South Africa FanZoner David Guile says a striker must step up and replace Benni McCarthy.
Will South Africa impress off the pitch and on it?
At last, the waiting is almost over. I can't relax, I can't sleep. I feel like I've just been immersed in a swimming pool full of Red Bull.
A torturous last few weeks of the regular season left my fingernails so badly bitten that I looked like I'd been trying to claw my way out of a stone coffin.
They're gone, now, as are my fingers. When I get nervous I find myself gnawing the gnarled stump I've now got in place of a right hand. The tension is killing me.
If the experts are to be believed I shouldn't really have too much to look forward to now that I've been reincarnated as a South Africa supporter.
Fortunately, the outcome of this group will be decided on the pitch rather than in print, and it's the things that can't be predicted that become important. On the day, a player's reputation and past achievements can pale into insignificance if a referee/bump in the pitch/beachball decides that the time has come to take his (or its) place in history.
If South Africa really want to spring a surprise their strikers will have to take a leaf out of the Anfield Beachball's book, and ensure that they pop up in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to hurt the opposition. Unfortunately, Benni McCarthy's recurring fitness issues saw him report for international duty roughly the same shape as the infamous inflatable, leaving coach Carlos Alberto Parreira decidedly unamused.
As a result, both have been left with selection headaches; Parreira needs to pick someone to start in McCarthy's place, and McCarthy has been left with the difficult choice between chicken and lamb for his in-flight meal on the long journey back to Heathrow. So, with Benni the Ball gone it could be Katlego Mphela's time to step out of his sizeable shadow.
Pushovers
Something is stirring deep within this team, and, by degrees, the footballing world is becoming aware that South Africa might not be the pushovers that some predicted. The 4-0 win over Thailand barely caused a ripple, but subsequent wins over a competent Colombia outfit and dark horses Denmark have started to register on the lower part of the Richter scale.
A continuation of this trend could potentially rock this tournament to its core, particularly if they carry this form all the way through our group games. France are beatable, and any Harlem Globetrotters manoeuvres from Thierry Henry will surely be punished this time around.
This team is ready, and no longer has any reason to be afraid. As goalie Moeneeb Josephs rightly says, "We will have 90,000 odd Bafana fans cheering us on."
Yes, and if you lose you'll have 90,000 Bafana fans consoling themselves by reminding England who won the Rugby World Cup. It's a win-win. Now, go out and make your country proud.
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