Sports
Bafana Seeks To Improve Record Against European Opposition
Bafana Bafana, who are preparing to face Poland in Warsaw
today, have a record against European opposition that leaves a lot to be
desired.
South Africa have won just nine of their 39 previous matches
against teams from the continent and only one of those came against a power of
the European game – a French side in disarray at the 2010 World Cup.
Other successes have come against Malta, Denmark, Sweden,
Scotland, Turkey, Slovenia, Norway and Poland.
The victory over the Poles came on home soil in the lead-up
to the 2009 Confederations Cup when Terror Fanteni scored on six minutes, which
proved enough for the win.
Bafana will hope to draw some confidence from that game
today, though only three of the Polish side that played that day remain in the
squad: left-back Marcin Komorowski, and forwards Marek Saganowski and Robert
Lewandowski.
South Africa’s first victory over European opposition was
against Sweden in 1999, when Siyabonga Nomvete scored late on for a 1-0 win.
Their only victory in Europe was against lowly Malta the
following year, with Thabo Mngomeni on the scoresheet against the tiny island
nation, which has a population roughly the same as Benoni’s.
The biggest victories against nations from the continent
came within three days of each other, as Bafana beat Scotland and Turkey, both
by a 2-0 margin, in the Hong Kong Reunification Cup ahead of the 2002 World
Cup.
But largely it has been a tale of disappointment, though
Bafana have never been humiliated by European opposition, as they have been
against the likes of Nigeria and Mexico in the past.
A 4-2 loss in Germany was tough to take but many better
sides have fared worse in that country, while there were also 3-0 defeats
against France in the opening game of the 1998 World Cup, Germany in 1997 and
in Sweden in 2001.
Their two heaviest defeats came in matches when they might
have been expected to do much better. They lost 4-1 in Georgia under Jomo Sono
in 2002 and went down by the same scoreline in Iceland under Stuart Baxter in
2005.
Their biggest home defeat against European opposition was a
3-1 loss to Serbia in August 2009, one of the last games in charge for
Brazilian coach Joel Santana.
Bafana’s 39 games have yielded 32 goals for and 60 against,
though out of the 21 European nations they have faced so far, they have failed
to score against just three of those – Italy (two games), Netherlands and
Portugal.
Sports
CAA Wants Ghana To Host 2026 Athletics Champions
The Confederation of African Athletics has invited Ghana to bid for the hosting rights of the 2026 African Athletics Championships, following a successful athletics event at the just concluded 2023 African Games.
President of Ghana Athletics, Bawa Fuseini, stated this and expressed confidence in the transformative potential of the Legon Stadium for athletes and Ghana’s bid to host international competitions.
With a capacity of 11,000, the Legon Stadium played a pivotal role in the recent African Games, hosting both the opening and closing ceremonies as well as various sporting events including athletics, football, and rugby.
Fuseini highlighted the success of the athletics events held at the stadium, which contributed to Ghana winning six medals.
“We have already started getting requests from the Confederation of African Athletics to bid for the 2026 African Athletics Championships.
“When they came and saw what we have put in place and the level of organisation, they told me that for the last 20 years, they’ve never seen any organisation like this before. We did three official courses. And the last one, we had 110, all of them passed. We had a lot of officials and equipment.”
Since its establishment in 1979, Ghana has never hosted the African Athletics Championships, with Nigeria being the host country twice, in 1989 and 2018.
This year, Cameroon will take the reins as the host nation, with the event set to be held at the Olembe Stadium.
Sports
‘I’m Not Under Pressure To Coach Eagles’
Finidi George, head coach of the Nigeria Premier Football Leagues side, Enyimba, has stated that he is not losing any sleep over getting the Super Eagles job on a permanent basis.
Early this month, the Nigeria Football Federation declared the position of the Super Eagles’ head coach vacant, following the exit of Portuguese Jose Peseiro, who led the side to a second-place finish at the 2023 Africa Cup Nations in Ivory Coast in February.
In an advertisement on its website calling for applications with a March 13 deadline, the football governing body stated that the prospective Eagles coach “must have proven experience at the elite level of football.”
The former Ajax man, who also applied for the job, was appointed Eagles interim coach for the international window with the former winger picking a win and suffering a defeat.
In an interview with Tidesports source, the 52-year-old tactician said he was not desperate for the job permanently.
“I felt really good when I was told to take charge of the team. I have been with the team for almost two years, I know all the players, their strengths, and their weaknesses but I am only here to serve Nigeria the way I know how to do stuff.
“I will just take these two games and go back to my club. Whatever the decision is taken after, so be it. I’m not under pressure to say I must get the role permanently.”
Sports
‘Reasons Why Eagles Lost To Mali’
The friendly games against Ghana and Mali were to serve as an audition for George Finidi, who was in charge of the team on an interim basis, but the Eagles’ lacklustre display in those friendlies has called for his further evaluation.
Finidi kept faith with ex-coach Jose Peseiro’s defensive formation against Mali on the back of his first win (against Ghana) in charge of the team four days earlier.
But this time, his defence was punished following a combination of defensive errors and poor passes.
The Eagles struggled to play out of defence due to the high pressing of the Malians and it was no surprise that the first goal by Les Aigles was a direct result of their aggression.
Chidozie Awaziem, who started on the right of the back three alongside Kenneth Omeruo and Semi Ajayi, lacked composure and was pressured into making a pass across his box straight at Bilal Toure, who made no mistake in getting the ball past Stanley Nwabali. They missed the calming presence of injured William Troost-Ekong.
Vice captain, Kenneth Omeruo, was also culpable of misplaced passes and was beaten for pace when Kamory Doumbia ran past him to seal Mali’s first win in over four decades, firing his shot past a helpless Nwabali, who stood no chance.
Eagles wing backs, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Jamilu Collins also did not do enough to support the team in attack when they had the chance to.
Lack of creativity
Finidi paired Raphael Onyedika and Wilfred Ndidi in a double pivot in midfield. Both players are naturally anchor men and neither is a box-to-box midfielder.
They both do not possess the offensive capability to drive the team’s attack forward, which left the Eagles once again craving for a natural creative midfielder.
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