Come on Bafana, it’s time to make us happy

Phumo, who died in 2011, was a lovely man, never short of a smile even in difficult circumstances, and the 2004 Afcon finals were difficult for Bafana, as they won their first game against Benin, but were then hammered 4-0 by Nigeria, and though they drew their last group match with eventual finalists Morocco, they were out before the quarterfinals.

Bafana had reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the previous four tournaments, winning the Nations Cup, of course, in 1996. Since 2004, they have reached the quarterfinals only once in eight editions, in 2013 when Gordon Igesund’s side reached the last eight as hosts, losing to Mali on penalties in Durban.

The mighty have fallen, so much so that even qualifying for an Africa Cup of Nations is now a major doubt when it comes to Bafana, who have made only one of the last four finals they have had to qualify for.

Bafana’s qualification for the 2019 edition, meanwhile, remains in the balance going into their final Group E match on Sunday. Even in a tournament that has now been expanded to 24 teams, with the top two teams in each group certain to go to Egypt, Bafana are not sure of making it just yet.

The national team are back in Tunisia, and again, in an interesting piece of trivia, they are not playing Tunisia, who they have, in fact, never faced in a competitive game away from home.

Instead, Libya are the opponents, playing their home game in Sfax because of the civil unrest in their own country.

Bafana only need a point to progress, while Libya must win. South Africa have to be favourites, though it is embarrassing that they are even in this situation, particularly after Baxter’s men won their opening Group E qualifier in Nigeria.

A clumsy goalless draw at home to Libya in Durban was a stumbling block, while a goalless draw in the Seychelles was a calamity, and a result that should never have happened, however loud Baxter’s complaints about the pitch.

As if to prove the ridiculousness of Baxter’s comments, Libya went and won 8-1 on the same pitch in their last qualifier in November, a result that along with Bafana’s draw at home to Nigeria, set up this showdown.

Baxter thus has one more chance, surely, to keep his job as national team head coach. A defeat to Libya would surely be his final match in charge of Bafana, and while a draw would scrape South Africa into Egypt 2019, it would not exactly be the most glorious route into the Land of the Pharaohs. Baxter could do with a comprehensive win to reassert the fact that he is the right man to lead Bafana forward.

He has a talented enough squad at his disposal to beat Libya, even if the North Africans are a dangerous outfit, as they proved in the draw at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

My expectation is that Bafana will make it to Egypt 2019, but it is hard to be overly confident, given that the national team have so routinely failed to meet expectations in recent years.

As Stanton Fredericks points out in his column opposite, if Bafana are to make an impact in terms of qualifying for the Fifa World Cup again, they surely have to first make their mark at continental level.

All that remains is for me to encourage readers to enter our Phakaaathi Private Fantasy League, for a chance to win great monthly prizes, which you can do by following the rules in the competition advert on Page 7.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.