In a month’s time the biggest ever African Cup of Nations will kick off in Egypt and South Africa will be just one of 24 teams – eight more than the usual 16 – hoping to bring home the illustrious prize. A trophy they’ve lifted just once before, which was back in 1996, when they also hosted the competition.
The lofty years of those late nineties/early 2000s period when they won the tournament and then came second and third (in 1998 and 2000) seem a long time ago now and they’ve had a poor record in recent times. Having failed to qualify for three of the last five tournaments,with a quarter final appearance and a group stage exit their only showing in the last decade – perhaps now is the time to put things right.
Stuart Baxter, who managed the team once before, leads his men into the tournament following a mixed qualification campaign. They would have fancied their chances against the Seychelles and Libya, but it was their results against eventual group winners, Nigeria that would give them hope, when they land in Cairo.
Nigeria are amongst the favourites to lift the trophy on 19th July and they failed to defeat the Bafana Bafana in the two previous attempts – losing one and drawing the other. Also, at similar odds in the outright betting, are two other members of group D, which has been dubbed the ‘group of death’:Morocco and Ivory Coast.
If South Africa can manage those matches like they did against Nigeria in their qualifying games, they’ll find themselves in with a strong chance of progressing – assuming all three sides overcome the group outsiders’ Namibia.
Whilst the group isn’t the kindest, the fixtures within it, fall reasonably well for South Africa; a tough opener against Ivory Coast will be seen as a banker for many. Nicolas Pepe, Lille’s starlet who was responsible for the French team rampant campaign this season, is one player they should keep an eye on. A second match with Namibia means they should head into the showdown game with Morocco knowing exactly what they need to do to secure qualification.
The two main contenders in the group have squads flooded with talent that ply their trade in the top tiers of European soccer week in, week out during the season but that could become a weakness in their game when facing South Africa. Everyone will fancy Morocco and Ivory Coast; they are bigger names in the African Nations of late and they have some worldwide household names in their teams but that brings expectation and additional pressure.
With that in mind, you’re unlikely to see Baxter park the bus; his team have little to lose and he’ll send them out to defend resolutely. You should also expect to see yellow shirts switching defence into attack very quickly, with sharp passing through the lines and a final ball looking to get behind, either directly or from the wide positions. The biggest question remains though; who will put the ball in the net?
Lebo Mothiba had a very positive season with Strasbourg, scoring 10 goals during the season, including two stellar goals in the League Cup semi-final against Bordeaux, a tough game that would end 3-2. The French team would go on to win the trophy, the first in the South African’s forward career and it proved Lebo is a player who can rise to the occasion. Will he be the key player for the national team in Egypt? Only time will tell.
Excitement might be high with the squad announcement imminent but expectation is realistic amongst fans; they know triumph is highly ambitious given their failure to qualify in 2017 and the group stage exit with just a solitary point – earned in a 1-1 draw with Senegal –two years prior, albeit they once again found themselves in particularly tough draw.
Nonetheless their support will be second to none and the least they’ll expect is a passionate and gritty trio of performances with a win to cheer. If the team fails to deliver that then you can place your soccer bets that Baxter won’t hang around in charge for long. However, get through the group and anything becomes possible in a knockout scenario and we could be talking about a whole new collection of legends.