The Greatest Service The World Cup Did For South Africa

Image by Moses Msiza

Have you been to a PSL game recently? Have you watched a PSL game recently? Did you even notice anything different in stadiums?

Let me tell you what I’ve noticed, more voices. No, I don’t mean there are more bums on seats at the games now, but you can hear more voices because there is this little thing called the Vuvuzela that is hardly seen at the stadium anymore. 

Remember when the Vuvuzela was supposed to be for us what the Mexican wave was for Mexico in ’86? Something that the traveling soccer fanatics could take back to their homeland, and it would become part of the lexicon of future world cup tournaments.

Well, it didn’t happen the way we pictured did it…

The reception to our vuvuzelas was lukewarm at best, with many internationals not liking the idea that this instrumented was to replace chanting and singing at games. The vuvuzela was called noise pollution and a distraction at games. They tolerated it because it was our local thing that they had to deal with since they were coming to our country. They didn’t like it. The football fraternity had rejected our offering…

We started to question the use of the vuvuzela in our games, especially since the most enthralling fans in the PSL at the time, Bloemfontein Celtics never used to need them. So, over the years we have seen a decline in the use of the vuvuzela at our stadiums, which is great as it made the atmosphere at the stadium better and not just drowned out by noise.

The rejection of the vuvuzela by the world has been a blessing in disguise. Slowly but surely, we are bringing back singing and chanting (Boo’s don’t count as chanting) to the stadiums, which gets more fan engagement than what the vuvuzela did. It started making the stadium a tad more fun and family friendly again.

Phillip saw us making the necessary road back to a genuine atmosphere that did not involve the vuvuzela. Back to the type of atmosphere that was instrumental in giving our players nicknames and chants like ‘AAAACCCCCEEEEEE.’ 

The world cup might have created white elephants, but it also created the demise of that loud horn. For that, I’ll forever be thankful.

Insight: Middle Man Talks

In the midst of crowds cheering on their favourite player, often drowning out the instructions screamed out by the coaches and the constant cries for the ball to be passed to them by the players. There is the lone ranger running in the middle with a whistle in hand, officiating the game.

That whistle is many a time the only thing loud enough to pierce through a passionate group of fans roaring with all their might. Their only words are spoken using that whistle they are holding and any verbal words they have we never hear. This got me curious as to what the referees actually said during game pauses, as well as to the players and assistant referees.

Thanks to the YouTube channel, FOX Sports Australia, I finally got to see or should I say hear a glimpse of it.  A-League referee, Jarred Gillet got mic’d up for his 159^th and final game officiating in the A-League. The Championship bound ref really gave me a good idea of what sort of conversations referees have between themselves and players. Granted this game seemed to be more relaxed and cheerful than the games I’d normally see, lacking the seemingly verbal abuse from players body language would usually suggest in most games, it still was a good indicator in game-based decisions.

Mic’d up referees would be interesting in Africa, especially CAF games where a lot of fans including me feel referees are biased towards the home team or have been somehow corrupted. Hearing CAF referees could get us to understand their decisions or finally get the confederation acting on what is sub-par refereeing. I’d love to hear what our local PSL referees like Victor Gomes, Christopher Harrison, and Victor Hlungwani say during the games, especially in the big games.

Can you imagine the type of sound bites we would get if big league referees would be mic'd up? Referees would start being their own stars. 

Watch the video below. Which referee would you love to hear mic’d up?

Players: Work on your Craft

Photo by Zweli Ndhlovu

I came across a Dave Minchella tweet asking which players we had forgotten about. The names that came up under that thread brought back memories of the players I used to go crazy over, anticipating the day they got their chance at the South African National Team “Bafana Bafana” and showed the world the amazing talent we know we have.

What PSL footballers did you nearly forget about from days gone by? I recalled Clifford Ngobeni - highly rated Ajax Cape Town prospect who went to Pirates. Disappeared off the scene so quickly.

— David Minchella (@David_Minchella) July 12, 2018

Naturally, with names that bring nostalgia, the question of what happened to those players is asked.

“They had so much potential…till this day no player had his talent...” Those type of thoughts starts to go through your head as you scroll through all these players, Sipho Nunes, Rene Richards, Calvin Sibeko and a lot more that could have done amazing things in football.

There is some whose potential was hampered by injuries and football politics (being blackballed unfortunately exists in our sports).

Then there are others whose destruction was the result of life choices which to a degree we blame the clubs and association for not educating enough. When the truth is most of these players were not dedicated to their craft, which is being footballers.

I’m not talking about showing up for the job (practice and games) but spending time actually trying to perfect their craft. Most of these players really ever put effort into their craft when they are trying to crack the professional levels, after that, they seem to just want to punch in time and leave like this is not something they grew up wanting to do.

Perfecting a craft is more than trying to copy your idol because it looks cool when you watch them do but understanding the need to have a certain skill and mastering it until you can do it in your sleep.

Most of the players who fell away too early all share a common thread of not being dedicated to holistically improving their skill. Players never take the initiative to see how far their potential could get them, they rely on the coaches to do all that heavy lifting. But those coaches aren’t the ones who go out on the field.

I understand, there is some role football associations, leagues along with coaches need to play of which they are not playing currently to a satisfactory level, but it is still up to the players to take their game to unimaginable heights.

Lastly, football is a craft in the same way artistry in all its forms is. It that needs to be perfected beyond development stages. Until our players realise that, the trend of almost players will continue.

A Game Of Thrones

Photo by Zweli Ndhlovu

“The crowned Prince is upstaging the King…”

I am probably paraphrasing here, but this is what a commentator said as teams went into halftime on Tuesday 11 April 2017. Paulo Dybala was giving the Barcelona a torrid time as Juventus ran out 3-0 winners in that game.

We have this fascination with crowning the new king every single season. I mean, we were already looking for the new Messi in 2008. We never let players just enjoy his career without us trying to get someone else to usurp that player.

We do not even wait for a player to reach the twilight of their career. In the PSL for example, we were looking for the next Thulani Serero when Serero was still 21, probably his best season in the PSL. Funny thing is when the player we touted as the next king fails to live up to the expectation, we turn around and act like at some point we never tried to elevate that player to King status.

Soccer is a fast-paced game, but the constant lookout for the next elite players is effectively killing off many players careers who were yet to reach their peak (some players peak late honestly) early. How many players have you thought “This player should give others a chance, so and so is here now and is taking their spot.” I think that is why in hindsight we realise how much a player was underrated in their generation because of the constant need for something new.

As fans, we are making football a game of musical chair where we constantly want something different in a short space of time. We never fully appreciate the players we have at the moment and only on their retirement do we realise how much we missed on because we searched for a replacement before it’s time.