Durban - If it were possible, Shakes Mashaba and Avram Grant would probably not mind exchanging some cash and players to boost the unspectacular positions they have in South Africa and Ghana respectively at the moment.
The peculiarities of African football see Mashaba requiring players with more international stature to improve the well-heeled South Africans’ shameful record in qualifying for tournaments, while Ghana coach Grant must wish he had a great deal of independent funding for his bunch of mainly European-based stars.
In contrast to the SA Football Association (Safa) doing all they can to bankroll as many official and friendly commitments of their various teams, Grant’s Black Stars are caught in the middle of a battle between their national association and sports ministry, which has reduced much-needed financial support from the government.
And while Safa boss Danny Jordaan has just resigned from his position as leader of the opposition in Port Elizabeth, the Ghanaian FA’s war of words with their government has reportedly included their president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, being accused of quietly supporting the opposition for forthcoming elections in that country.
One point was what both teams had to settle for in their opening 2018 World Cup qualifiers before they meet in here tomorrow for a friendly encounter, but Mashaba could possibly have got more than the 1-1 result in hot and humid Burkina Faso on Saturday.
Grant, on the other hand, witnessed his more accomplished stars go through the motions against Uganda at home 24 hours earlier after yet another tiff over money between football and government officials.
On top of this, Grant has been accused by some of his detractors of spending too much time in Europe instead of doing more scouting in the domestic league.
In his team’s undesirable, goalless draw with Uganda, Grant had his Middle East-based skipper Asamoah Gyan back from injury and partnered him with Jordan Ayew of Aston Villa, though the lack of goals resulted from a sub-par performance on a poor pitch.
His other attackers on Friday included Newcastle United’s Christian Atsu and Belgium-based Frank Acheampong, while Leicester City’s Daniel Amartey and Turkey-based John Boye were employed as the central defence pairing in a game where Mamelodi Sundowns star Denis Onyango happily kept a clean sheet for the Cranes of Uganda.
Boye, it will be remembered, was pictured with a wad of bank notes during the 2014 World Cup fiasco where the angry Black Stars received delayed payments from their officials and suffered disunity in Brazil.
Grant did not have the services of two other top-rated players with vast European experience on Friday, forward Andre “Dedeâ€ù Ayew and midfielder-cum-wingback Kwadwo Asamoah, because of injuries.
Meanwhile, this is going to be the 12th meeting of Bafana Bafana and the Black Stars for friendly or competitive purposes since Bafana came into being in Durban in 1992 at the end of the Apartheid era.
The encounters have mostly taken place in this country, with six wins for Bafana and three for the West African powerhouse outfit.
The South Africans have had the better of friendlies and Afcon clashes between the two teams, but the Black Stars have been superior in their World Cup qualifying encounters.
Tuesday’s match kicks off at 7pm, with live coverage on SABC1.
The Star