Lessons learnt from France vs Bafana Bafana

Last nights game against France exemplified just how far behind we are from the best nations in the world. Not only are we far behind from the powerhouse countries but that we are lagging in the doldrums on the African continent also. Simply put, we can have the best policies in world football on paper about vision 2022 etc., but if we don’t do something about our development programmes we will always fall short. To sum up last night it was purely boys against men.

?

There was moments in yesterday’s game where it seemed like France were having a training session led by Kylain Mbappe. We need to ask ourselves as South Africans serious questions as to where our football is going. It has been 12 years since we hosted the FIFA World Cup and we have zero to show for it, yes you read right we have nothing to show from it. The past 12 years should have been used as preparation to qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Instead, we speak about a 4-year cycle leading up to each subsequent World Cup beginning with the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and we always fall short because we willing to take short cuts to anyplace worth going. As the saying goes, “ if you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail”.

?

One can ask what the bottleneck issues are in South Africa and the list is endless. It starts off with a physical education policy at school level being nonexistent. The school environment is the first stage where young people get an opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity. Our players only get a chance to get involved with football at a later stage through the club system. A system that only starts for most players in the country from U12 upwards. So, what is happening to the majority of players in South Africa from U-6 till U12? Well, likely just informal football where bad habits can also be learnt. The school system exposes players to organized grassroot football at an earlier stage and this organized stage of football is only accessible to middle- and high-income children with the low income players who make up Bafana not having access to grassroots early childhood development programme. School football around the world is systemic and one can be guaranteed access to a formalized football structure for 12 years of schooling. Just have a look at our cricket and rugby systems, players are developed through the school system as there is quality coaches embedded in the system at youth development. We not talking about chancers here, the quality of instruction our cricket and rugby children get is second to none.

If one had to look at the current players who ply their trade for Bafana Bafana, many of them never played school football. Many of them learnt their trade on dusty football pitches that cattle graze on. ?They made it to the top through trial and error and through grit and graft. This is the case of how footballers around the world get developed, but one key difference is that developed countries football players are introduced to grassroot football programmes before the age of 12. In South Africa there is a shortage of quality expertise coaching at youth level that allows young players to reach the top. The reality to this problem is that many of the countries top coaches want to coach in professional football where they will get paid for their expertise. Nobody wants to do the dirty long-haul job of nurturing the countries raw players

?

A second problem we have in this country is the fact that South Africa has never embraced Futsal. Look at Spain, Brazil, and Japan these countries have organized Futsal leagues from U7-U15. Futsal Is the medium to develop football skills as players learn all the essential skills of the game in a modified 5 a side small, sided game. Our national team players are not technically proficient to play at the accolades of international football. Try and remember last night to a stage where Bafana made 5 or more successive passes? This was few and far between. This is because our players have never been taught to play in confined spaces and this is what futsal teaches, to play the game in confined spaces where quick decision making is required and where improvisation is key. Just have a look at the unforced errors our players made yesterday which lead to possession being turned over, they were countless!!!

?

Finally, our players generally have a lack of high-end international matches from a young age in their backpacks. Look at Pogba, Mbappe or Griezman, they have gone through the ranks of playing in the French junior national team before become full fledged internationals. We on the other hand are still referring to players who are 23 years old as youngsters. These youngsters get exposed to organized football late and as a result they develop late. The level of development work required in South African Football is not a joke. We need a 12 year plan with the topics addressed above as important milestones. Until then we shall continue to be a laughingstock in world football.

?

?

By Sithembiso Nkosi