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| Proof that we can do it |
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| The Legendary Ace Ntsoelengoe( left) and Jomo Sono( right) |
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| The glory days of SA football |
Football was introduced in South Africa through colonialism in the late 19th century. Before 1991 it was badly organised because of the Apartheid laws. It had four football associations, with each one specified according to race.SA was formally expelled by FIFA from world Football in 1976 because of this segregation and it was expected that football in SA would be discontinued to the point of no recovery, but the football players of those days where passionate and hungry for success. Before its expulsion,the SA national Team defeated a full strength Argentina, which included the Legendary Diego Maradona, by a 5-0 margin, but these days when we lose 1-0 to an under-strength Argentina we celebrate as if we gave them a football lesson. During that time it was normal for SA players to go overseas and become legends abroad. Legends like Jomo Sono, Kaizer Motaung and Ace Ntsoelengoe are s recognised legends around the world, but these days a player goes overseas only to warm the bench or change teams like a pair of underwear, only to return home before the age of 30. When our ban was lifted in 1991 we played what I call recovery football because we were losing most of our games by huge margins and we didn’t even qualify for the cup of nations. When we did qualify in 1996, albeit through being hosts, the “class of 96’’ did not shame the country because it was able to lift the Africa cup of Nations trophy against all odds. I say it was against all odds because we had just made our return to football, it was our first time participating in the AFCON and no one gave us a chance. We recently hosted the FIFA world cup, and embarrassingly claimed the tag of being the first host nation to exit the competition in the group stages.Nowadays we can’t even make it past the group stages and qualification is a major obstacle of late. What really happened to our football? Who is to blame? Where should it be fixed? And what can we learn from other countries? And will we ever win the elusive FIFA world cup?.
