Igesund to know his fate GORDON Igesund hung onto his Bafana Bafana job yesterday after his team crashed out of the African Nations Championship (Chan) on Sunday night, but his boss Danny Jordaan left little to the imagination when he revealed the technical team would be reviewed. Jordaan, the South African Football Association president, even discussed the possibility of a name change for the national team in the aftermath of yet another humiliation, while Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula called Bafana a bunch of losers. Bafana, who needed only a draw in their Group A clash to qualify for the quarterfinals of the tournament, were beaten 3-1 at the Cape Town Stadium by Nigeria. While Jordaan was calm in fielding questions regarding Igesunds future, Mbalula did not hold back, calling the national team useless and lacking patriotism. The Safa president lamented Bafanas third-place finish in a group they were expected to win, and further stated that next month Igesund and his technical team will know their fate. We need a comprehensive approach and review of our national team. This tournament showed us that we know very little about African football to the point where we are dismissive of it and the quality of football. This is a very flawed position to take. For some time now we have been considering making changes, even as far as changing the name of the team from Bafana Bafana. When the Brazil team failed in the 2010 World Cup here, it was the end for those players in the national team. Brazil had to start from scratch, but for us here, we have a player who last played for Bafana five years ago making a return. That shows that we are not moving forward, said Jordaan. I just hope the government wont charge Safa for bringing the country into disrepute. But I know they will back us in whatever decision we take. The national executive committee will meet in February to discuss the position of the head coach and the technical team. Mbalula went for the jugular: That performance was a disgrace and what I saw were a bunch of losers. Even I could have saved those two goals Moeneeb Josephs conceded. I love Moeneeb, but I dont know what happened on the night. In some countries, these players would not be welcomed anywhere. They are useless. On Sunday night, hours after the match, Igesund met his employers at the team hotel. But it was still unclear whether they had informed him of what steps they would take looking ahead or only raised the bar. The coach has six months left until his contract runs out. However, goalkeeper Josephs urged Safa to stick with the four-time Premier League winner: I have so many reasons to be angry at him for not picking me [until Sunday night, Josephs was last in goal for Bafana in September 2012], but to be honest he is the most tactically astute coach I have ever come across #xax
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 06:53:17 +0000
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