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Comment: Rob Houwing, Sport24 chief writer
Cape Town – Don’t get me wrong: it’s encouraging for South Africa at this juncture that the national soccer team are building up some sort of head of steam.
GALLERY: Bafana Bafana v Colombia
Ten matches without defeat is certainly a confidence-booster for Bafana Bafana ahead of the herculean challenge of the World Cup.
Hopefully that record will be extended to a dozen against Guatemala (ranked 115 in the world, so defeat in Polokwane on Monday would rather send the budding pack of cards tumbling) and Denmark, before the protracted silly season of friendlies finally ends.
But I can’t quite bring myself to share the view from some rose-tinted glasses that they were “impressive” in downing Colombia 2-1 at a vibrant Soccer City on Thursday night.
We must not delude ourselves that Bafana are set to be some kind of World Cup “force” on the back of these low-worth, often highly deceptive build-up encounters.
Potentially competitive underdogs, boosted by increasingly fervent home support? That’s probably more like it.
Still, a culture that involves not losing can be a handy device: unheralded sides have shown at World Cups before that they are capable of sneaking into the second round in second place in their group: you just need to nick a surprise 1-0 here, a 1-1 there … and it may just be a cheeky little passport!
Often a bit of luck is involved, and I thought that was precisely what happened for Bafana against the credible, 34th-ranked Colombia.
The South Americans were shaking their heads afterwards, more in an incensed than disconsolate fashion, about how they’d ended up on the receiving end when stalemate would arguably have been a more fitting result.
In a rather disjointed, all-penalties match, they’d been harshly treated by the Kenyan referee, especially when Teko Modise got the undeserved luxury of a retaken spot-kick after his first near-feeble effort -- off one of those show-boaty, staggered run-ups -- had been comfortably saved.
Nevertheless, South Africa are making some progress, even it is more in the departments of resolve and resilience at this stage than in outright skill and open-play thrust.
Their dead-ball game is much better now, but they still don’t give the impression that they’re able to create things consistently or even retain possession for long when the game has periods of good flow.
When kingpin midfielder Steven Pienaar, he of that amazing motor and unerring zest, entered the fray for the second half, some belated order was brought to Bafana’s previously helter-skelter shape and approach.
This was also a timely fixture for Bafana in terms of being exposed to a fairly hardened, rough-and-tumble team with an edge in the physical stakes yet not able to rattle the host nation too much – that was a real plus, I felt.
There were some commendable body-on-the-line moments from South African players, too, notably goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune who got badly shaken up in a clash with Colombian striker Jackson Martinez while making a vital clearing punch, and a wonderful last-gasp tackle from Tsepo Masilela to stave off peril just before the half-time whistle.
Mind you, reserve goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, eight years Khune’s senior and demonstrating his experience, was a model of alertness and reflex ability as he, too, got a solid slice of action in the second period.
Several of the Bafana players look quite nicely toned after the various camps across the globe under the supervision of Carlos Alberto Parreira, if not actually imposing in stature -- which could yet be a problem when they face some rugged and tall opponents in the World Cup.
Speaking of “imposing”, that brings us to Benni McCarthy. The controversial striker got about half an hour of game-time at last, and with desperately limited opportunities on the ball did produce a deft touch or two.
But why, oh why, after all these months of “Bulging Benni” ridicule, does he still seem incapable of off-loading his clearly excess baggage around the hips and belly?
Certainly he looked more sumo wrestler than ambitious World Cup striker when he took his shirt off after the final whistle, and it does give Parreira an unwanted, ongoing dilemma.
Otherwise, though, there are some measured steps in decent directions for his charges. And that’s a more satisfying state of affairs than a few months ago.
Cape Town – Don’t get me wrong: it’s encouraging for South Africa at this juncture that the national soccer team are building up some sort of head of steam.
GALLERY: Bafana Bafana v Colombia
Ten matches without defeat is certainly a confidence-booster for Bafana Bafana ahead of the herculean challenge of the World Cup.
Hopefully that record will be extended to a dozen against Guatemala (ranked 115 in the world, so defeat in Polokwane on Monday would rather send the budding pack of cards tumbling) and Denmark, before the protracted silly season of friendlies finally ends.
But I can’t quite bring myself to share the view from some rose-tinted glasses that they were “impressive” in downing Colombia 2-1 at a vibrant Soccer City on Thursday night.
We must not delude ourselves that Bafana are set to be some kind of World Cup “force” on the back of these low-worth, often highly deceptive build-up encounters.
Potentially competitive underdogs, boosted by increasingly fervent home support? That’s probably more like it.
Still, a culture that involves not losing can be a handy device: unheralded sides have shown at World Cups before that they are capable of sneaking into the second round in second place in their group: you just need to nick a surprise 1-0 here, a 1-1 there … and it may just be a cheeky little passport!
Often a bit of luck is involved, and I thought that was precisely what happened for Bafana against the credible, 34th-ranked Colombia.
The South Americans were shaking their heads afterwards, more in an incensed than disconsolate fashion, about how they’d ended up on the receiving end when stalemate would arguably have been a more fitting result.
In a rather disjointed, all-penalties match, they’d been harshly treated by the Kenyan referee, especially when Teko Modise got the undeserved luxury of a retaken spot-kick after his first near-feeble effort -- off one of those show-boaty, staggered run-ups -- had been comfortably saved.
Nevertheless, South Africa are making some progress, even it is more in the departments of resolve and resilience at this stage than in outright skill and open-play thrust.
Their dead-ball game is much better now, but they still don’t give the impression that they’re able to create things consistently or even retain possession for long when the game has periods of good flow.
When kingpin midfielder Steven Pienaar, he of that amazing motor and unerring zest, entered the fray for the second half, some belated order was brought to Bafana’s previously helter-skelter shape and approach.
This was also a timely fixture for Bafana in terms of being exposed to a fairly hardened, rough-and-tumble team with an edge in the physical stakes yet not able to rattle the host nation too much – that was a real plus, I felt.
There were some commendable body-on-the-line moments from South African players, too, notably goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune who got badly shaken up in a clash with Colombian striker Jackson Martinez while making a vital clearing punch, and a wonderful last-gasp tackle from Tsepo Masilela to stave off peril just before the half-time whistle.
Mind you, reserve goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, eight years Khune’s senior and demonstrating his experience, was a model of alertness and reflex ability as he, too, got a solid slice of action in the second period.
Several of the Bafana players look quite nicely toned after the various camps across the globe under the supervision of Carlos Alberto Parreira, if not actually imposing in stature -- which could yet be a problem when they face some rugged and tall opponents in the World Cup.
Speaking of “imposing”, that brings us to Benni McCarthy. The controversial striker got about half an hour of game-time at last, and with desperately limited opportunities on the ball did produce a deft touch or two.
But why, oh why, after all these months of “Bulging Benni” ridicule, does he still seem incapable of off-loading his clearly excess baggage around the hips and belly?
Certainly he looked more sumo wrestler than ambitious World Cup striker when he took his shirt off after the final whistle, and it does give Parreira an unwanted, ongoing dilemma.
Otherwise, though, there are some measured steps in decent directions for his charges. And that’s a more satisfying state of affairs than a few months ago.
