After all, they are representing one of the most football-crazy countries in the world. This is a country with arguably the best-run league in the continent, which ranks among the best even in the world. How much a good run for Bafana in this tournament would mean for our people. A lot is expected from our team because football, unlike rugby, is the number one sport in our country. Our passion is so much that we sometimes overestimate our quality and measure ourselves against some of the best teams in the world. Talk about punching above our weight!
While we all want to see Bafana do well in Ivory Coast, we have to be cautiously optimistic of our chances because, truth be told, we’ve lost a lot of ground when it comes to continental football, both at national and club level! When you look at our teams competing in the CAF inter-club competitions and our national team representing us, you realise that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done.
It can’t be that Mamelodi Sundowns is the only South African team that continues to consistently push the envelope in the continent. They have been at it for almost a decade now and not just making numbers but being considered as serious contenders. The more teams we have in that space, the better the chances of our national team doing well. The more players we export to the top leagues in the world, the better the chances of our national team doing well beyond just qualifying for major events. That’s the only time we can start talking about our team being one of the best in the world. That’s the only time that we can raise our expectations to the level of measuring ourselves against anyone.