BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI | In Belgium, ‘broos’ means brittle - and our coach is living up to his name

With everything else around us offering an unrelieved picture of doom and gloom — crime, corruption, stubborn unemployment, poverty, uninspiring politicians, the list goes on — sport has tended to assume a pre-eminent role in our national life. It’s more than entertainment. It’s become a refuge from the calamities around us. Our drug, if you like.

It’s the only thing we can perhaps point at with some pride. Other areas simply put us to shame.

We rejoice as we watch the Springboks beat all-comers, even if we can hardly tell a try from a drop kick. Rassie for president! How many times have you heard that chant in stadiums packed with exuberant supporters. The fact that things aren’t going too well on other fronts makes triumphs on the pitch all the sweeter.

The Proteas have often flattered to deceive. We were over the moon last June when they won the World Test Championship against serial winners Australia. Some of us were actually shocked that they could do such a thing. Especially after they had been dismissed as no-hopers by aficionados of the game. There’s a T20 World Cup coming up in India next month. It’s best not to raise our hopes. Whatever success we achieve should come as a pleasant surprise.

Bafana Bafana ambled home this week empty-handed and with their tails between their legs after yet another failed Africa Cup of Nations campaign. Their early exit has been a let-down after the hype about this being the golden generation that would bring home the bacon after a three-decade Afcon drought. It was not to be. Overall, their performance was underwhelming. Our so-called stars never showed up. They went awol. We were somewhat fortunate to beat the gallant Angolans. We lost to a 10-man Egypt and were made to sweat for a scrappy win against the minnows of Zimbabwe. Expectations of advancing into the quarter-finals were therefore misplaced. And so it proved — Bafana were bundled out by the determined Cameroonians after our strikers frittered away seemingly easy chances.

Hugo Broos, the national coach, had talked big, even promising to win the tournament. Talk about counting your chickens. Broos fuelled the expectations of a nation yearning for success and handed his critics a stick to wield in the event of failure. Now they’re demanding his head.

He sounds like a sore loser, casting about for excuses. Of course, he apologised for the team’s performance. But he was scathing about his critics, telling them to shut their ‘big mouths’

He sounds like a sore loser, casting about for excuses. Of course, he apologised for the team’s performance. But he was scathing about his critics, telling them to shut their “big mouths”. I don’t think he should be that intolerant of criticism, something that comes with the territory. He’s been in the game long enough to know that. People have a right to air their views, however misguided one may think they are. Bafana Bafana, like all national teams, are a public good. As shareholders in this national endeavour, we all have a deep-seated interest in their performance.

But Broos, who will step down after the World Cup later this year, has a tendency to allow his tongue to run wild. In Morocco he needlessly provoked the hosts by saying their tournament lacked “vibe”. He seemed to struggle to explain what he meant. Maybe he was just bored. But in fact the Moroccans have pulled out all the stops to put on a good show. The facilities look fantastic and the stadiums are eye-catching, far more so than our grotesque FNB Stadium. They’re obviously using the tournament as a scene-setter for the 2030 Fifa World Cup, which they are hosting.

Maybe Bafana would have fared better if Broos had concentrated on preparing the players instead of spending precious time observing and commentating on the scenery. Besides, it’s impolite to slag off your hosts.

South Africa has one of the best-run professional leagues in Africa and should be doing much better in continental tournaments. But Broos’s excuse is that few South Africans are playing in the highly competitive leagues in Europe. But before Afcon he was patting himself on the back for producing a team that could challenge for the title with locally based players. Now, he’s saying it’s Europe or bust.

That’s a fig leaf. Of the 28 players in Egypt’s national squad, for instance, only six are with overseas clubs; the rest play for local giants such as Zamalek or Al-Ahly. But a more interesting case are Cameroon. The football association there has for two years been embroiled in an ugly fight with the country’s sports ministry, which appointed a national coach, Belgian Marc Brys, without consulting it. On December 1, hardly a month before the tournament, Brys was fired by Samuel Eto’o, the former footballer who’s now the association’s president.

Eto’o appointed a local coach who selected a team minus some big-name stars such as André Onana, the former Manchester United goalkeeper. Refusing to accept his dismissal, Brys compiled his own squad, which included those players left out by the new coach. For a while Cameroon had two coaches and two squads for the tournament. But Eto’o has had the last laugh. The team put all that chaos behind them and knuckled down to business.

South Africa had no such turmoil, except for defender Mbekezeli Mbokazi arriving late to camp and Broos’s wayward tongue putting some noses out of joint.

The Belgian should be given his due. He’s done well with the team, and hopefully he’s also enjoyed the vibes here. But he should guard against spoiling his legacy on the eve of his departure. Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana’s quest for the holy grail will continue.