The new leadership at SAFA has received a significant boost with the massive success of the Bafana Bafana game against Spain.

In spite of predictions that the game would be poorly supported because it was a late kick-off on a workday, some 60 000 people poured into the FNB stadium to watch. The excitement in the stadium after Bafana Bafana striker Bernard Parker put the winning goal in the net was tangible with thousands of Bafana supporters blowing their vuvuzelas, waving  their South African flags and singing “Shosholoza” with pride.

Bafana’s 1-0 win against the World and European Champions: Spain was not only a huge boost for the morale of Bafana Bafana but was also a high-point for countless thousands of Bafana fans throughout South Africa who have stuck with the team despite them not qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

“This win was very important for South Africa,” said Danny Jordaan, SAFA’s new President.  “It proved that Bafana Bafana can be a force in world football, it has given a lift to all our players not just the Bafana team but all those players who aspire to one day to be in the team.”

Jordaan joked that after the game a friend told him luck has been on his side in his quest to reinvigorate SAFA.  “My response is that the harder I work the luckier I get,” he said. “We have a plan to put Bafana Bafana on top of the world and to develop football at all levels in this country. This is a positive beginning for me in my first months in office, but it is just the beginning there are great things to come.”

Dennis Mumble, SAFA’s chief executive, said that the new spirit at SAFA definitely had an impact in the lead-up to the game. “Our management team worked as hard as the players to make sure the game went off smoothly.  Sometimes I do not think that people understand the complexity of the organisation that goes into bringing the world’s top soccer teams to South Africa.

“Like everyone else at SAFA, I am aware that we have been through some troubled times.  Let’s hope this landmark victory at the very beginning of our new era is a sign of things to come.  I think people will look back and see our victory against Spain as a turning point in South Africa’s fortunes.”-TDN

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