We’ve earned our Spurs

The Vodacom Challenge is well underway with the pre-season visitors on our shores – the English Premier club Tottenham Hotspurs.

They have not been so hot here in SA though. I naturally expect to hear that this is their pre-season tour but when you get paid what these guys get paid, there is no such thing as excuses: just results.

However that is not the focus of my blog today.

Today I want to compliment and praise our local football. As expected, the 2010 Soccer World Cup catapulted soccer into the South African conciousness and I would venture to say that the supporter base has increased along with the general vibe in SA when the Soweto derby gets underway.

I know Moroka Swallows lay claim to the real Soweto derby, but sorry for you Swallows, you’re just not strong enough in terms of pure numbers.

Last I heard, Kaiser Chiefs could have as many as 17 000 000 people as registered supporters but I have not verified this number.

I can only imagine the the Buccaneers and Pirates must have similar numbers – which equates to heaps of interest. But I digress from my topic.

What I want to say is that I really feel we short-change ourselves as to the quality of our football.

Chiefs and Pirates clearly showed Spurs a tough time and this is not because Spurs are in their pre-season – it is because our teams are playing good ball. I remain concerned at the number of foreign coaches because I don’t think this develops local coaching talent a trend in world soccer.

Our game, the style of play that has characterised SA soccer for so long, has matured over the last 10 years. We used to be very focused on individual ball skills, with ball at foot, yet we lacked the overall tactical knowledge to do the work needed off the ball. Due to this, we have suffered as Bafana Bafana internationally and in club championships on the continent.

Now to fly right in the face of my previous concern around foreign coaches, I would say that the initial arrival Carlos Alberto Parreira led to a new dawn for South African soccer.

Even his successor, Carlos Santana, wanted to play a certain brand, which local soccer players needed time to get to understand. He didn’t last and back came Parreira, who cemented a more open, team skill-based unit that combines off the ball work rate with the ball moving quickly through the channels toward the opposition half. A pleasure to watch.

For many years I did not watch South African premier league football because I felt the game quality was poor. The arrival of the big money led to new coaches, players and an infrastructure. We also shouldn’t forget Oom Sepp’s visit.

Now, there is no doubt in my mind that we have earned our spurs and I would encourage more international club soccer – sharing ideas; learning of new approaches to football – allows us to lead with our local soccer.

I think South Africans are often too quick to support international teams, instead of appreciating the local talent.

There is still a bit of work that can be done by Sascoc and SRSA, but the current Minister of Sport Fikile Mbalula is saying the right things. Now I await the implementation of all the promises, while so much opportunity is on offer.

Personally I cannot wait for the Vodacom Challenge Soweto derby to come around, I believe it will be the ultimate game of the challenge and if Amakhosi do the business, we should have it all sewn up.

Well done to those clubs, long may your growth continue and I really hope you interacting in a big way with your communities to bring about social shifts and change.

So my Amakhosi regalia is ready for display and showing off. Go Chiefs!