Mares catch Zebras’ hangover

Mqondisi Dube | Saturday November 4, 2023 06:00

Stanley Tshosane and his charges became the darling of the nation when they qualified for the 2012 AFCON finals. It was a history-making moment as the Zebras touched new heights, reaching number 53 in the FIFA rankings, on their way to the finals.

In Gabon, the Zebras lost all three group stage matches at Africa’s biggest football stage, but that mattered little as qualification was considered the biggest achievement.

Tshosane and the Zebras had brought the license to err and get away even without a caution from a forever thankful nation. After a winless campaign in Gabon, the Zebras returned home to script a fresh chapter, with several stars announcing their international retirement. However, Tshosane was, logically, rewarded with a contract extension up to March 2015. The AFCON finals were held in January 2012 and for the remainder of the year, the Zebras failed to emerge from their cocoon.

The success of qualifying for the finals was dizzying and the hangover, difficult to cure.

This culminated in unconvincing displays as Tshosane’s reign ended after an abysmal afternoon at the basket-shaped Moses Mabhida Stadium following a 4-1 shellacking at the hands of Bafana Bafana. That result confirmed the end of the golden era for the Zebras as Tshosane was relieved of his duties immediately after. The Zebras have since struggled to replicate that form and are now barely recognisable at number 148 in the world.

Their female counterparts, the Mares hit the ground running last year when they started stringing together good results which saw them beat South Africa’s Banyana Banyana. The brave Mares then weathered Zimbabwe’s Mighty Warriors storm to qualify for their first ever Africa Cup of Nations finals staged in Morocco last year July. The Mares were rubbing shoulders with women football’s royalty as they joined 11 other sides for the finals. Gaelethoo ‘Ronaldo’ Nkutlwisang was at the wheel of that steering success. The likes of Refilwe Tholakele became instant heroines as the Mares came agonisingly close to qualifying for a World Cup play-off.

The team had earned its stripes as some of the weary Zebras fans found refugee in the Mares’ progress. The excitement of the Mares’ run was intoxicating and the team was duly rewarded with cash incentives upon arrival from Morocco.

But like the Zebras, the period that has followed has been the tunnel at the end of the light.

Nkutlwisang has been demoted to an assistant coach to Mohambi Saulos and the results have dried up. Favourites to win the COSAFA Cup held in South Africa recently, the Mares were instead, packing their bags after the final whistle of their last group stage match. This week, the Mares were meek as they folded to a 3-0 aggregate loss to Tanzania in an Olympic Games qualifier to confirm their slide from the dizzy heights.

Following in the footsteps of the 2012 class of the Zebras, the Mares are battling to shake off the AFCON finals hangover.