MASHABA'S FUTURE AS BAFANA BAFANA COACH HANGING IN THE LINE



Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba (Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix)

 

Bafana Bafana coach, Shakes Mashaba look to be edging ever so close to the exit door at SAFA house after a string of unimpressive results during the 2017 AFCON qualifying games.

Apart from Hlompho Kekana’s wonder goal against Cameroon, Mashaba’s team has been poor throughout the qualifying campaign having managed to collect three points out of a possible 12.The team currently sit at the third spot in group M and is left with two games to play.

In the first game of the qualifiers Bafana Bafana played a goal-less draw to Gambia, a country which had been banned for a year by FIFA.  This was followed by a shocking 3-1 away defeat to ‘minnows’, Mauritania, a country which many of us first heard about few days prior to the Bafana Bafana game.

From those two games it was clear that the team was heading in the wrong direction. This was recently followed by poor squad selection for the two games against Cameroon.

The inclusion of skipper Itumeleng Khune came as a shock, even though we know that he is an experienced campaigner but justice need to be done at times. He had not been playing for over a month and he came in straight into the first team.

Even though many South African still criticize Darren Keet mistakes against Algeria as the reason for  Bafana Bafana’s early exit at last year’s AFCON, but Khune himself deserves criticism. It was his goalkeeping fault that led to the ‘flood’ of goals we conceded against Mauritania.

Maybe time has arrived where players are selected according to their performances. Will we ever see Kamohelo Mokotjo playing a full 90 minutes for Bafana Bafana? Will we ever see Kermit Erasmus given a chance to play for Bafana Bafana? , What about CBD’s inform Keegan Dolly?

Really!! Shakes, Ndumiso Mabena over Keegan Dolly?

We also need to admit that this is the man that led us to the AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea after years of failing to secure qualification.

When Mashaba took over from Gordon Igusend we all saw positivity in nurturing talent. In his Bafana Bafana second spell squad selection he included players like Ayabulela Maqwaga, Dumisani Msibi, Fegrie Lakay, Keegan Dolly.

From there we all thought that Mashaba meant business in achieving the goals of vision 2018 and 2022. What happened to calling all these “youngsters”?

Clearly, it now looks almost impossible to qualify for the for 2017 AFCON. I wouldn’t expect the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon to tumble against Gambia and Mauritania in their remaining two games in the group.