16 years ago today, Siphiwe Tshabalala was one of the stars of the 2010 World Cup Bafana Bafana team. He made history by scoring the first goal of the tournament, a thunderbolt with his left foot. As a much-anticipated event for the country, our first, the goal put him in the history books.
While many reminisce about the moment itself, the songs including Waka Waka and the casual Fridays that have become part of our DNA, many forget the shoes behind the kick that gave Bafana Bafana their tournament highlight.
“We had what was called a share of play ambition, which was to get 71% of players on the pitch in Nike footwear. We had nine of the starting 11 in Nike boots,” said Bronson Mokabela, marketing general manager at the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).
At the time, he was Nike sports marketing manager. Leading up to the historic day, he and his team were behind sponsorship for South Africa’s team, among others. With the team wearing Adidas jerseys, the next best option was to kit them out in Nike cleats. It was from his hands to Tshabalala’s that would see him lace up the CTR360 Maestri boots that would help score the historic goal.
“The guy who passed to him, Kagiso Dikgacoi, was in Nike footwear.”
As the national team jets off to Atlanta for their chance in this year’s cup, Mokabela said it is important to celebrate the history seen in Netflix’s Class of ‘96 doccie.
“With any sporting team, you want to tell a new story. You sit here hoping the guys can tell a new story. The team has never qualified for the second round at the World Cups we’ve been to. To achieve that would be a milestone and a story on its own.”
For coverage on the Fifa World Cup, click the link or check our soccer page for more.
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