Issued by African National Congress
7 February 2000
The African National Congress joins the rest of our nation to heartily congratulate our national soccer team, Bafana Bafana on their sterling performance when they defeated Ghana 1-0 in the quarterfinal game of the Africa Cup of Nations competition in Kumasi, Ghana at the weekend.
Bafana’s magnificent victory, which sees them through to the semi-finals against their arch-rivals, Nigeria, was made more significant by the fact that they played almost the entire second half with ten men, after anchor man, Eric Tinkler, was shown the red card shortly after the start of the second half.
Painful as it was, Tinkler’s sending off had its own positive side. It subjected Trott Moloto’s boys to a very stringent test of character which, we are proud to say, they passed with flying colours. It helped bring to light the fact that, like all good teams, Bafana Bafana produce their best when the chips are down. They did our country proud and, for that display of talent, skills and character, they deserve red carpet treatment. They are our national heroes
Bafana Bafana have once again shown the world that in terms of talent and natural skill, there are very few countries in the world to match South Africa. We take off our hats for that indefatigable dynamo of a striker, Siyabonga Nomvete who brilliantly rounded off a quality cross by the competition's leading goal scorer, Shaun Bartlett to book a spot in the semi-finals.
But if Nomvete was the star of the game, so was the entire defence marshalled by captain Lucas Radebe, as well as Andre Arendse, that jumping bean of a goalkeeper, who frustrated Ghana’s several attempts to capitalise on the numerically reduced Bafana team.
As we wish our sports ambassadors success in their coming encounter against Nigeria, we do so with the conviction that their brilliant showing against Ghana will not go to their heads, and that they will guard against the temptation to be complacent. We also want to assure them that, while the crowds are with their opponents in these far away battles, our hearts are always with them.
We are confident that they have what it takes to bring the cup home. We however expect the game of soccer to be the winner at the end of it all and the better team to take the honours. We regard the ongoing soccer competition as part of the process of building the African continent and its successful conclusion will benefit all of us.
Issued by Smuts Ngonyama Head of Presidency and Communication 51 Plein Street Johannesburg