Out with the Old – in with the New.

Sorry about the late post, I did promise two a week, but you know how it goes. There is a world other than football (shocking I know).

Also, sorry about the poor picture to the post, but my HTML skills are terrible and despite my sincerest efforts, I could not get the right picture uploaded. So just imagine a picture of Benni being stretchered off the field in his SA kit instead of this one at him in Porto. Got it? Good.

So to be brief, let’s play catch-up (again)

- Workers were on strike – AGAIN (par for the course you see). This time in Nelspruit. Danny Jordaan said that he does not question the commitment of the workers to catch up on lost time. Right then Danny. What’s next? World peace? Workers in SA strike for just abouth anything, so don’t expect this to be the last of it.

- Prostitution is illegal in South Africa, but it seems that we should be changing our moral ways (or backward – depending on which side of the spectrum you are), because ‘ladies of the night’ are in high demand during the world cup. Now I must question the intelligence of the advocates of this move. Firstly, South Africa is infested with AIDS, and hence sleeping around with prostitutes isn’t exactly going to enhance your life expectancy now is it. Secondly, South Africa is infested with crime and hence roaming the streets looking for said ‘ladies of the night’ isn’t exactly going to enhance your life expectancy either.

- FIFA has confirmed that there were no irregular betting practices in the first phase of the World Cup preliminary competition. Thanks for that. We can all sleep securely in the knowledge that the world of football is free of corruption (I am now removing my tongue from my cheek).

- Costs are expected to escalate yet again (which idiot did the initial estimates anyway?)

- South Africa plans to spend more on security, which includes amongst other things, CCTV, police reservists etc. That’s good news. Hopefully the additional cash spent will have benefits beyond the World Cup. Maybe we can get our murder rate down to something closer to downtown Bagdhad.

- In unrelated soccer news, it’s election time for the top post in the ANC (ruling party). The favourite is Jacob Zuma, who was tried and acquitted for rape and accused by a top judge of having corrupt ties with a convicted felon. Good times. In fairness to him, he was never found guilty of any of the charges, but it’s not exactly a glowing reference now is it?

Back to football – It seems the man that every South African football fan loved and then hated and loved again, has been dropped from the national team. I use the term ‘dropped’ very loosely here. You see, Benni was never known for his devotion to the national team. He retired in 2002 only to retract on that decision in 2004. He is however South Africa’s all time top scorer, and I very much doubt that we have seen the last of him with Bafana Bafana. Talk is that Carlos Alberto struck a deal with Mark Hughes to have Benni available for some games only (which don’t include the Cup of Nations). Mark Hughes has denied it, but I could buy that story. Benni has made it clear that his priority is club football, a trend which has become worryingly prevalent in football these days. But anyway, Benni has been rubbish for Bafana lately and maybe one of the youngsters can turn themselves into a hero. God knows we need that.

The squad for the nations cup is largely experimental, with the likes of Delron Buckley, Bradley Carnell, Siyabonga Nomvethe and Macbeth Sibaya all getting the chop. There are also two uncapped players in the team, but Sibu’ Zuma has been included (he should be about 67 by the time 2010 rolls around).

I like this move by CAP. He clearly has an eye on the future. I say out with the old and in with new. No use begging players to come play and they do so with conditions and stipulations and only give 20%. Get some young eager blood in there, people who will play with heart. I reckon it will go a long way to making this national team a bit more competitive. We don’t want to be the first host nation ever not to reach the second round of the World Cup. If results suffer in the short term, then so be it.

Bravo.

I’ll try to keep to my promise of two posts a week going forward (I’ve done well, managed to botch it after the first post – my apologies).

As always, comments are appreciated.