South Africa's Katlego Mashego, left, vies for the ball with New Zealand's Andy Boyens during their Confederations Cup Group A soccer match at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa, Wednesday, June 17, 2009. South Africa won 2-0. AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell
Granted, it was against a hopelessly outclassed New Zealand, who appear to be doing more damage than good to their World Cup qualification hopes, but what a sight to behold the second half performance from South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, or ‘the boys’ as it translates, was.
The confidence up thanks to two goals from shadow striker Bernard Parker, one in each half, the party tricks came out in the final half-hour, and when Kaiser’s left-sided trickster Siphiwe Tshabalala (pronounced Cha-ba-la-la) came on with 10 or so minutes to go, the showmanship was upped a level or two.
I’ve been hearing a fair bit about Tshabalala from a South African friend who keeps a keen eye on matters back home, and it’s easy to see why the fans absolutely adore him.
Had it not been for the excellent work from Victory’s Glen Moss and some over-zealous offside calls in the second period, it really might have been five or six, or more.
The fact the Bafana weren’t able to capitalise on their superiority might ultimately come back to bite them, for Iraq turned around their disappointing first display with a very polished and organised defensive job on Spain to only concede one goal.
Who gets through to the semis along with Spain might ultimately come down to how much damage the Iraqi’s, who have hitherto shown little attacking intent, can do against the Kiwis, sadly one of the worst and most disorganised international sides I can remember seeing at such an event.
While Parker grabbed the headlines, the star of this Bafana performance was Everton’s Steven Pienaar, who pulled the strings from his advanced midfield role and kept the team ticking with his wonderful vision and quick feet.
Schooled in the Ajax way, with its emphasis on touch, I’ve been a long-time admirer, from the days earlier this decade when he burst into the Ajax 11 alongside the likes of Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder and Zlatan Ibrahimovich.
That team was young but played some sensational football, both domestically and in the Champions League, and Pienaar was earmarked as a star of the future.
His next move, to Germany, didn’t prove as fruitful, and like many talented kids, he looked like he might fall off the radar.
But ability doesn’t fade, and once he toughened up mentally, he was soon over at Everton, where this season he dished up some sparkling stuff in a midfield which mixes the toughness of Cahill and Fellaini with the guile of Pienaar and Arteta.
At 27, he might be peaking just in time to wow the world next year.
Indeed, it would be wonderful if the Bafana take the confidence from this second half display, go on to make the semi finals, build on it throughout the next 12 months and put a smile on the nation and the worlds face next year.
The scenes of them walking to the dressing room, pre-game, singing in unison, were something else.
On the on-field evidence here, they are sitting on an absolute gold-mine with players of the technical calibre of Parker, Pienaar, Teko Modise, left back Tsepo Masilela and the two subs, Tshabalala and Katlego Mashebo.
The great Doctor Khumalo would have watched it, and loved it.
Throw Benni McCarthy into the mix, to finish off some of the fancy footwork, and next year’s party will be special, if it comes off.
It could really go either way, but for the sake of the world and the rainbow nation, let’s hope it’s more of what we saw in Rustenburg.
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