The year 2020 has set itself up as the year for a renewed Bafana Bafana.
The first task is the qualification for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be hosted in Cameroon.
Bafana have had an indifferent start to their qualification campaign, losing 2-0 away to Ghana in the opening Group C fixture.
The expectation was that they would come back from the Cape Coast Sports Stadium with a point, at the very least, at the end of last year.
The Black Stars are not the African powerhouse they used to be.
Clearly so are we, but we’ve known that for a very long time.
That was that, and a must-win encounter at home against Sudan was the next item on our qualification agenda.
We did what was needed against the Falcons of Jediane, with France-based Lebogang Phiri scoring the game’s only goal in front of his family - watching him in national colours for the first time at Orlando Stadium.
Bafana currently sit in second place which seems like a realistic target to aim for, unless we want to set ourselves up for heartbreak and unnecessary pressure to qualify.
We should lower our expectations of the boys, we’ll enjoy any achievement beyond what we expect so much more.
Head coach Molefi Ntseki has had a lot of time to map out his route to Cameroon 2021 and who he will need for battle.
The Springboks had such a dynamic squad that did not only tick the transformation boxes, but also had the talent for different tactics.
They even had something they called the Bomb Squad - a group of guys who would be brought on to finish off opposition once they had been ground down by the first XI. They had to do the same thing at training to, pushing their teammates all the way for that starting spot.
A MASSIVE JOB AT HAND: Bafana coach Molefi Ntseki. Picture: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix.
Historically Bafana has been destabilised previously by guys that did not want to play such roles. The names Kermit Erasmus and Thulani Serero come to mind.
They even went as far as destabilising the rest of the squad with a negative attitude and Erasmus even speaking to the media saying “he’s no backup player”.
What kind with that, brothers? We don’t need that kind of stuff this year.
If these are the type of guys we are going to support, then it’s fine yazi(you know), they can go play for themselves.
But please, if that’s going to be the case, remove the Proteas badge from their shirts and don’t mustn’t be called South Africa or Bafana Bafana asseblief tog.
There might be some new faces next to coach Ntseki on the Bafana technical bench when they face São Tomé and Príncipe at the FNB Stadium at end of the month.
The Bafana mentor has spoken positively about the possibility of having Benni McCarthy involved in some capacity.
This was after he had already presented his technical plan which had the names of SuperSport United development supremo Kwanele Kopo and Farouk Khan as his ideal candidates for the vacant assistant coach position.
Ntseki has also recommended the addition of a new goalkeeper coach to be involved full-time which means Andre Arendse who was doubling up as the keeper coach at SuperSport.
We’ll have to wait and see in the next few days who Mr Ntseki picks for continental combat!