The advent of social media and easy access to the internet has really turned the world upside down. Every Joe Soap, and the fellow next door, has a smartphone, meaning that he can access the internet – something that can open a world of wonders and also calamities.
Football followers in the country have also jumped on the bandwagon. They are not letting one opportunity pass them by. Whether it’s about Bafana Bafana, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates or Mamelodi Sundowns or even the smaller teams, it does not even matter, they are getting involved with oomph and a lot of zeal.
They are not going to be left out of this moving train – like in the past when only sports commentators, journalists, radio and TV hosts had a voice. They could only participate as mere spectators without platforms to voice their two cents’ worth.
READ: Pitso Mosimane names final Bafana squad for Afcon qualifiers
Fans make their voices heard
As it has been the norm in recent years, a lot of keyboard warriors this week have taken to social media and various platforms such as radio shows to vent their frustration about Bafana Bafana new coach Pitso Mosimane’s squad selection ahead of the matches against Guinea, Eritrea and the friendly against Egypt in Cairo.
What seems to get their goat is that Mosimane has chosen 13 Mamelodi Sundowns and only six from the defending league champions, Pirates. The rest of Mosimane’ squad is a potpourri of overseas-based players, sprinkled with a couple from Durban City and Kaizer Chiefs.
The raging squad debate has caught on like wildfire, and the fans are accusing Mosimane, a former Sundowns coach, of still favouring and having a soft spot for his former club. When you are dealing with supporters, you really got to have a thick skin and ample doses of patience – otherwise you going to go mad faster than you can say crazy.
Dominance of Sundowns and Pirates
Mosimane believes the domination in numbers by Sundowns and Pirates is simply a reflection of where some of the country’s best-performing players currently play. Sundowns have dominated the PSL Betway Premiership for more than a decade, and the Buccaneers have relaunched themselves as one of the best teams in the country once again, just like in the 1970s and 1980’s. So, it makes sense that players from the two red-hot clubs would make up the bulk of the Bafana team.
READ: Jordaan gives Mosimane clear mandate for Bafana Bafana
This is because some players from other teams will be unable to establish themselves at the top of the game or flourish within the required national team’s demands.
History supports club-heavy national teams
Maybe the fans need to be remined that there were eight Barcelona players in Spain’s World Cup winning squad two months ago, the most any club has provided since 1950 – and it won’t change anytime soon. Uruguay and Italy have won the Fifa Wold Cup with a total of nine players from one club, Penarol FC and Juventus respectively.
Current world champions Spain had eight players when they won this year’s World Cup – they also had seven in 2010 when they won their first World Cup in Mzansi.
Mosimane stressed that he cannot pick players to please the fans and make Bafana a representation of the 16 PSL teams.
Performance must drive selection
Mosimane believes Sundowns’ squad presence reflects their performances on the domestic stage. The Pretoria club won Fifa Intercontinental Cup over the weekend, another feather in their collection.
“Those are the ones who win the trophy last week, right? And those are the ones who are also top of their log. So you have to respect that,” Mosimane said.
READ: Bafana Bafana let down by its own supporters
The thing is that Mosimane’s predecessor Hugo Broos faced a similar heatwave. The good thing is that he did not succumb to the fans’ bullying ways and did not select particular players that they wanted.
The tyrants were tired of the hard truths Broos was dishing out to them; they could not absorb more of his straight talk – it felt like a spear in the heart and was wrongly, or deliberately, interpreted as racist.
Some of them, including one Kaizer Chiefs meathead, went as far as denouncing Bafana and supporting all the teams that would play against Bafana. Sadly, this is the kind of thinking from some of our so-called diski expert supporters and influencers.
- The advent of social media and easy access to the internet has really turned the world upside down.
- Every Joe Soap, and the fellow next door, has a smartphone, meaning that he can access the internet – something that can open a world of wonders and also calamities.
- Football followers in the country have also jumped on the bandwagon.
- They are not letting one opportunity pass them by.
- Whether it’s about Bafana Bafana, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates or Mamelodi Sundowns or even the smaller teams, it does not even matter, they are getting involved with oomph and a lot of zeal.
