Butler may be Houdini after all
Mqondisi Dube | Friday March 7, 2014 17:24
'My name is not Houdini and do not expect us to play like Brazil,' new Zebras coach Peter Butler said recently. But after a sparkling night on Wednesday, the diminutive tactician might be on the right track to emulate the Hungarian magician and escapologist with the Zebras.
He looks set to haul the Zebras out of the doldrums the same way the famed Harry Houdini, performed sensational escape acts.
The Zebras do not play like Brazil, although they had Samba flair on Wednesday night even if critics were quick to point to the absence of quality opposition. The Zebras cared little. It was never their business that Sudan had arrived at 2:00 pm, just six hours before kick-off. Butler and his charges would also argue that a football pitch is never a place to exchange sympathy over a raging civil war. South Sudan is in the grip of a debilitating civil war, which has seen football activities suspended. Butler, who arrived on the back of a media frenzy, provided the perfect answers at crucial stages of the match. In the process, he left the stadium with his credentials soaring above the giant Pandamantenga Stand. His side was awesome throughout the match, sometimes dishing out playstation football.
The usual suspect, Dirang Moloi was at the heart of some devastating moves in the second half, brilliantly teeing up his teammates with consummate ease. The Swaziland referee intervened to cut short South Sudan’s misery when he inexcusably sent the midfield maestro for an early shower. Television replays showed there was no contact between Moloi and his South Sudan opponent who collapsed to the ground like a deck of cards, resulting in the send-off.
Butler showed his steel by fielding largely untested players, who responded with a five star performance belying their age and the short time the team had been together. Forget the quality of the opposition. The Zebras’ play could have bamboozled some of the big boys of African football. It is early days, but the small crowd that bothered to turn up at the National Stadium left with no traces of regret.
The fans broke into song and dance the moment Ofentse Nato nailed a thumping effort in the 75th minute for the third goal. It was an effort picked from the top drawer and deserved a better celebration from Butler, whose face assumed a business as usual approach despite the carnage his charges were subjecting Sudan to in front of him. Butler turned, faced his bench, picked something from his chair, that was irrelevant all night as he hardly found space on the bench.
Nato’s third goal arrived after the midfielder was gifted a rebound off an opposition player. From about 35m out, the Mpumalanga Black Aces midfielder let rip.
As the ball flew towards the net, the result was inevitable. It was headed in one direction and the South Sudan goalkeeper was not about to stop a new project. He could only watch as the result became an emphatic 3-0. Earlier, skipper Joel Mogorosi had grabbed a first half brace. The Bloemfontein Celtic winger rediscovered his form after some strange off colour displays of late.
“I think he led the young group very well,” Butler told Mmegi Sport. Unobatsha Mbaiwa, a player so prominent in the Under-17 attack two years ago before a decent Under-20 tournament in Lesotho last December looked the part. Like the whole team, his confidence on the ball was amazing. True to his words, Butler began life after Stanley Tshosane with a new back line and the most outstanding player was Gaborone United defender, Osego Gaotewe, whose darting runs and general reading of the game rivaled that of a veteran.
Given the freedom of the National Stadium, Dirang ‘Mthakathi’ Moloi grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Under-20 star, Keorapetse Seloiso was a towering presence in midfield. At times, the team went overboard, in fact the players became too elaborate and Butler mentioned this during the post match press conference.
But it all probably sums Butler’s character as his confidence has blasted through the team.
They are not afraid to make mistakes and crucially, the bus parked during Tshosane’s era was decisively removed. But now the challenge is to fulfill fans’ skyrocketing expectations after what they witnessed at the National Stadium on Wednesday.