Kicking of heels not in training manual

Today is indeed a sad day for South African football. As the 16 participants at the 2010 African Nations Cup are paraded at the 11 de Novembro Stadium in Luanda, our flag will not be among those fluttering in the soothing Atlantic Ocean breeze.

And while SA is mourning Bafana Bafana's absence, those bozos running Safa should hang their heads in shame. One Joel Santana is probably lazing in his hammock in sunny Rio, counting his millions as South Africans watch the tournament on their TVs.

When he was elected Safa president, I challenged Kirsten Nematandani to chop out some of the dead wood ahead of the winter. Poor Thami Tom, Molefi Oliphant's unfortunate PA, was sent packing. Talk about dealing with the pussy cats when the real dinosaurs are still occupying their air-conditioned offices. But at least Raymond Hack was fired - and more must follow because as long as we still have the likes of Conti Kubheka at the helm, we are going nowhere.

Kubheka is the former national under-23 coach who grappled to come to terms with the away-goal rule. By the way, he is now Safa's head of coaching.

I scribbled this column quite early in the morning and such news caused the need for a stiff shot of whisky. But the issue here is not about Safa bigwigs and their designer suits. It's about Bafana missing out on an huge opportunity to face quality opponents ahead of the World Cup. It's about playing competitive football instead of going to camps in Brazil or Germany to play against uninspired opponents going through the motions. You can't really gauge your progress from meaningless friendly matches.

The Angola spectacle would have been a perfect platform for SA to find a striking partnership that can penetrate those rock solid defences of Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia and Cameroon. It would also have been an opportune moment to find a solution to our leaking back four.

The other five countries who will represent Africa at the World Cup will have a boon of competitive matches. For instance, Ghana and Ivory Coast are in the same group, together with Togo and Burkina Faso. If this is not enough competition to gauge their readiness for the World Cup, then I don't know what is.

Cameroon will slug it out with Tunisia, Gabon and Zambia while Algeria were thrown in the same pot with Angola, Mali and Malawi. You cannot even begin to talk about the competitive edge that can be derived from such a campaign.

Three-time African player of the year Abedi Pele says not participating may assist South Africa because our players will not be as tired as those from the other five countries who will play in the Nations Cup and World Cup. "This is the time for South Africa to prove to people that not qualifying for the Cup of Nations was a blessing in disguise for them as they will be very fresh in the World Cup."

Former Liverpool coach Gerard Houllier also added his two cents' worth. "As a manager I can tell you that you can't take part in two big tournaments in the space of six months. The Nations Cup is now a big competition that brings together the best African teams with several footballers playing for the biggest European clubs. They won't be able to handle it, it's very difficult."

Perhaps that's one of the reasons Houllier has not coached a side in three years.

Maybe he should be reminded of Senegal during the 2002 Nations Cup and World Cup. After storming to the finals and losing to Cameroon on penalties in Mali, the Lions of Teranga's impetus was carried through to the World Cup where they defeated then world and European champions France in the opening game in Korea/Japan. It was their maiden World Cup appearance and they reached the quarterfinals.

Ivory Coast reached the finals of the 2006 Cup of Nations and did themselves proud during their first performance at the World Cup, where they were pitted against Argentina, the Netherlands and Serbia and Montenegro in the group stages.

Ghana also took part in the 2006 Cup of Nations and they later arrived at the World Cup and claimed the scalps of the Czech Republic and the US, progressing to the second round in their first World Cup.