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Partners
by: Sanelisiwe A. Mabaso
I went to see the match between our national football team, Bafana Bafana and Cape Verde.
Now, I am not an avid football fan like some of my friends but I can understand and appreciate the sport and also getting hold of the tickets was easy. Tickets were being given away, more than one person told me it’s because none were being purchased because fewer and fewer members of the South African public are willing to pay to watch Bafana Bafana lose.
I’ll admit – I didn’t have much confidence in our boys due to the less than satisfactory results they’ve produced in the past.
The first half of the game was quite boring and many people were either scrolling on their phones, taking selfies, socialising, eating, singing etc. I was doing all of this while hoping even a small fight would break out.
The second half is when, I believe, the game actually started. The coach of Cape Verde must’ve given them a truly motivational speech because those boys got out there and played like it was the last game of their lives, they even scored twice, and the stadium was silent with each goal. All South Africa did as the visitors played a proper game of football was missing goals and falling (not that I could do better).
As the game was nearing an end South African fans began to leave, there was only one Cape Verde fan visible from where I was sitting. And as the minutes ticked by – a glimmer of hope – a goal from our team, the remaining audience went wild with shouts of joy and encouragement.
Four minutes extra time was added and it was during that four minutes of extra time that I realised how capable our national team actually is and how many South Africans remain hopeful in them but there was no victory.
The referee blew the final whistle and it was 2-1. Bafana showed their capability in the last four minutes, pouring their all into the game. One only wishes they had done that from the beginning. With that said:
Congratulations to Cape Verde!!!
