Ajax Cape Town jetted off to Angola today for the first leg of their preliminary round Caf Confederation Cup fixture against Angolan side GD Sangrada Esperanca, but coach Roger de Sa made no secret of his disappointment with Safa.
The Cape club is scheduled to take on Esperanca in Dundo tomorrow, an area about 1 200km outside the capital city, Luanda.
But it’s been an absolute mission just getting to today’s departure stage. Like any normal, professional sporting entity, Ajax asked the Angolans for details of the flights, travel and accommodation. With little to zero co-operation and communication coming back, Ajax decided to withdraw from the continental inter-club competition, because of the safety of their players.
Safa was livid and hauled Ajax in for a crisis meeting. Ajax were ordered to return to the competition, with Safa finally deciding to play a role in getting some sort of communication from the Angolans. But everything has not been sorted as yet – and it’s this that still concerns De Sa, a veteran of participating in African competitions during his time with Orlando Pirates.
“Look, and I say this in my personal capacity, it’s not the view of the club (Ajax), you would think that we would be protected by the mother body (Safa),” said De Sa. “Instead we got attacked and threatened with all manner of things, including being kicked out of the PSL.
“So I guess we have to listen to Safa’s advice and recommendations, we’ve got to do what they say. But we are still going in blind, we still don’t know much of the details of the trip.
“But, hey, who knows,” De Sa added in jest. “We could perhaps end up in Brazil or Costa Rica and we could have lekker jol…”
Those are the off-field problems, but the Ajax coach has just as many on-field concerns. The team’s inconsistency, their inability to kill off the opposition and the tendency to switch off must surely be frustrating for De Sa.
On Wednesday, after a brilliant first half in which they took a 2-0 lead, Ajax then lost focus and allowed Mpumalanga Black Aces to come back to level at 2-2. And, with the team now facing the unknown in Angola, they’ll have to be fully concentrated and on top of their game if they are to come away with something positive to take into the second leg in Cape Town.
“We had a great first half against Aces, but once they got one back after we made a silly error, it was always going to be tough,” said De Sa. “It was vital that we got a third goal, but we didn’t. and, to be honest, we probably never came out of the dressing-room in the second half.
“It’s never good to squander a two-goal lead. even though it’s a draw, it’ll feel like a loss to us and like a win for Aces. But we are just making too many schoolboy errors. It’s disappointing because it’s become quite a regular occurrence of late. The players have to realise that this is not a Sunday social league, and they have to kill the game when the opportunities arrive.”
De Sa will, of course, fondly remember his fairy tale run with Pirates in the African Champions League in 2013. He inspired the Soweto side to the prestigious cup final, where they were narrowly beaten by Egypt’s Al-Ahly.
Now at Ajax, for a CAF Confederation Cup campaign, no doubt De Sa’s experience of football on the continent, and how to prepare and plan for such a competition, will certainly be handy.
But whatever has gone before is now in the past All that matters is how this youthful Ajax squad responds to a new challenge, under trying circumstances and difficult conditions. It’ll test their character and courage, that’s for sure. - Cape Times