PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma was booed at FNB Stadium after a one-sided international friendly between SA and Brazil last night.
[full]It was the second time that Zuma was booed at the same venue. The first incident happened at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in December. The booing happened when Zuma’s name was called before the handing over of the medals to the two teams. Bafana Bafana were deservedly thumped 5-0 by the Samba Boys.
The game was played after the heavy rains, but in the end it was not a water polo match.
But the delays outside the stadium, even closer to kick off, again took away a bit of the shine, leading to visible empty seats as the television cameras circled the stadium.
Fans slowly tricked into the stadium in their numbers after eventually making it past unnecessary barricades, but who can blame them if they abscond from the Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates next weekend after a hellish traffic jam?
If the country’s soccer administrators are looking for answers to frequently asked questions about low crowd attendance, they need to look no further than last night. The Calabash could have swelled up with football lovers if the organisation was better. But no one seems to care anymore. Brazil made it up for it though and delivered as promised with a thumping of SA. Their relaxed but effective approach to the game might have made it all worth it – and it hardly felt like an away game for the Brazilians.
The cheers for goal scorers Neymar and Oscar particularly were almost as loud as when the South Africans had ball possession. And the less said about Bafana the better.[/full]