Initially I felt watching Bafana Bafana’s opening game against Angola with the rest of the boys, as we normally do with big games, was not a good idea.
I had a good mind to sit alone in my dark and glum shack, thanks to Eishkom’s load sh#tting, and watch the match from my 31cm black and white car battery powered TV. The only reason I wanted to be away from everyone was because Bafana’s performance last year did not inspire confidence.
I thought locking myself in that miserable mkhukhu would ensure that no one would be exposed to my usual madness when the home side miss chances that a blind man would probably just put away with their walking stick.
After all, there are hardly expensive decorations in there; in case of some frustrations, my worn out pots and enamel mugs were going to be at the receiving end of my kung fu kicks.
Everything changed when I received an invitation from the SABC to attend a public viewing of the match which they had organised for a number of us somewhere in Jozi. Knowing the SABC, I had doubts but a few of my colleagues coaxed me into coming along, assuring me that if the do was not happening as expected, we would relocate to the nearest sports bar and catch the action there.
I dragged myself to the venue and, to my surprise, an SABC organised function actually turned out to be a huge success. That rare quality displayed by the public broadcaster seemingly rubbed off on Bafana in Ghana as they produced one of the most spirited performances since readmission to international soccer.
For the first time in a while, everyone in the house seemed to be rallying behind the team as it became clear from the first whistle that the boys were ready to die with their boots on.
And belief is that if coach Carlos Alberto Parreira can get his troops to up a gear against Tunisia tonight, a second round berth will almost be guaranteed. And there are lots of reasons to beat the north African nation as they also contributed to our early departure from Egypt 2006, inflicting a 2-0 defeat on us.
How the rest of that miserable campaign unfolded is well-documented, but, this time, the country can take solace in the fact that we have one goal in the bag already after one game, rather than the wooden spoon we got under Ted Dumitru’s clueless bunch two years ago.
Hats off to Parreira, then, who has been preaching the gospel about building for World Cup 2010. I think what happened on Wednesday was the first clear evidence that his philosophy might be starting to take shape.
In terms of players, it was clear that some did not perform to the standards they have set. In particular, Teko Modise and Surprise Moriri seemed to think that they were playing against some first division team, or the hopeless Thanda Royal Zulu, rather than one of the most improved sides on the continent.
Since there is no time to nurse egos and teach grown-ups how to take games of this nature seriously, Parreira should retire the duo and have a serious chat with Benson Mhlongo ahead of tonight's game.
Otherwise, all looks kosher and for Pete’s sake, let’s all rally behind the team today.
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