AT A GLANCE: South Africa
by FOXSports.com
2002 Qualification: Won CAF ?Group 5?
Appearing in 2nd World Cup Finals: 1998
Best World Cup Performance: First round (1998)
Overall World Cup Record: 0-1-2
Major Honors: African Nations Cup Champions (1996)
Manager: Carlos Quieroz (POR)
Stars: Shaun Bartlett, (F, Charlton); Quinton Fortune (D, Manchester United)
Group B Opponents: Paraguay, Spain, Slovenia
Approx Odds to Win World Cup: 150-1
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
| Other Group B Profiles |
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G Hans Vonk, Heerenveen (NED)
D Jacob Lekgetho, Locomotive Moscow (RUS)
D Aaron Mokoena, Germinal Beerschot (BEL)
D Mark Fish, Charlton (ENG)
D Quinton Fortune, Manchester United (ENG)
M Steven Pienaar, Ajax (HOL)
M Pierre Issa, Watford (ENG)
M Delron Buckley, Vfl Bochum (GER)
M Sibusiso Zuma, FC Copenhagen (DEN)
F Shaun Bartlett, Charlton (ENG)
F Benni McCarthy, Celta Vigo (ESP)
AFRICA'S FAILING FOOTBALLING SUPERPOWER
Of all the African contenders for the 2002 World Cup the strongest and most sustained challenge should come from the continents most southern outpost - the Republic of South Africa.
In this land still hideously scarred by centuries of institutionalized racism and Apartheid, there exists a modern, developed infrastructure, western style banking and commercial operations and a relatively stable social and political structure.
More than this, football is the real people's game in a sports-mad country that is home to some of the best rugby and cricket players in the world.
So why then are South Africa going to be eliminated from the first group stage of the World Cup, with barely a hope of scoring goals, let alone challenging for advancement?
South Africa has the worst chance of making the Second Round of any of the African qualifiers, even though they are in a comparatively weak group. For South Africa to progress they will have to eliminate two from Slovenia, Paraguay and Spain - a not impossible task, but one that is highly improbable.
Hints towards this impending failure were readily available for all to see this January in Mali, when South Africa failed to qualify for the semi-finals of a poor African Nations Cup.
Usually to be eliminated by the host nation at any major championship would not be seen as a big upset. But in a fractured continent such as Africa where the nations are not competing from the same starting point, when a regional superpower such as South Africa loses to a tiny country (in comparison) like Mali questions have to be asked as to why.
Consider for a moment that as a comparison the equivalent result in the European Championship would be Italy losing to Wales or Belarus, and the deep mire South Africa is in becomes clear.
By now (ten years after their return from international isolation) South Africa should be competing competitively on the world stage in the same way Nigeria or Cameroon do. Anything else for the only nation in Africa that is becoming more developed is failure, and does not bode well for the 2010 World Cup when South Africe will surely host.
A major problem South Africa has is that most of its' big stars (Pierre Issa, Eric Tinkler, Shaun Bartlett) are not playing for even second tier European teams and have no real experience of playing even in the UEFA Cup, let alone the Champions League.
All in all, South Africa only have four truly talented players that could be considered a threat to Spain, Paraguay or Slovenia.
In goal, Hans Vonk is a big, competent performer for Heerenveen in Holland, and he has been the subject of repeated interest from several Serie A clubs. But it is in attack that South Africa hopes to offer some resistance in Korea.
Captain Shaun Bartlett can be an effective attacker for Charlton in England. In qualifying he proved South Africa's main weapon and finished up with four goals. Besides Bartlett, it is to Sibusiso Zuma of Udinese and Benni McCarthy of Celta Vigo that most South Africans will look - both players are fast and have the necessary ball skills to threaten opposing defenders.
These players proved more than enough to see South Africa through a weak group containing Zimbabwe, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Guinea. In fact South Africa were easily the best team, dropping only two points - and that was away in Ouagadougou against Burkina.
But will the challenge of playing in the company of Raul, Mendieta, Zahovic and Chilavert prove too much for South Africa, just as it did when they met Zidane and friends in 1998? Unfortunately for the millions of Bafana-Bafana fans, it looks like it will be.
Courtesy of our friends at World Cup Archive
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