Well well well...what a devastating heartbreaking game I witnessed last night. In so many ways it broke my heart and even after a good night's sleep I am still devastated. I will not pretend to be a soccer expert or even know all the rules. To be perfectly honest, I think the world cup opening match was the first game I had even watched in full. But, I do know that soccer is similar to hockey and i do know the rules of hockey. Nevertheless, there are times when even the completely oblivious do notice that rules are being broken and abused. Yes, I agree with the critics, Bafana did not play very well. It was not our best performance and we really did need to step it up. But on the other hand, I do not think that we deserved to be advantaged to the degree we were. Two of our players are out for the next game; a game that is our only chance of getting through. Were these red cards warranted is the question on everyone's mind...and of course, where does that ref live so we can go and kill him! I feel that the ref, one could say, was almost one sided and completely bias against us. We were the weak links and we were disadvantaged. We are ranked 83rd in the world against a country that is definitely in the top 20. However, the dramatic performance put on by Uruguay was utterly absurd. I hope they know what if soccer doesn't work out, they can all go into drama. Falling all over the place, clutching the faces and chests like something had just taken a swipe at them. How, i ask you, does someone's mouth start bleeding when no ones foot came in contact with his mouth. Was it the grass? Because thats all he touched. The goalie slipped and the guy fell, very over the top! He could have easily stood up. What, is he made out of glass! Honestly! I do not understand why the ref did not penalise him for being RIDICULOUS! If that is the sign of a top team, then obviously skill has nothing to do with it, and we should start practicing falling!
The moment that red card, completely unwarranted for several reasons, came out i nearly started crying. Firstly, two players were off-side and the line's man was right there! Secondly, there was no foul play. The goalie did not intentionally trip him and they player completely exaggerated his pain. Thirdly, why a red card? Why not a yellow card. Have you ever seen such a uneven match! I do not understand why the refs are not standardised because things like that have happened in past games and no red card! There have been two red cards in the tournament, as far as i know, one to Australia and one to us. Is it standardised at all. Some games have 4 or 5 yellow cards and other nothing and, believe me, there is foul play in all of those games! I just do not understand at all! And then to award a penalty. This is the first one of the tournament and again was it warranted? I can honestly say no! That game should have been stopped at the moment the players became offside, a goal kick given to SA and the ball flown to the other side of the field. No red card and no goal! And worst of all, apparently red cards cannot be queried in world cups, so we are stuck with completely unjust situation. All the ref can do is apologise to us, and will that be enough to lift the hopes of the team and people in South Africa? I doubt it. I hope that ref knows what he has single-handedly done! He has destroyed any ounce of hope that this country has for getting through the first round. But more than that, any hope at using this sport as a reconciliation tool is over. Simply by witnessing those scenes of people leaving the game early because we were losing is sign enough that we are not truly united behind our country yet. Yes it was cold, but you would have endured it if we were winning. We have been through a lot as a country and have literally pulled off a miracle, but we needed something new...a form of round two of reconciliation. We have managed to get White people into Soweto to watch soccer, which is traditionally a 'Black-man's sport'. We have united a nation with flags all over peoples' cars. But we needed to get further in this world cup to unite us. Can you honestly see South Africans uniting behind a Spanish Brazil final. I know we all knew that Bafana would probably not make it to the final, but imagine if they had. I know we are all proud to have our country as the focus around the world and anything else was a bonus. But really...every ounce hope that all 49 million South Africans had was destroyed by the bad and unjust decision of that ref! And I can guarantee, that that moment will not be easily forgotten!
I know soccer is unfair at times. The fact that France qualified over Ireland when their goal was scored by a hand ball is evidence that soccer is not fair. The fact that it is one of the only sports that does not use a third umpire means that there are gaps and mistakes are made all the time. How can one ref run all over the field expecting to see everything. Soccer needs to come on board to make it more just. It is not good enough that they get 50% of the decisions right. If there had been some forms of technology used in the game last night, things would have turned out very different!
As you can tell, I am very angry about this and very sad. But I am still behind our boys 150%! I believe that we can pull off a miracle and beat France. If South Africa is known for anything, it is defying the impossible. We won the 1995 Rugby World Cup when no one thought we would even beat Australia; We moved from Apartheid to Democracy without a civil war and we are able to live unified and peacefully, for the most part, in our new democracy. If we can do all that, we can beat France! I am behind you Bafana Bafana all the way and I believe that if every person in this country and in this world can united behind our glorious team, they can pull it off. Yes people are angry, I am angry, but we have not given up. There is grace in losing but there is nothing to be proud of if we give up. We have less than a week to pull it together- players and supporters. Let us stand proud and support our boys even if the match is not going our way! Let this devastating unjust beating united us, not divide us. Let us silence the critics and the negative attitudes and united behind BAFANA BAFANA!
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