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Only one team for us

THE World Cup draw is over and done with and, in the estimation of national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, the time for empty words has gone and the only acceptable means of communication from now on can only be hard work.

THE World Cup draw is over and done with and, in the estimation of national team coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, the time for empty words has gone and the only acceptable means of communication from now on can only be hard work.

While our being drawn with former titleholders Uruguay as well as France drew gasps of dismay, this could be a blessing in disguise.

We all have to come to grips with our real status on the football stage.

And what better way to prove it than on the biggest stage of all?

To the average jaded South African, who has witnessed our team failing to beat the most pedestrian of oppositions, the odds are pretty stacked against us.

And some have opined that the onus lies with Bafana to get us interested again. But at the end of the day embracing this team means embracing our identity and nationality.

And while we might admire - and rightly so - the excellence of teams like Brazil, Italy and Spain, there can only be one team for us.

Parreira also said the only request he gets from South Africans he interacts with while going about his daily business is a plea to make the country proud.

Whether Bafana Bafana has it in them to deliver come June 11 2010 when they face Mexico in their first match, remains to be seen.

But if we do not proudly stand behind what's ours, no one else will!

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