KONKE kukhomba ukuthi lizothi liphela leli sonto iqembu lesizwe labesilisa laseNingizimu Afrika, iBafana Bafana, libe selinaye umqeqeshi omusha.
Lokhu kuvezwe nguDominc Chimhavi okunguyena obheke ezokuxhumana kuSouth African Football Association (Safa). Ukuphela kwaleli sonto kuzobe kusho ukuthi sekuphele izinyanga ezimbili ekhonjwe indlela u-Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba obeqeqesha leli qembu ngaphambi kokuba atholwe yikomiti eliqondosa ubugwegwe enecala. Kwavela ukuthi wephula umthetho wezokuxhumana wenhlangano waphinde wahudulela phansi isithunzi sayo. Namanje uMashaba usagqigqa ezinkantolo njengoba efuna ukubuyiselwa emsebenzini wakhe, kanti uke wazama nokuvimba iSafa ukuthi ingalokothi iqashe omunye umuntu udaba lwakhe lungakaqedwa. Kuchithiwe nokho lokho enkantolo.
“Kusele kancane kakhulu ukuthi kumenyezelwe umqeqeshi omusha weBafana. Leli sonto lizophela esekhona kodwa ngeke ngikwazi ukwenaba ngalolu daba ngoba luphethwe ezingeni eliphezulu,” kusho uChimhavi.
Ekuqaleni kwenyanga iSafa imemezele ithimba labazosiza le nhlangano ekutheni iqashe umqeqeshi ozongena athi khaxa kukona konke okudingwa yileli qembu. Lapho kuvele amagama oLucas Radebe, owaba ukaputeni weBafana iminyaka wadlala nase-England kuLeeds United ngezikhathi zayo zodumo. Kukhona noBenni McCarthy kuleli thimba. UMcCarthy usazihola phambili namanje ngokuhlohlela iBafana amagoli. Uke wadla isicoco se-UEFA Champions League neFC Porto yasePortugal ngaphansi kobuholi bukaJose Mourinho oseqeqesha iManchester United.
Ngaphandle kwalaba kukhona nowayengukaputeni iBafana idla iscoco se-Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) ngo-1996, uNeil Tovey, Farouk Khan, Buti Mathathe, Anna Nyman noNatasha Tsichlas. Muva nje iSafa ikhiphe uhla lwabaqeqeshi osekuyibona abasele embangweni. Okucacayo ngabo ukuthi abaphesheya kwezilwandle okukhomba ukuthi iSafa ibheka e-Europe hhayi ekhaya.
La magama ahlanganisa uRoberto Mancini odle isicoco neManchester City, Giovanni Trapattoni, uqweqwe lwase-Italy, Hassan Shehata, oke wagila izimanga ne-Egypt edla ama-Afcon kulandelana, Hugo Broos ongumpetha kwazise unqobe neCameroon ekuqaleni konyaka eGabon, Bernd Schuster noLothar Matthaus wodumo kuGermany.
Noma ngabe ubani ogcina ewutholile lo msebenzi uzoba nenyanga eyodwa kuphela ukulungiselela umdlalo wakhe wokuqala okuzoba ngoMashi kweyokuhlungela i-Afcon ka-2019.