The Doctor reflects on Bafana’s upward trajectory

Mihlali Baleka

Bafana Bafana legend Doctor Khumalo has compared the current team with the class of 1996 which won the country’s first and only African Cup of Nations (Afcon) trophy.

Bafana have been on an upward trajectory, starting from their third-place finish in the Afcon finals in Ivory Coast 12 months ago.

They’ve since built on that momentum, ensuring that they qualified for the Afcon finals in Morocco late this year with an unbeaten run in the Group K qualifiers.

Their impressive run of form has seen more supporters believing in the team as they’ve come out in numbers to sell-out their matches across the country.

Bafana are set to continue with the World Cup qualifiers in March, and are second in Group C, level on seven points with leaders Rwanda.

As such, many believe that they’ll qualify for the finals next year in the US, Canada and Mexico. A feat that would be the first since hosting the global showpiece in 2010.

Khumalo, who was part of the group that won Afcon in 1996 and qualified for the World Cup in 1998, put his head on the block and made comparisons between the two groups.

“What I am experiencing now is history repeating itself,” said Khumalo who was speaking at an event hosted by the national teams’, including the Springboks and Proteas, sponsor Castle Lager this week.

“They were playing at empty stadiums. On our journey (back in the day), we lost three games in a row by 4-0, and we were called fools. There was transformation after that.

“Sometimes, South Africans might say some stuff which is criticising or a joke. But they did not know that they were waking up a sleeping dog.

“After we knew that we were called fools, we knew that the only way we can change this is to win matches.”

There’s a lot of camaraderie within the current Bafana players. So much so that the leadership of captain Ronwen Williams has been second to none. Williams hasn’t only led with aplomb on the pitch, winning multiple individual awards last year, but he’s stood up for the team off the pitch.

So much so that when he made a heartfelt statement regarding the fans not rallying behind the team that pained Khumalo and forced him to do his part to help the situation.

“Ronwen made a statement, and I felt so bad when he said, ‘I don’t feel like I am playing for my country because the stadium and seats are empty’,” Khumalo said.

“That was so bad. So, I asked myself ‘what is that you as a legend you are doing when you hear a current player say that?’

“I started to be involved with 10bet (Bafana’s sponsors) and said I ‘let’s try to get people at the stadium because this is our national team. After what they did in Ivory Coast, that was unbelievable.’

“We wouldn’t have done that as the ’96 team. Up until today, they’ve found the right footing. They are playing combinational play which has never happened in our football for years.”

Bafana are indeed appealing on the eye all round. In less than six months, they were able to beat the No.1 ranked nation on the continent, Morocco, in back-to-back matches.

Khumalo, though, is still bamboozled by the unfair treatment the team gets to endure in some parts of the continent, despite making their visitors welcomed and at ease.

“We have seen different players from different teams coming through. They’ve silenced the entire continent because South Africa is not liked much,” Khumalo said.

“Whenever we travel up there in Africa, the treatment is not the same though. People are always gunning to mistreat the players and give them a hostile treatment.

“But our boys tend to grow in character and stature. You can imagine being in a foreign country having to eat Fanta Orange, scones or bread.”