ASINGAPHAPHI: DJIBOUTI IS JUST DJIBOUTI

‘Great minds have purposes; others have wishes’. On paper, the 2018 World Cup preliminary clash against Djibouti looks like a relatively easy draw for the nation’s pride Sihlangu.

Last Saturday evening’s draw held in Russia pitted the swashbuckling Sihlangu team that has captured the imagination in recent times against the little known Djibouti. The double-legged encounter is slated for the first week of October.
The winner of the tie has the daunting task of trying to go past Nigeria’s Super Eagles. The Nigerians need no introduction in the game.

They reached the knockout stage in Brazil 2014 at the ultimate showpiece, the World Cup.
Should Sihlangu go past Nigeria, then the squad would have to battle for qualification against other continental giants in the group stage of the qualifiers.
The winners after the second round will be paired into five groups consisting of four countries each and they will face each other in home and away ties from October 3, 2016 to November 14, 2017, with each group winner automatically qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Remember; there are only five World Cup slots available for the African countries.
It surely looks to be a long thorny road ahead. Now what are our priorities as a country? Are we seeking to qualify for the World Cup?
Football is not called the Beautiful Game for nothing. Anything is possible under the sun but I fear we might just be getting a bit ahead of ourselves if we are going to dream about qualifying for Russia 2018 just because Sihlangu has been pitted to play against Djibouti in the preliminaries.

Before sounding unpatriotic, let me hasten to remind everyone that Sihlangu is yet to set foot in the African Nations Cup finals. In fact, the nation’s pride is yet to qualify for the finals of the regional COSAFA Cup.
Perhaps focus should be on what appears to be a realistic dream – that of qualifying for the African Nations Cup Finals (AFCON) in Gabon in 2017.

Djibouti should not, therefore, excite everyone for surely, even if Sihlangu can go past the tiny State in the northern part of the continent, their chances of advancing and finally qualifying for the World Cup in 2018 are next to zero.
The fact that Djibouti under coach, Noureddine Gharsalli (who could be the luckiest coach in the planet) is yet to win an official game under the guidance of the Tunisian mentor is also not enough reason for the country to celebrate.
We should not be celebrating mediocrity at this day and age. The Tunisian was appointed coach in 2011 but has lost all five official matches in charge. I am sure he is not about to start winning against Sihlangu.

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