Never in a million years did I ever think that after watching the Fifa World Cup for the first time, it would be hosted on African soil 20 years later.
Let alone see a guy - Anele Ngcongca - from my hood, Gugulethu, play at the tournament and that I would be right there with a media card that gave me access to everything and everyone and ask them about anything that had to do with that historic event.
Bafana Bafana didn’t even exist back when I watched the Italia 90 World Cup, so I knew very little about national team
football.
Italia 90 was my first real introduction to the international game.
I knew about Pele and
Brazil and cup holders Argentina and star man Diego Maradona, because, well, there were books and documentaries about them everywhere at that time.
That whole World Cup was “delayed live”, as the guys at the SABC call it.
There were a lot of early mornings and late nights where we sat as families to catch some unforgettable moments.
And boy were there many.
It was there that Cameroon legend Roger Milla became famous and made the world look at Africa differently, as the Indomitable Lions became the first African team to reach the quarterfinal. It was special.
Another player that made a big impact at the tournament was Salvatore “Toto” Schillaci.
He was a short, under-regarded striker who took his chances and scored some very important goals for the hosts.
A lot of young players in the 90s were given that nickname Schillaci here in South Africa because of that guy.
Most famous of them all is one of South Africa’s greatest
players, Steven Pienaar.
Pienaar would become a key player for Bafana Bafana and an established star when South
Africa 2010 rolled around.
MOTIVATION: Steven Pienaar
And that’s the guy our very own Bafana star Ngcongca looked to for motivation.
Ngcongca, who initiated a young Kevin de Bruyne at KRC Genk in Belgium, recalls: “Steven Pienaar was a star, yoh!
“I call him ‘Holy’ because of the kind of things he was able to do with a ball at his feet.
“We played together in the last group match against France. We had no choice but to win to have any chance of qualifying for the next round. I’ll never forget what he said to me at the tunnel before we walked out.
“He said ‘Tata, you’re going to have Franck Ribery coming at you in this game, if you take care of him, then I’ll take care of their leftback [Gael Clichy]’.
“That’s the level of confidence Pienaar had, my brother. How can you not give your all when a senior player like Pienaar says that to you?
“I did exactly that, I gave my all in that game. We had to win and it was my first and only game I played at the World Cup, so I had to make sure I gave it 100 percent.
“We were winning 2-0 when I had to come off because of an injury so I was proud of the guys because we did what we said we would do.
“It didn’t matter that it was France, we were the hosts and had to win.”
He was replaced by Siboniso Gaxa early in the second half and the final score would be 2-1.
It wasn’t enough as Bafana were knocked out in the group stages on goal difference.
Ngcongca adds that despite the disappointment of not progressing further in the tournament, it was still a special time as they were treated like kings
everywhere they went that time.
He says:“We were given everything we needed and more. So it was a good time, we felt like heroes already.”
Ngcongca was one of five ouens vannie Kaap that made the final 23 in 2010 and there were many more who represented Bafana on the World Cup stage before him.
FIGHT: Bafana's Anele Ngcongca against France
So it is really possible to achieve your dreams despite the hardships that come with growing up on the Flats.
But as Ngcongca says: “You must always remember that you are not playing just for yourself, but you are representing your family, community and you carry the hopes of a nation.
“There’s no better feeling than calling your mother and telling her that ‘the dream that you had of seeing your son play at a World Cup’ has come true.”