Listening to Raymond Hack on TV news, I realised how desperate the situation is. The World Cup is around the corner and there is no semblance of a team that is technically or tactically ready for battle-hardened teams.

Listening to Raymond Hack on TV news, I realised how desperate the situation is. The World Cup is around the corner and there is no semblance of a team that is technically or tactically ready for battle-hardened teams.

Hack claims that not qualifying for the Afcon will give us the time to concentrate on friendlies against top footballing nations. But the pressures of playing friendlies and competitive matches are very different.

The Afcon would have prepared the players mentally for the rigours of international competition. He also claims that the Confederations Cup will help in the latter. But the Afcon is more prestigious and arguably tougher due to the adverse conditions that teams experience on the continent.

You can have the best coach in the world, but if you don't have good players it makes no difference. There is a lack of ambition to reach the pinnacle of African football. The focus should be to compete in African tournaments to expose ourselves to the best in Africa.

Safa seems content with mediocrity, but sport at this level is about winning. Seems like as long as they get their fat salaries they could care less. After the World Cup, out with the dead wood. Our football needs a fresh outlook with new people at the top.

Riaz Peer, Witbank