Recent events in football encourage me to say with a good deal of confidence that I’m now a self-styled expert on the beautiful game.
I suppose one does eventually become an expert when they’ve loved the game for as long as they can remember.
I appreciate that the many years of following the game have taught me valuable lessons about it and that one of the more important ones is the qualities that make for a great team.
I don’t believe that we as the football community fully appreciate that the ability to take full advantage of weak opposition makes for such a team.
This is why I love that this has been proven on more than one occasion in recent times.
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Last weekend saw our beloved Banyana Banyana go down 4-1 to Australia in a friendly match in London. It was Banyana’s third consecutive loss after having made history with their maiden African Women’s Cup of Nations (Awcon) title in July.
They also lost to Brazil twice in the space of three days last month – the aggregate score being 9-0 in that two-match series.
But it comes as no surprise to me. Not only because Banyana played against some of the best teams in the world, but also because they have indeed shown signs of weakness even when they were winning.
I complained to colleagues during the Awcon that Banyana didn’t play well in many of those games, good as their results were.
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One of their group-stage games was against Burundi, which they won 3-0, having had no less than 18 shots on target! That’s a poor conversion rate by any standards.
I argued then that they should have scored more goals to prove just how lethal they can be in front of the goal. And seeing recent events can only be described as the chickens coming home to roost.
By contrast, Mamelodi Sundowns proved that it is indeed only great teams that know how to blow lowly opposition away on Sunday.
They thumped little-known La Passé from the Seychelles 7-0 in their African Champions League second-round first leg at Loftus.
The teams meet again tonight at the same venue, in what will surely now be a mere formality for the Brazilians.
Coach Rulani Mokwena complimented his side’s ‘professional performance’ afterwards. It should be very little wonder why Sundowns continue to be as dominant as they are.
