…throw science at hooligans
OF course, yours truly is a patriotic Namibian body and soul and I must confess my heart was bleeding watching South African glamour football club Kaizer Chiefs running rings around a clueless Black Africa outfit at the giant FNB Stadium in Johannesburg last Saturday.
In all honesty, there was nothing cool or admirable about the Namibian champions’ performance, because the reality of two competitors from worlds apart was at play here. Watching the match from the comfort of the media box with a couple of bemused sports scribes from that neck of the woods, my fear was that the worst would happen, because Chiefs could easily have scored an avalanche of goals had lady luck not turned her cheek on the hosts. While my South African colleagues rejoiced at the near faultless display of Chiefs, yours truly was cringing, never mind being a staunch Chiefs supporter since the formation of the Soweto giants in 1969. There is an old adage that blood is thicker than water and this is exactly where yours truly was obliged to follow and change allegiance, albeit for that particular match. Also, one thing that sprang to mind was that the quality of Namibian football is quite a distance from the stinking rich South African Professional Soccer League (PSL). Truth be told, the gulf in quality and tactical acumen between the two teams is hopelessly too wide, judging by our players who were made to look like mere beginners or headless chickens at times, as the Amakhosi players passed the ball at will among themselves for extended periods in a match that never lived up to its top billing. Kudos to slippery midfielder Bryan Bantam, the only player in the Black Africa squad that played with real gusto and appeared to have the appropriate skills and heart required to perform at the that level.
The Karasburg-born midfielder matched his more fancied opponents in every aspect of the game. Credit must also go to goalkeeper Arnold Subeb, who on several occasions prevented the marauding Chiefs forwards from extending their goal tally.
The Chiefs firing line was freely allowed to cut holes in the fragile BA rearguard where versatile lanky centre back Emilio Martin was by a mile the only defender who played with confidence, while showing maturity way belying his young age while his teammates failed dismally to come to the party. In all honesty, the 3-0 score line is not a true reflection of the game – Chiefs should have won by a far bigger margin in a game where the Namibian champions failed to create any decent goal scoring opportunities during the entire 90-minutes of play.
However, the charges of Brian Isaacs can take solace from the fact they will be playing a leg weary Chiefs side in the 2nd leg in Windhoek this comingb Saturday. Chiefs will be fresh from their mid-week assignment against Manning Rangers (last night) where the Amakhosi were expected to chalk their 10th consecutive win in the PSL. Yours truly would also like to applaud and congratulate African Stars for making a good start in their opening leg in the CAF Confederation Cup against the Pedro Atletico de Luanda on home soil, last weekend. The Reds took a healthy lead into the decisive second leg in Luanda this weekend and appear to be on the verge of emulating the feat previously achieved by Young Ones and Civics in reaching the 2nd round of preliminaries of the continental competition. In spite of the historic victory, the victory of Stars left a sting in the tale with news that Africa’s football governing body CAF, is planning to take drastic action against the team for failure to control their fans. This stemmed from the behaviour of the club’s habitual unruly supporters who have made it their sole beat to throw all sorts of objects on the pitch without the slightest provocation. Is it perhaps not a good omen for the habitually dozing officials from the Namibia Premier League (NPL), to get out of their slumber and smell the java?
I’m just asking! Football authorities must introduce dramatic measures and work closely with the cops in an effort to impound the stray cans and bottles thrown on the field for forensic tests in a bid to expose these undesirable football thugs as they will be identified and brought to book. Such a practice will scare off would-be offenders. I rest my case.