In the words of kwaito greats Trompies, “ek was daar” when Bafana Bafana qualified for the World Cup for the first time.
That was back on 16 August 1997 when Phil “Chippa” Masinga, who died recently, shot from range to score a goal that would forever live in people’s minds.
The events that followed that historic achievement however were swak to say the least.
We were the reigning African champions, the spotlight was on us and so were the demands to honour invites.
Squad management, club and association relations were tested to their limits; this was the time when Bafana Bafana had a klomp players based overseas, so the club versus country debate was in full swing.
The media had an agenda, Safa officials had their own agendas, even the public got involved and the constant push and pull strained the national team’s preparations for what was a momentous journey to football stardom.
IN CHARGE: Boss Desiree Ellis
All hell broke loose after we honoured our invitation to the first ever Fifa Confederations Cup in December 1997 in Saudi Arabia.
The tournament was previously a private tournament called the King Fahd Cup, hosted in the Middle Eastern country.
The 1997 edition was the first organised by Fifa and featured all the continental champions as well as the world champions.
The knives were out for coach Clive Barker, who just a year before was the darling of South African football for orchestrating the country’s one and only continental title to date.
Masinga, who was the national team’s leading goalscorer at the time and only 28, was also on the receiving end of some heavy criticism from media and fans for being an ageing star and not scoring goals.
Believe it or not, he was even booed leading up to that decisive game against Congo, when he scored that memorable goal.
Barker did not make it to France ’98, we defended our Afcon title in 1998 under a different coach, namely Jomo Sono, and played the World Cup under another coach, a Frenchman named Philippe Troussier.
IN SPOTLIGHT: Phil Masinga
Chippa made it but did not perform at his best and sadly would not earn the respect of fans and pundits after that.
Don’t let it happen to you, Banyana Banyana.
Your coaches will make mistakes, some players will get more attention and will be talked about much more than others, the media and the public will have expectations.
It’s all part of the process, don’t let all that affect your preparation and spoil your journey to France 2019.
They are already talking about your captain Janine van Wyk and how she should be replaced by a younger and faster player.
Neil Tovey lifted the trophy as Bafana captain at Afcon 96, but did not get the honour to go with the squad to our first World Cup appearance.
You got yourselves to where you are. Besides your obvious talent, it’s your unity that is praised by all.
Try and hold onto one another like you have done up to this point.
You will also start seeing a lot more suits around you, you will be confused what role they all play, but not all of them are actual role-players; some are just there to score political points and free tickets to go to France with you!
You can only count on one another, don’t let anybody else tell you otherwise!