After so many disappointments in international football, Bafana’s victory over host Egypt in AFCOM ’19 was a big deal.
Celebrations in South Africa were ubiquitous last Saturday evening after the senior national football team, Bafana Bafana, toppled Egypt, an African football powerhouse and host nation for AFCON ’19. A close game, the 1-0 win put Bafana in the quarter-finals.
The celebrations were so rife that one person said you would have thought South Africa had just won a world championship.
Yes, it might be an overreaction but, after so many disappointments, Bafana fans have a reason to celebrate robustly. A universal norm helps to explain. When you are used to getting nothing, you celebrate when minor things come your way. And, interpretively speaking, those ‘minor’ things are actually major to you.
So, friends, just let Bafana be! The celebrations reflect passion.
Having qualified as the third best-positioned side in AFCON’ 19–and, now, having edged-out Egypt–Bafana wants a title. That objective may seem ridiculous, given what has happened to this side since winning AFCON ’96. But perhaps not.
Consider what happened in 2016 to Mamelodi Sundowns. The team was presumably eliminated in the final 16 of the CAF Champions League. But the elimination didn’t hold. The Sundowns were reinstated after it was discovered that the winning side (AS VITA) fielded an ineligible player and was withdrawn from the competition. Sundowns then went all the way to the championship.
We’ll soon find out how far Bafana will go in AFCON ’19.
