BAFANA Bafana coach Gordon Igesund still has a lot of work to do ahead of the 2013 African Nations Cup after the national team were beaten 1-0 by Zambia at a poorly attended Nelson Mandela Challenge match at Soccer City on Wednesday night.
The only goal of the match was scored by Collins Mbesuma after the Orlando Pirates striker beat bemused Bafana goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune with a stunning strike in the 64th minute.
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| Zambian Team |
Boasting a squad that was teeming with players who have either played in the Premier Soccer League or are still based in South Africa, the solid Zambians showed why they are continental champions and gave Igesund a taste of what to expect in the African Nations Cup next year.
Observers began questioning whether Igesund will be able to achieve the mandate set out by his South African Football Association (Safa) employers after the laboured performance here on Wednesday night.
Safa mandated Igesund to reach at least the semifinals of the showpiece to be held in South Africa between January 19 and February 10. Based on Wednesday night’s performance, Igesund has his work cut out after his first home defeat since getting the job in June.
The Bafana coach had said he was close to finalising his Nations Cup squad and was 80% to the good after playing friendly matches against Brazil, Mozambique, Poland and Kenya.
He might have to revisit some decisions because there are players who do not deserve to be in this national team.
The Bafana rearguard, in particular, was very poor and they should consider themselves fortunate that Mbesuma’s sole strike was the only goal of the match.
The referee should have awarded a penalty with four minutes to go after Bafana captain Bongani Khumalo appeared to bring down Mbesuma inside the area.
Zambia captain Christopher Katongo had talked up a good fight on the eve of this encounter and he made good on his promises, giving the Bafana rearguard plenty of anxious moments.
Igesund looked a wreck on the Bafana bench for most of the match and he will be well aware that he still needs to work on his defence.
Khune was exposed on numerous occasions and if this squad goes to the Nations Cup, they will not make it past the group stages.
• Meanwhile the South African Football Association (Safa) quietly changed leadership at the top on Wednesday night after Dennis Mumble replaced Robin Petersen as acting CEO following the organisation’s day-long national executive committee meeting on Wednesday.
While neither Safa president Kirsten Nematandani nor Petersen confirmed the change, two high-ranking national executive committee members told Business Day that the decision was effective from Wednesday night.
"Dennis is effectively our new acting CEO and Robin will be in charge of our business unit," a senior executive committee member told Business Day.
Petersen made a presentation at Soccer City on Wednesday night shortly before Bafana Bafana played Zambia and gave insight into what will be known as the Safa Development Agency.
He will head the new structure and it will be governed by a board of trustees, and business people will act as patrons.
Development would be central to the project and Petersen acknowledged that the current poor state of the national team was one of the reasons behind the plans.
While Nematandani insisted that Petersen was still Safa CEO, he said: "Of course in the process of restructuring should there be a need to have other adjustments, that is up to us as the association."
Source : bdlive.co.za
Tags : bafana, bafana bafana, mandela challenge, 2012 mandela challenge , south africa vs zambia,
