated as one of the best goals of the tournament.

I am also impressed that Tshepang Moremi has telepathically heeded my call that Bafana Bafana must out-dribble their opponents in order to score goals.

It is a pity that his goal was ruled offside by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), which in and of itself must not be blamed because in the final analysis the weak-minded, biased and therefore spineless referee made the final decision as to stupidly rule Moremi’s goal as an offside.

To the Bafana Bafana team I would like to say courage…courage bafowethu!

Now as we go into the match against Egypt on Friday, whose team goes by the archaic, ancient and outdated Biblical nickname “The Pharaohs,” I am saying the following to Bafana Bafana:

“Now go and kill the Pharaohs Bafana.”

Don’t show any respect to players like Mo Salah who play in the English Premier League.

As a parting shot, it is worth mentioning that former president Thabo Mbeki, during his presidential tenure, ignorantly decried the nickname “Bafana Bafana.”

His philosophy dictates that the South African men’s national soccer team must be given the nickname of animals, just like all other national teams in Africa which use identities of animals to validate themselves.

The Botswana national team is nicknamed “The Zebras,” the Nigerian team is nicknamed “The Super Eagles,” and the Cote de Ivor team is nicknamed “The Elephants.”.

Now if those African teams have chosen to identify themselves as animals, it is not our prerogative to follow suti, because as South Africans we regard ourselves as human beings and not animals where dog eats dog.

The nickname “Bafana Bafana” was coined by Sowetan newspaper journalists Victor Mecoamere and Sello Rabothata back in 1992, who did so out of their love and knowledge of football.

I doubt whether Thabo Mbeki who critised the nickname has ever kicked a soccer ball in his life.

Those who played football in their lives will tell you that the nickname “Bafana Bafana” is a very affectionate name which means very young, energetic boys who can defeat opponents who are older than them in terms of age.