I am very pleased that our national team, Bafana Bafana, are back to their winning ways.
I am very pleased that our national team, Bafana Bafana, are back to their winning ways.
It was gratifying to see them play with so much gusto and passion on Saturday. For them to perform with such verve in front of a very noisy and enthusiastic KwaZulu-Natal crowd was quite a spectacle to behold, albeit through television in faraway Cape Town.
Once again, well done guys, keep the momentum going as this definitely will go a long way towards engendering confidence in the overall preparations for the World Cup.
That the team scored four goals in a competitive international on our way to the African Cup, in a season where the Castle Premiership produced a leading goalscorer with 15 goals, will restore confidence that our players still have an appetite for goals.
Which explains why, before the game, the leading South African goalscorer, Benni McCarthy, was again in the news for refusing to play for the national team.
The young fellow is asking for an apology for slights from the past and none seems forthcoming.
Should there be any? I don't really know, except to say that before we get too carried away with the win against Chad, let us work on drafting in all the best talent we can.
Benni may be tempestuous, but, man, he is banging them in over there in England.
I believe, as coach Alberto Parreira and his staff do, that we should find the means to bring Benni back. If we accuse him of arrogance, let us also not commit the same fault.
Going forward, we have to strengthen the team and to make develop a voracious appetite for goals and success.
A winning team in 2010 is one of the key imperatives for a successful World Cup.
Besides the issue of Benni, the professional football clubs in the country should also start developing and producing world-class players for the very same mission.
That a player from another country, who has not kicked a football in this country for over four months should romp home with the leading goalscorer title is a sad comment on the clubs and their approach to the game.
Which brings me to another point about our preparations for 2010 and that is the role and behaviour of the fans in 2010.
Besides obviously all having to support our national pride, Bafana Bafana, we also have to psychologically and practically start getting used to sitting in seats allocated to us. This is going to be a requirement during the World Cup, that we use only those seats allocated to us.
Vuvuzela or no vuvuzela, we are going to be expected to behave that way in the stadium. I know and trust that we want to be great hosts and thus would not mind extending that courtesy to travelling football fans.
What do you think?
l Tim Modise is the 2010 World Cup SA Local Organising Committee's head of communications. - For your suggestions and queries e-mail him on TimM@2010saloc.com
Bafana have to keep the momentum going
I am very pleased that our national team, Bafana Bafana, are back to their winning ways.
I am very pleased that our national team, Bafana Bafana, are back to their winning ways.
It was gratifying to see them play with so much gusto and passion on Saturday. For them to perform with such verve in front of a very noisy and enthusiastic KwaZulu-Natal crowd was quite a spectacle to behold, albeit through television in faraway Cape Town.
Once again, well done guys, keep the momentum going as this definitely will go a long way towards engendering confidence in the overall preparations for the World Cup.
That the team scored four goals in a competitive international on our way to the African Cup, in a season where the Castle Premiership produced a leading goalscorer with 15 goals, will restore confidence that our players still have an appetite for goals.
Which explains why, before the game, the leading South African goalscorer, Benni McCarthy, was again in the news for refusing to play for the national team.
The young fellow is asking for an apology for slights from the past and none seems forthcoming.
Should there be any? I don't really know, except to say that before we get too carried away with the win against Chad, let us work on drafting in all the best talent we can.
Benni may be tempestuous, but, man, he is banging them in over there in England.
I believe, as coach Alberto Parreira and his staff do, that we should find the means to bring Benni back. If we accuse him of arrogance, let us also not commit the same fault.
Going forward, we have to strengthen the team and to make develop a voracious appetite for goals and success.
A winning team in 2010 is one of the key imperatives for a successful World Cup.
Besides the issue of Benni, the professional football clubs in the country should also start developing and producing world-class players for the very same mission.
That a player from another country, who has not kicked a football in this country for over four months should romp home with the leading goalscorer title is a sad comment on the clubs and their approach to the game.
Which brings me to another point about our preparations for 2010 and that is the role and behaviour of the fans in 2010.
Besides obviously all having to support our national pride, Bafana Bafana, we also have to psychologically and practically start getting used to sitting in seats allocated to us. This is going to be a requirement during the World Cup, that we use only those seats allocated to us.
Vuvuzela or no vuvuzela, we are going to be expected to behave that way in the stadium. I know and trust that we want to be great hosts and thus would not mind extending that courtesy to travelling football fans.
What do you think?
l Tim Modise is the 2010 World Cup SA Local Organising Committee's head of communications. - For your suggestions and queries e-mail him on TimM@2010saloc.com