How can our eyes not well up with tears of joy? Banyana Banyana are up there at the top of the world’s football firmament against the best national teams of the world.
And this with national football administrative odds stacked against them, and the smooth running of our football in shambles.
Yet, as we write, the Motherland rejoices, and places unpleasant administrative episodes on the back burner for another more appropriate time.
For now, we enjoy the moment and rejoice, even as treacherous headwinds and choppy seas beckon, what with our national association, the South African Football Association (Safa), continually accentuating administrative fault lines.
We slog on to celebrate our moment of football glory despite all the administrative bungles.
But this is a topic for another day. Our moment of joy today is Banyana Banyana’s great football skills – and fortitude.
Of course, we should not get ahead of ourselves.
The final victory for all competitors is still days away.
The first hurdle to cross begins today. We square up against Netherlands, not an easy squad to play, teeming with lots of international experience.
In our encounter with them last year, we crashed, losing 5-1.
Big score and humiliation, you might say. However, using the 5-1 defeat as a measuring yardstick could be rather misleading.
On the day Banyana performed to the best of their ability, but other negative factors prevailed, and we lost.
But if you use the huge margin score and exclude other factors, the defeat was a humiliation.
Yet, this time around, as you read this leader, Banyana Banyana may still be in the field of play in this Fifa World Cup knockout stage of the tournament.
The motivation will be different. The girls want it badly.
They were gutsy in their last encounters against various top-class squads of the world, including Italy, whom they beat resoundingly, showing their grit in achieving the feat.
As South Africans we will be glued to our television screens, thousands of miles away from the action, urging our girls on to produce an A-game to snatch a victory that will, if our gods permit, bring much happiness to our country.
This is our country. It can’t all be gloom and doom.
Politics, especially in a country such as ours, tend to distort all reality and create an impression of impeding Armageddon.
Victory today by Banyana Banyana must create for us a sentiment that our country is not about to crash into a pit of oblivion.
Of course, that does not mean political and economic difficulties do not require to be resolved. They do.
The time is now to find a solution to resolve them.
But today, as we go about doing our business, Banyana Banyana’s victory will be a game changer for the beautiful people of our beloved Africa.
Go girls and bring home the bacon.
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