After seeing three headline teams in South Africa, Zambia and Ghana lose in the COSAFA Cup quarterfinal, there were excuses abound postmatch. All three teams insisted they had played well despite being knocked out after only one appearance in the competition’s main draw.
The three national teams will now compete in a plate competition, a subsidiary to the cup created for exactly this reason. The plate round ensures that teams who have byes in earlier rounds but suffer shock defeats will make more than just a single appearance and not suffer the ignominy of early exists. But it seems even if that happens, some see little reason to be embarrassed.
Ghana, for example, were shocked by a 90th minute goal from Madagascar in a 2-1 defeat. Ghana’s Maxwell Konadu, who only coaches the “local team,” not the senior men’s team which Avram Grant is in charge of, could only grin and bear.
“That is football, you can do whatever you can. But conceding such a goal at such an hour — there is nothing you can do about it. Congratulations to Madagascar,” Konadu said according to Goal.com. “It wasn’t all that bad. I can’t say we played badly at all. We were just unfortunate that we conceded a goal that was not expected.”
For Zambia and South Africa, there was no such honourable reprieve. They were beaten on penalties after goalless draws by Nambia and Botswana respectively, suggesting a lack of assertion on their part and an absence of nerve when it mattered. Even then, South Africa’s coach Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba held back any blame.
“The boys did very well, if you look at the entire 90 minutes, the opposition only invaded our goal mouth four times. We had an avalanche of chances to score goals but unfortunately we couldn’t hit the net. I think our boys did very well and I’d like to say congratulations to Botswana, They knew when it gets to the penalty shootout, it’s everyone’s game,” Mashaba said in an interview with Soccer Laduma.
Instead, Mashaba directed any annoyance elsewhere at a local coach in Ajax Cape Town manager Roger de Sa. De Sa accused Mashaba of deliberately overlooking players from the region but the national coach denied that in a radio interview given after the South Africa’s loss. He explained that he had previously met with De Sa to explain his policy and that the ACT manager was only trying to make him look bad.
“When I went to Cape Town he [De Sa] was in that meeting. We were two and he was with the director. I tried, I spoke to them and said, ‘Make the players available’ and they said the players can’t leave,” Mashaba said. “I was shocked to see that article. You are making me look bad. We had a couple of players [from Ajax] that we selected for the Under-20, Under-23 and senior national teams. I want him to come out clear and say why he is saying that.”
In Mashaba’s COSAFA Cup squad only Sibusiso Mxoyana from Vasco da Gama is from the Cape with the bulk of the squad from inland clubs in Johannesburg and the Free State and a sprinkling from Kwa-Zulu Natal. Mashaba had earlier explained it was a difficult squad to pick because of club commitments and the focus on development.
“This was perhaps one of the most difficult squads to announce due to a number of reasons. The end of the domestic league programme always poses a challenge for the national team as it is not easily clear which players will be available,” he said when announcing South Africa’s roster on May 8.
Zambia also faced a selection dilemma with one member of their squad. Evans Kangwa, who manager Honour Janza had called up, didn’t show up. Janza criticised the player’s lack “of commitment,” according to the Times of Zambia. “This is not a good character and attitude to show from a player. When a player is called, it’s good to respond because this is national duty. Everyone has to respect national duty.”
Kangwa’s decision to not participate in the COSAFA Cup is significant as he was the only player called up by Zambia to play with an overseas club in Hapoel Ra’anana. Zambia looked at the competition as a valuable opportunity to develop some players and his absence displayed a lack of respect toward the competition.
However, the reality is that the COSAFA Cup is as under the radar as it gets, especially for the continent’s bigger teams. The likes of Ghana, South Africa and Zambia use it to give fringe players, younger players or those they are grooming an opportunity. That could present problems in getting certain players to play in the tournament but it allows the smaller teams, like Madagascar, Botswana and Namibia who beat the big three, the chance to earn silverware.
