The 2010 African Cup of Nations has seen off-field tragedy, a game-fixing controversy, and plenty of surprises. One thing it hasn't featured is the 2010 FIFA World Cup host nation South Africa. Eliminated in last year's qualifying tournament, the struggles of South Africa ahead of the World Cup are well documented. Pessimism may be as prevalent as vuvuzelas in South African soccer right now, but one former Bafana Bafana legend trying to make a difference is two-team MLS alumnus Shaun Bartlett.
This month Bartlett was the most prominent of a group of former Bafana Bafana players that participated in the first of a series of clinics aimed at unearthing new, young soccer talent in South Africa. The fall from grace of the South Africa national team in the "Decade of the Aughts" has been acute. Bartlett had helped South Africa scale unprecedented heights before the recent nosedive.
Back in 1996, the year Bartlett played for the Colorado Rapids in the inaugural MLS season, South Africa hosted the African Cup of Nations on short notice. Only four years removed from apartheid exile, few expected that South Africa would linger long at the party they were hosting. But a Bafana Bafana squad featuring such talents as Lucas Radebe, Phil Masinga, Mark Fish, Mark Williams, Bartlett and his fellow MLS alumnus, Doctor Khumalo, pulled off a stunning victory, beating Tunisia 2-0 in the final. While Clint Eastwood has yet to direct a movie about the team's triumph, it was a victory joyously celebrated by President Nelson Mandela and the vast segment of the country's population that had been denied basic human rights for so long.
Two years later, Bartlett would score two goals for Bafana Bafana against Saudi Arabia at the 1998 FIFA World Cup. South Africa made an impressive debut at the 1998 finals, tying two games and losing to eventual champions France as they finished third in Group C behind the French and Denmark. The Cape Town native was the leading scorer at the 2000 African Cup of Nations as South Africa finished third, but missed the 2002 FIFA World Cup due to injury. At Korea/Japan, South Africa went 1-1-1 and missed advancing to the round-of-16 on the goals scored tiebreaker. Bafana Bafana fans have experienced nothing but heartbreak since.
But, Bartlett refuses to accept that South Africa can't make an impact on the field this summer. He played for South Africa's restored national team head coach, Carlos Alberto Parreira, with the MetroStars in 1997, and for a time there was speculation in the South African media that Bartlett would be joining his old boss on the national team coaching staff. That hasn't come to pass, but Bartlett is trying to help by rallying the country to support the team.
"My humble appeal to all South Africans is that we must come together to support the national team and stop giving out a negative attitude towards Bafana," Bartlett recently told Kickoff.com.
While he cheers from the sidelines for the current national team, Bartlett is being more proactive about improving the situation moving forward. Back in 1998, the U.S. Soccer Federation launched "Project 2010," and many of the players projected to be on the U.S. World Cup squad have benefited from that initiative. Bartlett is hoping that the series of football clinics he is participating in will have similar results for South Africa, only his time frame is more urgent.
"It is vital we start at the bottom and lay a solid foundation," Bartlett said. "Our goal is to produce players who will represent Bafana at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil."
That is a big goal, but Bartlett has scored a few in his time, including the 2000-01 EPL Goal of the Season for Charlton Athletic against Leicester City. That strike lingers in the memory, but if Bartlett can help return Bafana Bafana to its former glory, then his status in South African soccer lore will be as indelible as the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Mark C. Young is an Emmy Award-winning freelance writer/TV producer who has covered several FIFA World Cups and Olympic Games. He is a contributor to Goal.com and also writes for the blog "No Mas."
