Bafana’s year of mixed fortunes

Football | Bafana Bafana

The year 2012-13 will go down as the year of mixed fortunes for Bafana Bafana who agonisingly failed to qualify for the 2014 Fifa Word Cup.
Bafana began their qualifying campaign against Ethiopia and were held to a 1-1 draw in Rustenburg much to the disappointment of the fans. The result cost Pitso Mosimane his job and Steven Komphela was temporarily in charge before Gordon Igesund was finally given the job.
Igesund had to go head-to-head with the then Bafana assistant and stand-in coach Komphela for the top job but it was the former Moroka Swallows boss who was elevated to the hot seat.

The Igesund era began with a friendly match against Brazil, which Bafana narrowly lost 1-0 through a late Hulk strike but the boys had given a gallant fight. It was in that match that Dean Furman announced his arrival into the team with a superb performance and has since grown into a regular starter for Bafana.

For Brazil it was just another friendly in their world tour but for Bafana it served as a preparation match for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations on homesoil. Igesund had been mandated to atleast reach the semifinals of the tournament.
The big moment came, Bafana opened the Afcon with a goalless draw against Cape Verde but went on to beat Morocco in a nail-biter and secured a spot in the knockout rounds. Glory was in the air, fans could smell it and players could taste it as Bafana played Mali in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, Igesund’s men went down to Mali on penalties after the match had ended in a tightly contested draw.

Igesund had to rally his troops and move on from the Afcon pain as the road to Brazil awaited them.
Bafana then went to Ethiopia in a crucial World Cup qualifier where they needed atleast a point to remain on course for Brazil 2014. It turned out to be a day that Bernard Parker in particular would rather forget as he scored an goal which saw the Walias win 2-1.

Bafana were give a second chance by Fifa, following and investigation which established that Ethiopia had used an ineligible player in their match against Botswana. The Ethiopians were subsequently docked three points, a move that also gave Botswana a chance to make it to the World Cup play-offs.
The last round of the group matches became very key for three teams in a group of four. Bafana needed to beat Botswana to qualify and hope the Central Africa Republic can deny. Igesund’s boys came out guns blazing and they ran riot over their Cosafa neighbours beating them 4-1 and Bernard Parker was the star of the day with a brace. The result counted for nothing as the Walias beat CAR 2-1 to advance to the next round.
The 2010 Fifa World Cup host nation had once again failed to qualify for the World Cup and had to settle for international friendlies to appease the fans. However, Bafana were to end the year on a high with victory in the Nelson Mandela Sports Day as well as a big one against world and European champions Spain. The Spain victory was of little significance to ardent Bafana fans who wanted nothing but a World Cup spot.