Cameroon have been crowned champions of Africa, Senegal was shocked and Ivory Coast choked, but let’s all move on from Afcon 2017, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Afcon 2017 winners: Cameroon. That’s just about the sum total many South African fans will take away from the continental showpiece, with Bafana Bafana nowhere to be seen. Again. It was interesting to follow Zimbabwe’s ‘progress’, but that too was short-lived despite the Warriors boasting some of the PSL’s finest players.
Many of the football fans I interacted with on social media were trying their best to project the impression that they really cared about the goals, own goals and poor pitches in Gabon, but it was quickly evident how little it mattered. Turn the conversation to the saga of Keagan Dolly’s Sundowns/Montpellier transfer which eventually got across the line, or chat about Paul Pogba’s struggles in the Manchester United midfield and you will see the blood rise and the real emotions fly.
The Indomitable Lions deserve their place in history. They beat the best and did so without eight players who declined the call up to the event only weeks before it kicked off. Egypt too, deserve their share of the post-final whistle praise after advancing to the final before falling short.
Afcon was great, with plenty of stars on show, but without South African representation it will never grip our attention as it should. It is a wonderful tournament and the PSL, rightly or wrongly placed the league on hold in order to pay it the proper attention it deserves. Still, it felt like a pre-season kick-about. No sleep was lost when Ivory Coast were dumped out. In fact, local Manchester United fans were delighted with that result, because it meant Eric Bailly was back at the club sooner than expected. Who cried when Senegal were sent packing? Not a single Liverpool fan, I can assure you, as Sadio Mane was flown back in style to help rebuild the Reds after a disastrous January.
Now, bring up Liverpool’s struggles or Chelsea’s dominance and that’s when you get football-mad fans talking and sharing their opinions, the way it should be.
Safa need to get their act together. They have a duty to bring the focus back to the national team and get some good news going. We have to stop being the outcast of the continent and start showing up regularly at all the major events, without the scandal. Start by ending the Shakes Mashaba controversy and work from there. Run the organisation professionally from tip to toe and disarm any destructive forces. That’s one alternative.
The other is to not allow our weak showing on the international front to bother us and put the PSL on a pedestal above everything else. Make this our number one priority – which would mean never to postpone anything played outside the PSL window – which would allow clubs keep their players away from international duty until the very last minute. Pay the Bafana Bafana coach poorly and don’t even worry about scouting European leagues to look for the best talent to represent the nation. Don’t bring any high-profile teams to play in friendlies and put the Fifa rankings in the back of the mind. That’s alternative number two.
It’s not hard to imagine which option would get the most votes if fans were asked to decide the way forward …
