The recent World Cup qualifiers, when Bafana Bafana made it through with almost an entire team of locally based players, served as a reminder that our local football continues to be the envy of many across the continent.
Domestic players have carried the national team to next year’s World Cup in North America, showcasing the competitive nature of the PSL at a time when the league has so many outside competitors seeking to eat into the local market.
But while all this is commendable, there are a few aspects of the local game that need to be completely weeded out for it to truly close the gap with global brands. One of these is showboating, as highlighted this week by Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, who correctly called it “nonsense”.
He was disheartened by some Pirates players clowning in the last 15 minutes of their Carling Knockout quarterfinal against Magesi on Tuesday, led by Sipho Mbule, who exchanged gimmicky passes and performed some “useless tricks” with teammates.
So disgusted was Ouaddou that he publicly shamed his players, and warned their theatrics belong in a “circus”, not in a football pitch. Naturally, Ouaddou’s comments have triggered those who support this “nonsense” as part of the domestic game. Like they’ve argued before, Ouaddou’s dismay is seen as another attempt to “restrict” the flair of SA’s kasi football.
We are told shibobos and tsamayas are the cornerstone of the domestic game. But the time has come to admit the worthlessness of showboating. It doesn’t belong in the professional game.
Yes, many years ago when SA football was suffering in the doldrums of apartheid segregation, it would have been acceptable for a player to do a meaningless turnaround with the ball, much to the excitement of fans. I remember vividly Doctor Khumalo getting a yellow card in the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations for standing on the ball.
So disgusted was Ouaddou that he publicly shamed his players, and warned their theatrics belong in a “circus”, not in a football pitch.
— Nkareng Matshe
But times have changed now and we need to move on. The PSL is a billion-rand industry, and professionalism must be maintained at all levels – even when we know the administration is still a long way off. On the pitch at least, we need coaches to drill into players that they must eliminate meaningless tricks.
As Ouaddou pointed out, Magesi managed to pull one goal back late on, and with more time, those gimmicks could have been costly for Pirates. Also, a professional environment should not have room for such: Magesi beat Pirates at Orlando last year and did not resort to showboating, even when they could so easily have done so. They respected their opponents but, sadly, Pirates didn’t return the favour this time.
World football is teeming with talented players full of trickery, but you hardly see them rubbing this in the faces of opponents.
PSL players must understand this is not 1989. The game has changed massively. We have made advances in technology, broadcasting, health and many other aspects of the game.
We cannot sully this by deploying stunts that worked when we could barely watch the game on TV. Hopefully, Ouaddou stamped his authority on that Bucs dressing room, and we will never again see those layers disrespecting opponents and, primarily, the game.
After all, some of the Pirates players – like Mbule – will be expected to carry the country at the World Cup next year, and we don’t want them to embarrass us on the world stage with amateurish, pointless stunts.
Sowetan
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