By: Mbalenhle Zondi
It was a sad day for most South Africans last Saturday as Bafana Bafana lost to Mali and subsequently crashed out of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations. This killed any hopes the nation had of Bafana advancing further in the tournament and hopefully even emulating the class of 96.
It was a sad day for most South Africans last Saturday as Bafana Bafana lost to Mali and subsequently crashed out of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations. This killed any hopes the nation had of Bafana advancing further in the tournament and hopefully even emulating the class of 96.
I was disappointed that Bafana lost especially after taking the lead early on and dominating most of the first half. In the second half they became relaxed and gave Mali too much space and as a result they were severely punished; the cracks in our defence were exposed (with Siboniso Gaxa and Bongani Khumalo being the main culprits), if it wasn’t for goalkeeper, Itumeleng Kune’s, brilliant saves the nation would’ve been embarrassed. I particularly like the partnership between Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Dean Furman; they compliment each other well (hint hint Mr Motaung). Siyabonga Sangweni also played well, which is not surprising at all because I’ve always said that he is one of the most under-rated players in the PSL and its good that he is finally getting the recognition that he deserves! With all that said Bafana Bafana really played with their hearts on their sleeves and went down like true soldiers, I hope that they keep this momentum and hopefully qualify for the FIFA 2014 World Cup.
I just had to share this picture LOL: a tussle between Reneilwe Letsolonyane and Seydou Keita
In other news.....
Nigeria are through to the finals after thrashing Mali 4-1 EISH! They will face Burkina Faso who, against all odds made it through to the finals by beating Ghana 3-2 on penalties. I mean who could forget that controversial game? The referee was just appalling to say the least! I never thought that a referee could be so blatantly biased towards another team. I am happy that the ‘Burkinababe’ overcame all these obstacles and for the first time ever qualified for the Afcon finals. The referee has also been suspended by CAF for his atrocious performance *air-punch*. I hope he gets banned for life, because such acts spoil the beautiful game of soccer!
Burkina Faso forward, Astride Bance, will play a key role in attack
(by the way, whats the deal with African football players and these 'interesting' hairstyles?)
Truly speaking: regardless of the refereeing, Ghana really didn’t deserve to go through to the finals (yes, I said it!). Throughout this tournament they have NOT played like the Ghana that we know, they have become very complacent and (in my opinion) only advanced through to the knock-out stages by sheer luck. I hope that they learn from this and pull up their socks, because it’s really disappointing to see a team of Ghana’s calibre playing the way they did in this tournament.
Nigerian striker, Emmanuel Emenike, has had a sterling performance; will he help the super eagles lift the trophy?
Anyway; the final is tomorrow and the Super Eagles look like firm favourites to take the cup. However, I don’t think that we should rule out Burkina Faso, they have really played with their hearts on their sleeves throughout this tournament and have shown that they are hungry for this. Burkina Faso come into this final as underdogs and it would be nice if they won the cup and mark a dramatic ending to a very dramatic AFCON tournament......wena uhamba nobani?????
Which team/country do you think will win the 2013 Orange Africa Cup of Nations? Leave me a comment on this blog entry or hit me up on twitter: @Enhle_Mbalee
